Premodern to Modern Whaling in the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago: the Cultural Sphere of East Asian Whaling

摘要

During the colonization, Koreans were assigned the role of taking on menial labor, both at the land stations and aboard whaling ships. Major positions in whaling and administration, such as gunners and chiefs of land stations, were exclusively Japanese to the very last. When Korean whaling companies began operations, all the knowledge they seem to have had had been limited amount of whaling technique, which they had picked up by observing the Japanese while working in close proximity (Park 1995). Koreans working to become gunners had to teach themselves whaling techniques, although they did learn from those who had been in the business before them. Korean whaling later developed their distinctive technical system, although it was based on Japanese expertise. However, it is a mistake to view colonial whaling in a favorable light, simply because the contemporary Korean whaling started with the few remaining elements of the Japanese whaling. Land stations symbolized "the Japanese Fishing in Korea" and changed the coastal scenery of the Korean Peninsula, and were indeed the target of anger. In fact, Koreans attacked and set fire to most of them when the country was liberated. Mr. Kim Ok-Chan, who was central in the establishment of the Korean Whaling Co., regards Korean whaling not as something succeeded from the days of colonization but as an independent struggle of their own. It is true that it was the Koreans that essentially carried on the core whaling operations during the Second World War, and we need to look into how far the whaling technique permeated or was accepted. Here, I would merely like to mention the whaling jargon as a hint to delve into the matter.