The term was used by the Imperial Japanese Army to refer to psychological warfare operations intended to pacify local populations and accelerate the process of

Japanization Japanization, Japanisation or Japanification is the process by which Japanese culture dominates, assimilates, or influences other cultures. According to ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', "To japanize" means "To make ...

Summary

The first ''senbu'' team was organized in 1932 by (1895–1944), a civilian employed by the Kwantung Army, as part of the preparations for the Battle of Rehe. The term comes from the (宣撫使) envoys dispatched in ancient times by Chinese states to maintain control over regions destabilized by war. Remnants of defeated Chinese armies frequently broke apart into marauding gangs of ''

honghuzi Honghuzi () were armed Chinese robbers and bandits in the areas of the eastern Russia-China borderland. Their activities extended over southeastern Siberia, the Russian Far East, and Northeast China (then known as Manchuria). They operated in ...

'' who terrorized the rural population. This, combined with reports of violence by Japanese forces as well as the general chaos that followed the fires of war, contributed to panic and brought about a collapse of functioning society as masses of civilians fled to urban areas where they could expect protection by

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

ed Japanese troops. According to the

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...

policy (''jianbi qingye'', 堅壁清野) of the

National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...

, retreating Chinese forces routinely destroyed the homes, property, and food supplies of local people. It was not uncommon for Chinese soldiers to simply murder locals in order to prevent them from assisting the Japanese. In the aftermath of this, ''senbu'' teams following the main Japanese force would, through the distribution of

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and ...

and the implementation of Japanese-funded social development projects, attempt to win the hearts and minds of the populace while also restoring the economic strength and social cohesion of society. By building a relationship of trust with the local people, the ''senbu'' projects also had the effect of gaining their voluntary cooperation, including the provision of labor and human intelligence. Continuing to fight a different kind of battle after the shooting had stopped, ''senbu'' operatives were praised as . Athletic events were also organized to improve relations with locals. By restoring the fabric of society, the self-defense ability of rural settlements from bandit raids would be improved. This allowed citizens to better protect themselves from loss of life or property, and at the same time cut the bandits off from their rapport with the apathetic and poorly-educated Chinese populace, who had long since become accustomed to their presence, and their supply of food, "thus bringing about

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Officiall ...

self-annihilation ...". ''Senbu'' operatives operated as forestry and

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply chain ...

supervisors to ensure Chinese guerillas could not hide in densely forested areas. Teams were also deployed to uncover and wipe out cells of Communists, arrest Soviet military spies, and infiltrate the Chinese Communist Party in order to make arrests and assassinations. According to ''senbu'' progenitor Yaginuma Takeshi, .

The scope of ''senbu'' operations

The scope and objective of ''senbu'' operations were summarized as: * stabilization and reassurance of the public psyche * restoration and maintenance of social order * eradication of

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and anti-Japanese ideologies * supervision in the development of local industry, economy, transportation, and culture * cooperation with local authorities in the establishment of a "sound" (i.e. pro-Japanese) government in China

Summary

The scope of ''senbu'' operations

See also

References

Further reading