The next meeting of the Japanese History Group (JHG) at the Institute of Social Science (ISS), University of Tokyo, will be held on Tuesday, November 20, at 4:30 PM in Conference Room 1 (Dai-ichi kaigishitsu) of the Institute of Social Science Building.

Presenter: Dolf-Alexander Neuhaus (Research Fellow, Free University Berlin)

Title: ‘Entangled Asia: Korean Students and Regional Consciousness in Japan 1880 – 1920'

Discussant: HIroki NAGASHIMA (Associate Professor, Saga
University)

Abstract:
This project explores the regional interactions and entanglements of Korea and Japan within the context of globalization and Japanese expansion during the late 19th and early 20th century. Although it is commonplace that the diffusion of ‘Western’ knowledge via Japan to adjacent Asian countries played a significant role in the process of modernization of the latter, the interaction of East Asians with Japanese society constitutes a far less investigated field of research.
Still, research on the subject largely focuses either on the role of overseas students to Japan in modernizing their home countries or on Japan’s intermediary role in modernizing East Asia. Thus, most often it remains within the confines of the national history paradigm.
However, increased mobility, international exchange and the resulting interaction profoundly transformed not only sending societies but also Japanese society.
Therefore, I argue, Japanese historic relations with Korea were not merely one directional in terms of cultural transfer but rather possessed a reciprocal element – even under the auspices of Japanese hegemony.
The project thus intends to show how a regional consciousness among Japanese was first formed and later transformed by transnational interaction and cultural transfer between Korean and Japanese actors.
To this end, I delve into the entanglements of modern Japan within emerging regional networks of Korean students and Japanese actors in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Focusing on the interaction between Korean overseas students and Japanese society at various contact zones offers the opportunity to highlight the important role played by Korean actors in shaping modern Japanese society. While the prominent role China played in the formation of modern Japan is well known, Korea’s part most often is seen through the lens of Japanese imperialism that did not allow for a considerable transfer of culture and knowledge from Korea to Japan. However, I argue, that the agency of Korean students was in fact significant for the Japanese perception of Korea.
Korean students’ interaction with Japanese actors was closely related to the given political, ideological and religious framework. Had Korean students come to Japan in very few numbers in early years, after the permanent incorporation of Korea into the Japanese Empire in 1910 their number kept steadily rising. As anti-Japanese sentiment constantly grew among Koreans in Japan, surveillance of Koreans in Japan was also strengthened.
Yet, the Korean students were not secluded from the outside world, namely the Japanese society that surrounded it. In fact, Korean students met and interacted even with prominent Japanese like Fukuzawa Yukichi and Yoshino Sakuzō at various institutions and contact zones ranging from universities, panasianist societies to churches, Buddhist temples and sport clubs. Within this framework of institutions the interaction of Koreans and Japanese, that often helped to shape the perception of the particular ‘other’, are examined in a series of case studies. These are based on Japanese and Korean language sources such as letters, articles etc. written by Japanese intellectuals, professors and students on their “Korean experience”.

4:30 P.M., Tuesday, 20 November 2012
University of Tokyo (Hongo Campus)
1st floor, Institute of Social Science Bldg.
Conference Room 1 (Dai-ichi kaigishitsu) For directions, please see:

http://jww.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/guide/

The JHG is a a forum for scholars to present their research on topics related to Japanese history and culture in a bilingual English/Japanese environment. In the interest of promoting dialogue, the forum will provide a discussant chosen for his/her familiarity with the theme or approach of the presenter's research.
The JHG is open to the public. For more information, please contact Naofumi Nakamura (naofumin[at]iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp).

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Dr. Naofumi NAKAMURA
Professor of Business History
Institute of Social Science,
The University of Tokyo