Symposium organized and ran by Daniel Milne (Kyoto University). Supported by a JSPS Grant (number 20H04434).
This symposium brings together scholars researching the histories, memorialization and forgetting of prisoners and prison camps of the Asia Pacific War.
Follow the below link for the schedule and abstracts.
Symposium Schedule
# All times are in Japan's time zone
Feb 7 (Tue)
16:00-16:10
Daniel Milne (Kyoto U): Opening Comments
16:10-17:40
Panel 1. Prisoners of War and the Japanese Military
Chair: Beatrice Trefalt (Monash U)
Robert Cribb (Australian National U)
POW Statistics And The Bitter Politics Of Comparison
Paul Taucher (Murdoch U)
POW Responses To Captivity And The Protection Of Reputation In Post-War Trials Of Suspected Japanese War Criminals
Sandra Wilson (Murdoch U)
Crashed Airmen As Prisoners Of The Japanese Military
17:45-18:00
Terry Smyth (U of Essex). Book: Captive Fathers, Captive Children
18:10-19:30
Panel 2. Captivity in Singapore.
Chair: Daniel Milne (Kyoto U)
Kevin Peter Blackburn (Nanyang Tech. U., Singap.)
Book: The Comfort Women of Singapore in History and Memory
Kevin Noles (U of Oxford, New College)
Curating Memory: The Commemoration of Indian POWs at the British Commonwealth War Memorial at Kranji, Singap.
Jon Cooper (U of Glasgow)
The Tartan Tenko.
Recorded presentation: Link
Phd link: Link
Feb 8 (Wed)
9:00-10:45
Panel 3. (Trans)imperial and Indigenous Incarceration
Chair: Mahon Murphy (Kyoto U)
Sarah Kovner (Columbia U)
Book: Prisoners of the Empire
Benjamin Hiramatsu Ireland (Texas Christian U)
From the Asia Pacific to Algeria: Carceral Memories of Japanese and North African Internment
Desiree Valadares (U of British Columbia)
Salvage Stories: Uncovering Unangax̂ Confinement Histories at Funter Bay
Anoma Pieris (Melbourne U)
Imperial Amnesias: Japanese Civilian Incarceration in India
11:00-12:30
Panel 4. Dealing with Captivity: Travel, Litigation, and Memory
Chair: David Moreton (Tokushima U)
Timothy Webster (Western New England U)
Selective Liability: Why Does Japan Prefer Asian Victims of War to Western Prisoners of War?
Nipaporn Ratchatapattanakul (Thammasat U)
Return to the ‘Death Railway’: History of ex-POWs’ Traveling to Thailand, 1945-1990s
Alexandra McKinnon (Melbourne U)
“The worst of the memories won’t subside”: C Force, Cultural Memory, and Commemoration
13:30-15:00
Panel 5. Remembering Places of Transit: Internment and Displacement in Oceania
Chair: Anoma Pieris (Melbourne U)
Christine Winter (Flinders U)
Uneven Remembering: The Pacific War and the Tatura Internment Camps in Victoria, Australia.
Rowena Ward (U of Wollongong)
Nouville and Purana Qila Internment Camps
Yasuko Hassall Kobayashi (Ritsumeikan U)
Life in the Meantime: A Case of Japanese POWs in Rabaul
Recorded presentation: Link
15:15-16:45
Panel 6: During and After Internment in Mainland Japan
Chair: Alison Starr (U of Queensland)
Ernestine Hoegen (Indep.)
Diaries, Bodies, and the Book of the Names of the Dead: Memories of the Kamioka POW camp
Mine Takada (POW Research Network)
Naoetsu POW Camp and Peace Memorial Park
Kuniko Takagawa (POW Research Network)
Book: Outsiders’ Pacific War—The Unknown Stories of Westerners in Wartime Karuizawa (Japanese)
Taeko Sasamoto (POW Research Network)
Memorials at Former POW Camps in Japan: History, Current Status and Challenges
16:45-17:00
Daniel Milne: Closing Remarks
This symposium is supported by a JSPS Grant (number 20H04434).