was a youth organization formed on 9 March 1943 by the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

in the occupied Dutch East Indies (present-day

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

). The purpose of the ''Seinendan'' organization was ostensibly to educate and train young people so that they could defend their homeland from

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

. Its real purpose, however, was to prepare the Indonesian youths to assist the Japanese military against the expected

Allied 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 ...

invasion of the

Indonesian archipelago The islands of Indonesia, also known as the Indonesian Archipelago ( id, Kepulauan Indonesia) or Nusantara, may refer either to the islands comprising the country of Indonesia or to the geographical groups which include its islands. History ...

. The organization was considered

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

in nature and under the leadership of the occupation authorities ( ja, 軍政官, Gunseikan). The requirements to become a member proved not too strict and soon there were 35,500 youth members aged 14 to 25 years old from all over

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 ...

. This number had grown to about 500,000 youths by the time Japan surrendered.

References

{{Reflist Child soldiers in World War II Indonesian collaborators with Imperial Japan Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies Military units and formations of Imperial Japan

See also

References