Demarcating Japan: Imperialism, Islanders, and Mobility, 1855-1884

This talk will be based on Professor Yamamoto's monograph Demarcating Japan: Islanders, Imperialism, and Mobility, 1855-1884 (Harvard University Asia Center, 2023). It will discuss how the territorial status of remote islands arounds the Japanese archipelago were discussed and negotiated within the international relations of East Asia and the Pacific in the late nineteenth century. The talk will also highlight connections forged by individuals who crisscrossed border regions and enacted violence, exchanged knowledge, and forged friendships. Although their motivations were eclectic and their interactions transcended national borders, the linkages they created were essential in driving territorialization forward. It demonstrates the crucial role of nonstate actors in formulating a territory.

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This event is a part of YCAPS' "Getting to Know Japan Series".

Speaker:

Professor Takahiro Yamamoto, a historian focused on modern East Asia and the Pacific, works at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). He obtained BA (Liberal Arts) at The University of Tokyo, then received MA in Law and Diplomacy at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. His PhD in international history is from London School of Economics (2016). Before coming to SUTD, he held research and teaching positions at University of Heidelberg (Germany), NYU Shanghai, The University of Tokyo, and London School of Economics. His publications include a monograph Demarcating Japan: Islanders, Imperialism, and Mobility, 1855-1884 (Harvard University Asia Center, 2023) and an edited volume Documenting Mobility in the Japanese Empire and Beyond (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022). He has been broadly interested in the history of modern Japan from a global perspective, focusing on border-crossing activities and human mobility control. He is currently working on the history of ID photos in twentieth-century Japan. His research has been funded by, among others, European Association of Japanese Studies, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Baden-Württemberg Foundation, and Japan Science and Technology Agency.

Format: This event will be recorded and published in our web archive. Questions are encouraged during the live event.

Registration: Required Link

Moderator: Amani Kidd, Program Director of Getting to Know Japan

Webinar Cost: Free of charge