Along the Archival Grain 
2 War and the Stage of Colonialism in Southeast Asia 2.1 World War II: The urgency of rice enforcement planting in Southeast Asia
2.1
World War II: The urgency of rice enforcement planting in Southeast Asia
The Japanese invasion of Southeast Asia cannot be separated from the long conflict between Japan and the Republic of China since 1937. Following the conflict was the entry of Japanese troops into northern Vietnam under French colonial authorities and the landing of 30.000 soldiers in southern Vietnam. In order to restrain further aggression, the United States (as part of the Western Allies) froze funds and embargoed Japan. On 7 December 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, which marked their involvement in World War II.
While their military forces in China required food, Japan had a critical agricultural problem due to food shortages, limited farmland, and labor shortages in its agriculture sector. Japan’s colonies, Taiwan and Korea, also experienced domestic food shortages during 1940-1941 due to drought. Thus, Southeast Asia was pivotal to securing wartime supplies, namely petroleum, bauxite, and food. Japanese troops landed in Malaysia in 1941, occupied the Philippines between 1942 and 1945, and colonized Indonesia from 1942 to 1945.
ReferencesDanquah, Francis K. 1990. “Japan’s Food Farming Policies in Wartime Southeast Asia: The Philippine Example, 1942-1944” in Agricultural History, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Summer, 1990), pp. 60-80.
Kratoska, Paul H. 1998. Food Supplies and the Japanese Occupation in South-East Asia. Edited by Paul H. Kratoska. Houndmills: Macmillan and New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998. Pp. 1-7. 
ARCHIVES OF WWII
I. “An American warplane fell on the battlefield in the Philippines,” documented in Djawa Baroe, 6th Edition, year 2604 (1994)
USS Arizona burned for two days after being hit by a Japanese bomb in the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_USS_Arizona_(BB-39)_burning_after_the_Japanese_attack_on_Pearl_Harbor_-_NARA_195617_-_Edit.jpg 
II. Footage of Japanese troops on a battlefield, estimated to be in Manchuria.
Title: Tentera Darat Nippon-PGM5220512
Video: unknown
Date: 1 January 1941
USS Arizona burned for two days after being hit by a Japanese bomb in the attack on Pearl Harbor.Source: This film is a collection of propaganda videos by Japan, released by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision after research in cooperation with NHK Enterprises (Japanese Public Broadcaster) in 2020. 
Further information:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pengawal_Gerak_-_Gerik_Moesoeh_di_Laoet.webm
III. “Spies of the enemies’ movements in the sea” is a video footage narrated in Indonesian language, which propagates to “destroy America/England as our enemies” in World War II.
Title: Pengawal Gerak – Gerik Moesoeh dari Laoet-PGM5221046
Video: unknown
Date: 1 January 1942Source: This film is a collection of propaganda videos by Japan, released by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision after research in cooperation with NHK Enterprises (Japanese Public Broadcaster) in 2020. File: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n-wl2H-_1whBKWeIyDnxTsekJHkh_wKM/view?usp=share_link
Further information: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pengawal_Gerak_-_Gerik_Moesoeh_di_Laoet.webm
ARCHIVES OF RICE PLANTING ENFORCEMENT IN SEA
One of the purposes of invasion in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, was to fulfill war necessities, from fuel to food. This archive is Japanese propaganda that shows Java as a place to “fulfill production needs” and secure food supply, namely rice. There is a trivia on how to cook rice wholeheartedly to gain its nutritional advantage. Source: Djawa Baroe, 2nd Edition, year 2605 (1945).
PERTANIAN _ USAHA PANGAN_db 1945 ed 2.pdf
