Manifest Destiny has granted the United States the continent, but the Industrial Age spurs a nation on to greater glories. Instigated by "yellow journalism", and supported by those who believed in the superiority of the Anglo-Saxon over other races, businessmen in search of new markets, Christians in search of converts, and Social Darwinists seeking to transform barbaric lands into civilizations, the U.S. entered into war with the Spanish. As a prize for its victory in the Spanish American War, the U.S. acquired Puerto Rico and the Philippines. The U.S. also took control of the Hawaiian Islands, Guam, and a portion of Samoa at this time. Joining the U.S. as a new member of the group of colonial powers was Japan. Taiwan and a portion of Manchuria were ceded to Japan after the Sino-Japanese War in 1894 and Korea fell under its effective control after the Russo-Japanese War in 1905. The Taft-Katsura Agreement of 1905 formed the basis for official, mutual recognition of Japanese and America's respective claims in Korea and the Philippines. The Root-Takahira Agreement of 1908 strengthened the 1905 agreement and laid the basis for maintenance of the status quo, in as much as it did not include recognition of Japan's later incursions into China, until the outbreak of the Pacific War.

In 1918, the United States's President, Woodrow Wilson, gave hope to nations such as the Philippines who had been denied self determination when he promoted the League of Nations and delivered his famous Fourteen Points speech which states:

A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

In regard to these essential rectifications of wrong and assertions of right we feel ourselves to be intimate partners of all the governments and peoples associated together against the Imperialists. We cannot be separated in interest or divided in purpose. We stand together until the end...

Both the March 1st Movement in Korea and the May 4th Incident in China of 1919 were appeals to the message articulated by Wilson but it would take another generation and a second world war (one in which the Imperial possessions of the Pacific were directly involved) before these appeals would be given any serious consideration.

The Japanese were no less Imperialists than the worst of the ABCD Powers but they effectively twisted the racism of the West against their enemies and held out the hope of independence to the nations of Southeast Asia to gain their support in the war effort (the "ABCD Powers" was a common acronym used by the Japanese in the World War II era propaganda for America, Britain, China, and the Netherlands [Dutch]). These excerpts from "the OFFICIAL GAZETTE of the Japanese Military Administration in the Philippines" help illustrate both a strategy as well as the underlying intent of Imperial Japan during the Pacific War:

ORDER No. 1 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMISSIONS AND CREATION OF SIX DEPARTMENTS

"...Each department shall have at its head a 'Commissioner,' who shall execute an administration within his jurisdiction under the control of the 'Chairman of the Executive Commission.'

"Each department shall have a Japanese adviser and Japanese assistant advisers.

"3. The Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Forces shall exercise jurisdiction over judicial courts.

"4. A 'Commissioner' for each department constituting the central organization shall be appointed on [the Chairman's] recommendation by the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Forces.

"As regards the appointments of other important officials...you [the Chairman] shall have an approval [sic] of the Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Forces.
"...COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE FORCES IN THE PHILIPPINES

January 23d, 1942 (the 17th year of Showa)."

[Official positions held by noteworthy Filipinos during the Occupation:] Jorge B. Vargas, Chairman of the Executive Commission
Jose P. Laurel, Commissioner of the Interior; Commissioner of Justice
Claro M. Recto, Commissioner of Education, Health, and Public Welfare
Benigno S. Aquino, Vice President and Director General, KALIBAPI; Commissioner of the Interior

Address by HIS EXCELLENCY, LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIZUITI TANAKA, COMMANDER-IN CHIEF OF THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE FORCES IN THE PHILIPPINES, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Fall of Bataan, delivered at the New Luneta, Manila, April 11, 1943:
"Today, when we are commemorating the first anniversary of the Fall of Bataan, let us carry our thoughts back to the events..., against the wishes and intentions of the Imperial Japanese Forces, and in spite of their repeated attempts to prevent this unnecessary shedding of Filipino blood.

"...the forces directly opposing the Japanese and bearing the brunt of the onslaughts were composed entirely of Filipino youths-the very people that the Japanese had come to liberate and befriend.

"For forty long years, the Americans had carried on their wily propaganda through various agencies, and their messages had seeped into the subconscious minds of every Filipino, until American propaganda was deeply ingrained in the brain cells of the entire nation...

"If [the Americans] had cared for their "little brown brothers" and earnestly desired to shower upon them the blessings of their so-called "democracy," why did they not give the Filipino people a chance to decide for themselves their own fate by having allowed them to voice their own choice on war or neutrality?

"...Today, the national ambition is fast becoming an actuality. With the formal reiteration of Premier Tozyo on January 28th, the independence of the Philippines is no longer the empty dreams of Filipino patriots or the sham promises of American politicians, but an imminent reality materializing day by day, hour by hour..."

Address by HIS EXCELLENCY, GENERAL HIDEKI TOZYO, PREMIER OF JAPAN, at the ceremonies held by the Filipino people in thanksgiving to the Great Japanese Empire at the New Luneta, Manila, Thursday morning, May 6, 1943:
"It gives me unbound satisfaction... to behold, with my own eyes this impressive spectacle of never-ending columns of staunch and loyal Filipino friends and collaborators who are gathered here before me so full of hope and determination.

"...The present war is highly significant to all the peoples of Greater East Asia because it is a gigantic war which is being waged on the moral and ethical justification of liberating, from their age-old bondage, the one billion peoples of East Asia and, as such, it is therefore a sacred war of salvation, not a war of conquest or territorial aggrandizement... It is now only a question of time when these far-flung military and naval campaigns will bear fruit and the enemy forces will be dealt such decisive defeat and annihilation at the hands of the relentless and invincible Japanese forces, that they will never again be able to contaminate Oriental soil.

PROCLAMATION No. 10 CALLING UPON THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES TO PROPERLY OBSERVE MARCH 6, 1943, THE BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY OF HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY, THE EMPRESS.
"...Whereas, on this day it is but fitting and proper that we who are living under the aegis of the Great Japanese Empire should show our loyalty to the Imperial Family and our appreciation of the benevolence and magnanimity with which the Imperial Japanese Forces have treated and are treating the Filipino People:

"...I hereby call upon the people of the Philippines to properly observe March 6, 1943, by displaying the flag of the Rising Sun in all government offices and private homes.

"...[signed Jorge B. Vargas]
Chairman of the Executive Commission"

EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 20 FIXING THE DATES OF THE LEGAL HOLIDAYS "...the following days shall be observed as legal holidays:
"1. New Year's Day-The first day of January.
"2. Kigen-setu-The eleventh day of February (Empire or Foundation Day).
"3. Holy Thursday and Holy Friday.
"4. Tencho-setu-The twenty-ninth day of April (The Emperor's Birthday).
"4. Meiji-setu-The third day of November (Emperor Meiji's Birthday).
"6. National Heroes Day-The thirtieth day of November.
"7. Christmas Day-The twenty-fifth day of December.
"8. Rizal Day-the thirtieth day of December.
"9. Sundays..."

[April, 1942] STATEMENT ISSUED BY HIS EXCELLENCY, JORGE B. VARGAS,
...REGARDING THE USE OF THE JAPANESE FLAG:
Special attention on the proper use of the flag of the Rising Sun is urged by the Japanese Military Administration in order that no acts of irreverence in the handling of the flag may be committed.

For the information and guidance of the public, the following instructions are given on how to make, hoist and handle the Japanese flag:

I. How to Make the Flag of the Rising Sun-
Correct form of the flag shall be as follows:
1. The length shall be 70, when the width is 100.
2. The diameter of the Sun at the center of the flag shall be 42, when the length is 70. (in other words, 2/5 of the length.)
3. The center of the Sun shall be nearer to the flagpole by 1/100 of the width of the center of the flag.
4. The white spaces above and below the Sun shall be of the same length.)

II. How to Hoist the Flag of the Rising Sun-
...

III. How to Handle the Flag of the Rising Sun-
The flag of the Rising Sun is the symbol of the Empire of Japan. It symbolizes the ardent willpower of the Japanese nationals. Special attention shall be paid in order that no acts of blasphemy shall be committed in the handling of the flag of the Rising Sun, as it is considered to be a sacred object.

EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 41 "WHEREAS, the substitution of the American names of certain streets, boulevards, parks and bridges in the City of Greater Manila with those denoting or referring to purely Japanese or Filipino ideas or persons will be a fitting tribute to the lofty aims of the Great Japanese Empire in establishing the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere under the slogan of "Asia for the Asiatics";

"...the names of the following highways and parks in the City of Greater Manila are hereby changed as hereunder indicated:

Old name Dewey Boulevard Taft Boulevard Harrison Boulevard Jones Bridge Harrison Park Wallace Field, Burnham Green

New name to Heiwa Boulevard to Daito Avenue to Koa Boulevard to Banzai Bridge to Rizal Park to Plaza Bagong Filipinas

[note: Dewey Boulevard was named after Commodore George Dewey who led the American fleet in the defeat of the Japanese in Manila Bay thus assuring the victory over the Spanish in the Philippines; Taft Boulevard was named after the first Governor of the Philippines, William H. Taft, who later served as President of the United States and Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court; Harrison Boulevard was named after another governor, Burton Harrison.]

INSTRUCTION No. 126 TEACHING OF THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS December 24, 1942

The Honorable
The COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, HEALTH
AND PUBLIC WELFARE

"Your are hereby instructed to make the teaching of the Japanese language compulsory...

"(1) The Japanese language shall be taught in all school grades.
"(2)...
"(3) The textbook to be used shall, for the time being, be "HANASI KOTOBA."
"(4) In schools where it is not possible to procure the necessary language instructors,...some delay in the teaching of the Japanese language shall be allowed with the permission of the Japanese Military Administration. However, appropriate measures shall be taken as early as possible to rectify the situation...."
DIRECTOR GENERAL
JAPANESE MILITARY ADMINISTRATION

Report of HIS EXCELLENCY, JORGE B. VARGAS, CHAIRMAN OF THE PHILIPPINE EXECUTIVE COMMISSION, [to] His Excellency, Lieutenant-General Sigenori Kuroda, Highest Commander of the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines,...June 2, 1943:
"...Steps have been taken to require instruction in Nippongo in the public and private schools by conducting normal institutes to prepare Filipino teachers to teach the language..."

Instructions of HIS EXCELLENCY, JORGE B. VARGAS,...in Manila, August 5, 1943:
"...Our nation is today dedicated to the creation of a Philippines of and for the Filipinos. We must, therefore, strive to develop a genuine culture of our own, essentially and enduringly Filipino, founded on our own Filipino language, and free from any sense of inferiority or attachment to Western nations.

"...In the firm conviction that our independence can be preserved only within a league of all the East Asian peoples under the leadership of Japan, we are also resolved to regain our ancient and natural Orientalism, to draw ever closer those ties of race and common habitation which unite us with our kindred Oriental peoples, principally the Great Empire of Japan. We are, therefore, renewing and expanding our knowledge of Oriental culture, especially through a deeper understanding of the true ideals of Nippon, and through a growing use of Nippongo, which is destined to become the bond of language and of culture among the nations of East Asia...."

Speech by the HONORABLE, CLARO M. RECTO, COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND PUBLIC WELFARE,...in Central Luzon on August 5, 1943:
"...I can conceive of no greater single unifying factor among the peoples of East Asia, with their Babel of tongues, than the study and use of a common language in their relations with each other. In view of Japan's position of leadership, Nippongo is bound to be that language."

Address by HIS EXCELLENCY, GENERAL HIDEKI TOZYO, PREMIER OF JAPAN,...May 6, 1943: "...we in Japan are awaiting with just as much expectation as you for the approach of the happy day when the people of the Philippines will win for themselves the great honor of independence and realize its manifold benefits by fullfilling in the shortest possible time all the requirements leading to that cherished goal."

Press statement by HIS EXCELLENCY, JORGE B. VARGAS,...May 5, 1943:
"...The Filipino people are profoundly grateful for this momentous and significant visit of the illustrious Premier General Hideki Tozyo, who, on behalf of the great Imperial Japanese Government and people, has pledged to grant the Filipinos their independence in the shortest possible time on condition that we fully cooperate with Japan in the establishment of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere..."