HST6068 The Japanese Empire in East Asia, 1895-1945
15 credits
Module leader: Tehyun Ma
Listed on MA Modern History, MA Global History, MA Historical Research
Module summary
Between 1895 and 1945 Japan joined the ranks of imperial powers in East Asia, acquiring Taiwan, Korea, and ever greater portions of China. This module examines how the Japanese empire was built, run, and resisted. We will ask whether approaches to colonialism honed by historians of Western imperialism work in the Japanese context, and will consider too how Japan's rapid modernisation, political development, and diplomatic and ideological engagement with rival great powers shaped its colonial policy. No prior knowledge of East Asian history is required to take the course.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, you will be able to:
Explain patterns of colonial expansion, rule, and resistance in the Japanese held portions of East Asia between 1895 and 1945
Demonstrate a critical awareness of the historiography on Japanese imperialism in this period
Evaluate key concepts and categories in the history of empire, and an ability to test their applicability to the Japanese context
Demonstrate confidence in expressing ideas verbally, both in individual seminar contribution and group work
Express ideas and evidence through clear and perceptive prose
Assessment methods
Assessment type - % of final mark
3000 word essay - 100%
You will complete a 3000 word essay on a topic related to one of the module's key themes. You will define your own essay topic in discussion with your tutor.
Additional learning and teaching information
Teaching and indicative seminar plan:
The module will be taught in five, two-hour classes. You will also have individual tutorial contact with the module tutor in order to discuss your assessment for this module.
Indicative seminar plan:
Introduction: Japan as a ‘Great Power’, 1895-1945
Building Model Colonies: Korea and Taiwan
Assimilation and Resistance
Tools of Empire: Colonial Science and Knowledge
The Japanese Empire in China: the Puppet State of Manchukuo, 1932-1945
Selected reading:
W.G. Beasley, Japanese Imperialism, 1895-1945 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987)
Leo T.S. Ching, Becoming Japanese: Colonial Taiwan and the Politics of Identity Formation (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001)
Peter Duus, Ramon H. Myers, and Mark Peattie, The Japanese Informal Empire in China, 1895-1937 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989)
Prasenjit Duara, Sovereignty and Authenticity: Manchukuo and the East Asian Modern (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004)
Michele Mason and Helen Lee (eds.), Reading Colonial Japan: Text, Context, and Critique (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2012)
R. H. Myers and Mark Peattie (eds.), The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1895-1945 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987)
Gi-wook Shin and Michael Robinson (eds.), Colonial Modernity in Korea (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2001)
Jun Uchida, Brokers of Empire: Japanese Settler Colonialism in Korea, 1876-1945 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2014)
Louise Young, Japan’s Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture or Wartime Imperialism (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999)