''Asia Raya'' (also spelled ''Asia-Raja''; 'Grand Asia') was a newspaper published in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

(modern day Indonesia) during the Japanese occupation.

Background

When the Japanese Empire occupied the

in 1942, they tasked a group of writers and intellectuals to better integrate the

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

society; this was done in other occupied countries as well. Approximately 190 people of this "Propaganda Division" arrived in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

(modern day Jakarta) in early 1942, including novelist Tomoji Abe. Among their efforts was the founding of a newspaper, entitled ''Asia Raya''. This newspaper involved both Japanese and native persons in his management and publication.

History

The first edition of ''Asia Raya'', totaling four pages in length, was published on 29 April 1942. It was subsequently published daily. The initial print run of 15,000 copies sold at 10 Netherlands Indies cents each. Much of its native editorial staff originated from the Great Indonesia Party (, or Parindra) journal ''Berita Oemoem'', a conservative publication. Others originated from more radical, generally

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

, groups. Within a few weeks of its first issue, the newspaper recorded a circulation of 23,000 - a significant amount compared to newspapers published in the Dutch period. In February 1943, the censorship bureau passed a decree declaring that ''Asia Raya'' could no longer publish four pages daily. Owing to a paper shortage caused by the Japanese war effort, the newspaper was limited to two pages daily, with an option for a four-page edition once a week; the board also called for an increase in subscription fees. This took effect in March of that year. In 1944 a surcharge was added to allegedly help pay the salaries of forced labourers and

Pembela Tanah Air ''Pembela Tanah Air'' (abbreviated PETA; ) or was an Indonesian volunteer army established on 3 October 1943 in Indonesia by the occupying Japanese. The Japanese intended PETA to assist their forces in opposing a possible invasion by the Allies ...

(PETA) troops. On 12 March 1945, ''Asia Raya'' held a round-table conference at Miyako Hotel in Batavia. Numerous speakers from the New Life Movement (), led by

Sukarno Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of ...

and

Mohammad Hatta Mohammad Hatta (; 12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was an Indonesian statesman and nationalist who served as the country's first vice president. Known as "The Proclamator", he and a number of Indonesians, including the first president of Indone ...

, held discourses on ways to invigorate the independence movement. These speakers included future government ministers

Oto Iskandar di Nata Oto Iskandar di Nata (Sundanese: , also spelled Otto Iskandardinata, called Otista and nicknamed Si Jalak Harupat; born 31 March 1897 – disappeared 19 December 1945, retrospectively declared dead 20 December 1945) was an Indonesian politician a ...

and

Maria Ulfah Santoso Maria Ulfah Soebadio Sastrosatomo (18 August 1911 – 15 April 1988), better known by her first married name Maria Ulfah Santoso, was an Indonesian politician and women's rights activist who served as Minister of Social Affairs under Pr ...

, as well as future Prime Minister of Indonesia

Sutan Sjahrir Sutan Sjahrir (5 March 1909 – 9 April 1966) was an Indonesian politician, and revolutionary independence leader, who served as the first Prime Minister of Indonesia, from 1945 until 1947. Previously, he was a key Indonesian nationalist organiz ...

. ''Asia Raya'' published in-depth transcriptions of the proceedings over a period of three days. After the

Proclamation of Indonesian Independence The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence ( id, Proklamasi Kemerdekaan Indonesia, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 on Friday, 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of th ...

on 17 August 1945, ''Asia Raya'' continued to publish. It focused mainly on details of the new native-run government and the

bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki The United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August 1945, respectively. The two bombings killed between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians, and remain the onl ...

. It continued to publish until 7 September 1945, when it ran a large headline reading "''Asia Raya'' Minta Diri" ("''Asia Raya'' Recusing Itself"), ceasing publication due to the change in government. Today, each edition of ''Asia Raya'' has been set on

microfilm Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either photographic film, films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the origin ...

and is held at the

National Archives of Indonesia The National Archives of Indonesia ( id, Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia, ANRI) is the non-departmental government institution of Indonesia responsible for maintaining a central archive. It holds the largest archive collection related to the Du ...

Politics

As a

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

tool, ''Asia Raya'' emphasised Japan's visions for a united, prosperous Asia and minimised any coverage of

Japanese war crimes The Empire of Japan committed war crimes in many Asian-Pacific countries during the period of Japanese militarism, Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Second Sino-Japanese and Pacific Wars. These incidents have b ...

. Where coverage could stir up resentment, the paper presented the subject in a positive light; for example, forced labourers going to work outside of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

were described as heroes. The language used was decidedly pro-Japanese. While Japanese troops were described as "brave" and "powerful", the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

were described as "wavering", "indecisive", and "weak". These portrayals carried over into the newspaper's advertisements.

Notable staff

Oene Djoenaidi Oene Djoenaidi (3 March 1895 – 6 June 1966), better known in Indonesia as R.H.O. Djoenaidi, was an Indonesian businessman. He sponsored the '' Pemandangan'' newspaper and was active in early Indonesian press. Early life Djoenaidi was born on 3 M ...

, deputy director *

Sanusi Pane Sanusi Pane (14 November 1905 – 2 January 1968) was an Indonesian writer, journalist, and historian. He was highly active in literary media, sitting on the editorial boards of several publications. He has also been described as the most import ...

, culture columnist *

Sukarjo Wiryopranoto Soekardjo Wirjopranoto (June 5, 1903 - October 23, 1962) was an Indonesian freedom fighter and National Hero of Indonesia. In 1923, he was a graduate of the Law School in the District Court. Then, he worked in several cities until finally set ...

, director *

Sumanang Suryowinoto Soemanang Soerjowinoto (EYD: Sumanang Suryowinoto, 1 May 1908 – 13 June 1988) was an Indonesian journalist, politician, and banker. Born in Yogyakarta, Soemanang entered journalism after working in law for some time, founding his first newspap ...

, deputy director *

Anwar Tjokroaminoto Oetarjo Anwar Tjokroaminoto (3 May 1909 – 16 November 1975) was an Indonesian politician and journalist. He served as Minister of Social Affairs for a year in the Wilopo Cabinet, and was the Prime Minister of Pasundan for less than a month dur ...

, deputy director

Notable contributors

Several notable writers contributed poems, short stories, and serials to ''Asia Raya'': * Achdiat K. Mihardja, short stories *

Andjar Asmara Abisin Abbas (; 26 February 1902 – 20 October 1961), better known by his pseudonym Andjar Asmara (), was a dramatist and filmmaker active in the cinema of the Dutch East Indies. Born in Alahan Panjang, West Sumatra, he first worked as ...

, short stories and serials *

Bakri Siregar Bakri Siregar (14 December 1922 – 19 June 1994) was an Indonesian socialist literary critic and writer. Biography Siregar was born in Langsa, Aceh, Dutch East Indies, on 14 December 1922. He was active writing by the Japanese occupation in ...

, short stories *

HB Jassin Hans Bague Jassin (31 July 1917 – 11 March 2000), better known as HB Jassin, was an Indonesian literary critic, documentarian, and professor. Born in Gorontalo to a bibliophilic petroleum company employee, Jassin began reading while still in ele ...

, poems and short stories * M. Balfas, short stories *

Roestam Effendi Roestam Effendi (EYD, Perfected Spelling: Rustam Effendi; 13 May 1903 – 24 May 1979) was an Indonesian writer and member of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands. He is known for experimenting with the Malay language in the wri ...

, poems *

Rosihan Anwar Rosihan Anwar (10 May 1922 – 14 April 2011) was a renowned Indonesian journalist and author. Rosihan Anwar was born in Kubang Nan Dua, West Sumatra. Rosihan received his early education at HIS and MULO in Padang. He continued his studies at A ...

, poems and short stories *

Usmar Ismail Usmar Ismail (20 March 1921 – 2 January 1971) was an Indonesian film director, author, journalist and revolutionary of Minangkabau descent. He was widely regarded as the native Indonesian pioneer of the cinema of Indonesia. Biography ...

, poems and short stories *

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

in translation *

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

in translation

Works

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * * * * * {{refend 1942 establishments in the Dutch East Indies 1945 disestablishments in Indonesia 1945 disestablishments in the Dutch East Indies Indonesian-language newspapers Indonesian collaborators with Imperial Japan Military history of Japan during World War II Newspapers established in 1942 Propaganda in Indonesia Propaganda newspapers and magazines Publications disestablished in 1945 World War II propaganda