Animals and their relationship to Hong Kong people's life during the Japanese Occupation

Abstract

Animals have been an ignored group in the study of Second World War history. Through the perspective of animals, this paper revisits the life of Hong Kong people during the Japanese occupation in various aspects. Animals such as fish, chickens, and pigs were important sources of food, the fluctuation of price and changing supply availability intensified hunger. Not only limited to tigers in Hong Kong Island, wild dogs also walked around the street and threatened people's safety. Rats and insects spread diseases that made health and hygienic conditions even worse. The Japanese authorities also employed animals for propaganda purpose: horse racing became an instrument to promote entertainment and create an atmosphere of prosperity; animals also appeared in the form of cartoon characters in children reading materials and vocabularies for Japanese language learning. All these will help us re-understand the general living conditions in wartime Hong Kong, the role and functions of animals, and the relationship between human activities and animals. More examples in the wider world such as animal festivals and animals as diplomatic agents will also be explored to further demonstrate the theme.