Editing March First Movement (section)

=== Japanese statements ===
Japan had been conducting a public relations campaign in the U.S. for at least a decade prior to the movement. Information on Korea had previously largely reached the U.S. through well-funded Japanese media channels. These narratives deliberately portrayed Korea as in need of civilizing, and Japan as a positive influence on the peninsula.{{Sfn|Palmer|2020|p=204; 213–214}}

In response to the increasing numbers of foreign inquiries, various Japanese entities released public statements that promoted a range of narratives. Some denied that protests had occurred in Korea at all, some downplayed the scale of them, and some claimed that they had been fully suppressed much earlier than in reality.<ref name="YNA 2019 14"/>{{Sfn|Palmer|2020|pp=208-209}} There are records of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs requesting that the United States and Germany stop their newspapers from publishing claims about the protests that it deemed to be rumors.<ref name="YNA 2019 14"/>

A number of Japanese statements described the protests as the violent riots of extremist upstarts, highlighted Japanese casualties of the protests, and claimed any violence while suppressing the protests was done in self defense.<ref name="YNA 2019 14"/><ref name="YNA 2019 5" /> Some statements, such as one published in the ''[[Great Falls Daily Tribune]]'' on April 15, 1919, portrayed the protests as left-wing [[Bolsheviks|Bolshevik]] uprisings, and portrayed Japan as attempting to halt the spread of communism.{{Sfn|Palmer|2020|p=204}} Many statements blamed Christian missionaries for inciting the unrest.{{Sfn|Palmer|2020|pp=210–211}}{{Sfn|Ku|2021|pp=|p=129}}

In April 1919, Japanese politician [[Gotō Shinpei]] gave a speech at a luncheon attended by U.S. Treasurer [[John Burke (North Dakota politician)|John Burke]]. Gotō argued that Japan was on a civilizing mission in Korea and that its intentions were noble. He blamed reported abuses on low-level colonial authorities. He argued that Korea's annexation was legal, and likened the legal arguments for the annexation to those used to justify the American occupations of [[Puerto Rico]] and [[American Philippines|of the Philippines]].{{Sfn|Palmer|2020|pp=|p=209}}
[[File:Inazo Nitobe LCCN2014686321 cropped.jpg|thumb|177x177px|[[Nitobe Inazō]] argued that Koreans were uncivilized and incapable of self-governance.{{Sfn|Palmer|2020|p=210}}]]
Japanese diplomats published statements in which they claimed Koreans were uncivilized and incapable of self-governance.<ref name="YNA 2019 14"/><ref name="YNA 2019 6" />{{Sfn|Palmer|2020|p=195}} Japanese academic [[Nitobe Inazō]] toured the U.S. and gave speeches and wrote articles promoting these narratives. In a June 24 article, he argued that Koreans were so incapable of self-governance, that if Japan granted them independence for a six-month trial period, they would request to be colonized again.{{Sfn|Palmer|2020|p=210}}

Articles in the colonial government–backed newspaper ''[[Keijō Nippō]]'' echoed these narratives. One such article read:

{{Blockquote|text=Koreans believe that after the President of the United States [Woodrow Wilson] established the League of Nations, even small and weak countries would avoid the domination of Great Powers, and be able to maintain their national independence. How foolish they are! Ah, [you] pitiful Koreans! You are governed by evil thoughts... Awake! Awake! ...If you do not have an understanding of the situation of the world, you will be doomed to perish.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yoshiaki |first=Ishiguro |date=2004-03-30 |title=The Korean Student Movement in Japan and Japanese Anxiety, 1910–1923 |url=https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1390572176391011456 |journal=国際基督教大学学報 3-A,アジア文化研究 |language=en |volume=30 |pages=94–95 |doi=10.34577/00002705 |archive-date=January 26, 2024 |access-date=May 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126091326/https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1390572176391011456 |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

In January 1920, Governor-General Saitō published a four-page statement in the magazine [[The Independent (New York City)|''The Independent'']], in which he argued that Koreans had been exaggerating or completely lying about the protests. He argued that Japan had "no other desire than to improve the condition of the Korean people". He claimed that he would create a government so good that Koreans would choose to abandon their identity in order to become Japanese. His administration published a number of texts in English about Korea, such as ''Pictorial Korea'' and ''Educational Korea'', that promoted these messages.{{Sfn|Palmer|2020|pp=209–210|p=}}