제국 일본의 ‘여공’이 된 식민지 조선의 여성들: 그 배경을 중심으로

Abstract

This article deals with the phenomenon of colonial Korean women leaving for Imperial Japan, focusing on female factory workers. Korean women who became laborers in the imperial economy under the particular circumstance of colonialism embody a complicated mix of nation, class and gender, thus deserving careful examination. It should be noted that not only young and unmarried women but also married women who had children moved to Japan to become factory workers. What was on the minds of these women when leaving behind their family and children to move to Japan? Could their move have been an escape of sorts from their impoverished home with sick family members and children crying from hunger? What could these women have felt in front of their spinning machines while they were away from the tight constraints of their family? Was their move solely an inevitable choice to provide for their family? Isn’t it possible that these women would have felt liberated by only having to look after themselves from day to day, despite the hard labor? There are many intersecting questions that come to mind. To answer such questions, it is necessary take a transnational approach to the family and gender history of these women in order to capture important details that can easily be overlooked. Based on a critical perspective of transnational family and gender history, this article analyzes the social and historical context in which women of colonial Korea became female factory workers in Japan, the centre of Empire. The female factory workers are not simply taken as passive beings pushed to leave their homes due to poverty and other circumstances. Rather, attention is given to the variety of factors that lie behind their choice. Firstly, the demand for Korean female labor by the Japanese spinning factories at the time is taken into consideration. Next, the specific processes in which these women became factory workers of Imperial Japan in relation to the conditions of the factories within Japan and the migration policy of the Japanese Government General of Korea are examined. Lastly, the underlying motivation for these women’s move to Japan is explored.