Modern Japanese History
Ph.D. 2011
B.A., Northwestern University, M.A. Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara
My research focuses on the experiences of four groups of Japanese colonial subjects, Ainu, Okinawans, Taiwanese Aborigines, and Micronesian Aborigines by examining three different sites of Japanese empire building. I first explore the human displays held in expositions in Japan and abroad, which featured Japanese colonial subjects, from 1903-1913. Over this span of ten years, I focus on uncovering the stories and experiences of the people who were displayed, namely how they got there, what their experiences were like while on display, and what happened to them after they returned home.
(more...) Next I move historically further into the twentieth century and geographically towards the heart of the empire onto a critique of the so-called tours to the metropolis (naichi kankô) of the second and third decades of the twentieth century that brought Taiwanese and Micronesian Aborigines to the metropolis. Colonial officials hoped that upon seeing the wonders of Japan’s modern empire, participants would return to the colonies and work with colonial officials in implementing projects of hygiene and modernization By uncovering the life stories of several participants who went on such tours I examine the power relations that governed local communities as well as the unstable relations between the Aborigines and the Japanese.
A third site of empire building at work takes me to Hokkaidô. The emergence of tourism there was intertwined with the construction of Ainu villages (Ainu kotan) where Ainu dwellings were reconstructed and everyday activities were performed in an explicit effort to provide Japanese citizens with a glimpse of the last remnants of a supposedly “dying race” (horobiyuku minzoku). Contrary to what many people believed at the time and even today, these villages were not schemes devised purely by Japanese entrepreneurs, but often were only able to function because of the existing cooperation between Ainu leaders and Japanese officials. By exploring further how the business of tourist Ainu villages were run, I hope to illustrate how relationships of power born out of colonial legacies persisted and transformed in the postcolonial age.
