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Japanese Musicians Between Music and Politics During WWII: Japanese Propaganda in the Third Reich

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 September 2014

Kyungboon Lee
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Abstract

Even before signing the pact between Japan and Germany, Japanese musicians performed in the concert halls of the Third Reich. In particular, there was an active demand due to propagandistic performances such as German–Japanese concerts or concerts for German soldiers on the Eastern front or occupied territories. This study describes the activities of two “Japanese” conductors who became members of the Reich Chamber of Culture and performed with the Berliner Philharmonic orchestra: Ahn Ekitai (Iktae) from colonial Korea and Konoye Hidemaro, a high-ranking Japanese peer. Extracted from documents of the German–Japanese Society at the Federal Archives Koblenz (Germany), this article explores the cultural and political functions that these conductors faced in terms of German war propaganda and how their different musical compositions, both named “Etenraku”, related to propagandistic values. This essay further shows that Ahn, whom Koreans considered a patriot and fighter against Japanese colonial power in Europe for a long time, was active as a Japanese conductor in the Third Reich, calling Konoye's assertion that he was pursued by the Nazis into question.

Type
Articles
Information
Itinerario , Volume 38 , Issue 2 , August 2014 , pp. 121 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © Research Institute for History, Leiden University 2014 

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DJG= Deutsch-Japanische GesellschaftGoogle Scholar
KdF= Kraft durch FreudeGoogle Scholar
KWHW= KriegswinterhilfswerkGoogle Scholar
RKK= ReichskulturkammerGoogle Scholar

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