Page 51 - BUKU A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE IN INDONESIA

A CENTURY OF PARLIAMENTARY LIFE
IN INDONESIA

CHUO SANGI-IN 1942–1945

After its attack on Pearl Harbor on December 8, 1941, Japan directed its Greater

East Asia war towards Southeast Asia. Indonesia became Japan’s main target

due to its rich natural resources.

WITH the fall of Singapore, the Netherlands’ position in Indonesia was
threatened. The Japanese then targeted the oil station in Tarakan, which
it managed to attack and occupy on January 10, 1942. Following the Japa-
nese takeover of Tarakan, Balikpapan fell to the Japanese on January 20,
Pontianak on February 2, Banjarmasin the evening on the same day, and
Palembang on February 14. Once Palembang fell, Java was only one step
away.

Japanese troops entered Java through three sites: Banten, Eretan (West
Java), and Kragan (East Java). It is interesting to note that, generally
speaking, the Japanese troops’ arrival was welcomed by Indonesians. In-
donesian people at that time believed in the Jayabaya prophecy as an ex-
pression of the people’s aspirations for freedom. The Japanese had been
aware of this, so when announcing the Pacific War, the Japanese swiftly
took the opportunity to get the people’s trust by distributing pamphlets
from airplanes.

The pamphlets’ content: The Japanese would soon fulfill Jayabaya’s
promise, that there would be yellow-skinned people from the north who
would come to save the Indonesian people from Dutch colonialism. Sec-
ond, the Japanese’s victory over Russia in 1905 had inspired the emerg-
ing Indonesian nationalists to develop trust.

In the early days of the Japanese occupation in Indonesia, the govern-
ment was temporary, so the Java Military Government Office (Jawa Gun-
seibu) was formed directly under the supervision of the 16th Army Chief
of Staff who was appointed Head of Government.

Military governance in the occupied territories of Indonesia was regu-
lated in two main documents, namely “The principles concerning gov-
ernance in the Occupied South”, formulated in the Liaison Conference
between the Japanese Imperial Headquarters and the Japanese Cabinet

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