HIST 76A: Japanese Imperialism and the East Asian Modern

This course examines how one of the most important but least studied empires of the modern world reshaped the culture and politics of East Asia.   By the early 1940s the Japanese empire encompassed some 200 million subjects, stretching from the cold northern woods of Sakhalin Island to the tropical rain forests of the Indonesian Archipelago.  Rather than treating the Japanese empire as exceptional, we will use it to explore the nature of modern imperialism, asking how its study might reshape broader understandings of empire and its consequences.  Limited primary source readings, ranging from manifestos and conference transcripts to fiction and woodblock prints, will be paired with classic and cutting-edge scholarly writings.