Japan and Pacific Empire

Catalog description

This course will explore the rise and fall of the Japanese Empire starting with the Meiji Restoration of 1868 through to the end of the Pacific War and beyond. Examining the implications of empire, we will discover the domestic impact of imperialism on Japanese society at home as well as how the experience of Japanese colonization shaped countries abroad. Countries covered will include Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Manchuria, Micronesia, and multiple nations in Southeast Asia including the Philippines and Indonesia. Finally, we will turn our attention to the continued question of empire in the Pacific after WWII in the form of US occupation, cold war politics, and cultural imperialism.