From Japan Focus Abstract: Indigenous people are often depicted as helpless victims of the forces of eighteenth and nineteenth century colonial empire building: forces that were beyond their understanding or control. Focusing on the story of a mid-nineteenth century diplomatic mission by Sakhalin Ainu (Enchiw), this essay (the first of a two-part series), … [Read more...] about Indigenous Diplomacy: Sakhalin Ainu (Enchiw) in the Shaping of Modern East Asia (1: Traders and Travellers)
Japan Focus
Japan, Australia, and the Rejigging of Asia-Pacific Alliances
From Japan Focus Abstract: Certain fundamentals of the geopolitical frame of inter-state relations in East Asia remain as set around 70-years ago in the wake of the cataclysmic Second World War and subsequent San Francisco Treaty (1951), when the US was undisputed master of the world, China divided and excluded, Korea divided and at war, and Japan occupied. The … [Read more...] about Japan, Australia, and the Rejigging of Asia-Pacific Alliances
The 8th Wonder of the World: Inside Foxconn’s empty buildings, empty factories, and empty promises in Wisconsin
From Japan Focus Introduction Jenny Chan and Mark Selden In the context of transnational production, China remains the heart of Foxconn’s global electronics empire and its profitability. For seventeen consecutive years between 2002 and 2018, Taiwanese-owned Foxconn ranked number one as China’s largest exporter.1 Today it operates more than thirty industrial … [Read more...] about The 8th Wonder of the World: Inside Foxconn’s empty buildings, empty factories, and empty promises in Wisconsin
Korean Repatriation and Historical Memory in Postwar Japan: Remembering the Ukishima-maru Incident at Maizuru and Shimokita
From Japan Focus Abstract: This essay focuses on the historical memory of Korean repatriation in postwar Japan, by examining the commemoration of the Ukishima-maru incident in which thousands of forced laborers died when their ship sank after striking a mine. We show how local memory activists in Maizuru and Shimokita mobilised to present an alternative narrative … [Read more...] about Korean Repatriation and Historical Memory in Postwar Japan: Remembering the Ukishima-maru Incident at Maizuru and Shimokita
Planning for War: Elite Staff Officers in the Imperial Japanese Army and the Road to World War II
From Japan Focus Abstract: The Japanese military was led throughout its history from the 1880s until the end of World War II in 1945 by a small group of elite officers who graduated from the Army War College and then served as staff officers and/or commanders in the Army Ministry, the General Staff headquarters, and in field armies in Manchuria, China proper, and … [Read more...] about Planning for War: Elite Staff Officers in the Imperial Japanese Army and the Road to World War II