Japanese Teachers' Observation Trip to Manchuria·North China during the 1910s and 1920s

This article examines the observation trip to Manchuria·North China of Japanese teachers in colonial Korea during the 1910s and 1920s. The observation trip was conducted under the following background. At that time, it was popular in Japan for students and teachers to travel to Manchuria. And in colonial Korea the teacher retraining policy was actively being implemented. In the beginning, the trip group visited only Manchuria. However, the area of the visit gradually expanded to Qingdao, Beijing and Tianjin. The members of observation trip observed the natural environment, cityscapes, facilities of South Manchuria Railway Company, the Russo-Japanese War sites, the battlefield of the war between Germany and Japan, historic sites of China and a variety of schools. As a result, the observation trip to Manchuria·North China contributed to the improvement of Japanese teachers' qualities. In addition, it provided information about the situation of education for Koreans in South Manchuria and the current state of education in China to colonial authorities of Korea.