SHUN THE MASTER, EMBRACE HIS ENEMY: THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND THE IMAGE OF JAPAN AMONG SOME IGBO COMMUNITIES

One of the existing notions on the issue of colonialism is that the colonial subjects were in total support of their colonial masters’ war efforts during the Second World War. This is far from the truth. Despite the propaganda in British colonies about the inferiority of Japanese goods, most of the societies in our study area found them good and stuck to them. Many legacies exists that stand as testimonies to the rejection of the British and the Allied powers in Igbo land and the support for Japan during the war. For instance, the road leading to the Native Authority Office in Enugu-Ezike was changed to Japan Road, in sympathy for Japan in 1945. In Umuagama, Umuida, Aguibeje and in some other villages in the Enugu-Ezike area of Igboland, there are settlements named after Japan. Recently, Nnewi and Aba - the commercial nerve centre of Igboland - have been dubbed “the Japan of Africa”. It is equally evident that trade relations between the Igbo and the Japanese increased during and after the war. The British colonial officials could not dissuade the subjects through their mercantilist colonial policies to shun goods from outside the British Empire. This begs the questions: what was responsible for this resilience on the part of the colonial subjects? What lessons could all the parties draw from their roles; and how would such lessons help in promoting healthy relations among the players?