The Boundaries of ‘the Japanese’: Volume 2: Korea, Taiwan and the Ainu 1868-1945

This the parallel volume to The Boundaries of ‘the Japanese’: Volume 1: Okinawa 1818-1972, publisher in 2014, renowned historical sociologist Eiji Oguma further explores the fluctuating political, geographical, ethnic, and sociocultural borders of Japan and the Japanese from the latter years of the Tokugawa shogunate to the mid-20th century. Focus is placed first upon the northern island of Hokkaido with its indigenous Ainu inhabitants, and then upon the mainstays of Japan’s colonial empire - Taiwan and Korea.

In continuing to elaborate on the theme of inclusion and exclusion, the author comprehensively recounts and analyzes the events, actions, campaigns, and attitudes of both the rulers and the ruled as Japan endeavoured both to be seen as a strong, civilized nation by the wider world, and to ‘civilize’ its disparate subjects on its own terms.