Manchuria Under Japanese Dominion - (Encounters with Asia) by Shin'ichi Yamamuro (Hardcover)

About the Book

From 1932 until the end of World War II, the Japanese established and maintained by bloody rule a puppet regime in the Chinese region of Manchuria. Yamamuro Shin'ichi's extraordinary book rereads this occupation under new light.

Book Synopsis

From 1932 until the end of World War II, the Japanese established and maintained by bloody rule a puppet regime in the Chinese region of Manchuria. This region was composed of three northern provinces in China; the puppet ruler was the last Chinese Emperor, Pu Yi, and this rich industrial region was clearly coveted and managed by the Japanese as a critical element in their imperial dominion.

Yamamuro Shin'ichi's extraordinary book rereads this occupation under new light. The author shows that right-wing Japanese military and civilian groups thought of construction in this sparsely populated region as an effort to build a paradise on earth, with roots deep in Asian traditions. At the same time, Chinese and Korean populations in the region were abused by the Japanese military, and many Japanese were deliberately misinformed about what was being done in their name. Yamamuro examines the policies and events unfolding on the ground during this time. With close attention to the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans involved, and the links between the military and the home islands, he offers his own overall assessment of this distinctive instance of state-building. Making use of numerous sources in Chinese and Japanese, from legal documents and government decrees to memoirs and poetry, Manchuria Under Japanese Dominion goes beyond rhetoric to provide a unique assessment of the history of this period.

Review Quotes

"Long-awaited . . . well done . . . elegant . . . timely."-- "Journal of Japanese Studies"

About the Author

Yamamuro Shin'ichi is Professor of History and Politics at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at Kyoto University. He is the author of numerous books in Japanese, including Questioning the Meaning of Modern Japan and Representations of Mutual Understanding and Misunderstanding Among Japan, China, and Korea. Joshua A. Fogel is Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of many books, including The Literature of Travel in the Japanese Rediscovery of China and editor of The Teleolology of the Nation State: Japan and China, also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.