News
News (Event Report). This Workshop, titled: "The Peripheries of Occupation: New Frontiers in the study of US Occupied Japan," is an analytical history of the occupation time in Japan.
This event held in the Kinugasa Campus, on Friday, May 16, 2014, hosted by the Ritsumeikan Global Innovation Research Organization (R-GIRO) under research program namely "Research Core for Peace with Ritsumeikan Interdisciplinary Studies." The co-hosts are Ritsumeikan University's College of International Relations, the Global Civil Society Research Group at the Institute of Humanities, Human and Social Sciences. The workshop invited two speakers Dr. Juha Saunavaara (the University of Oulu, Finland) and Dr. Thomas French (Ritsumeikan University, Japan). The discussant was Professor Sugita Yoneyuki (Osaka University, Japan) and the moderator was Professor Adachi Kenki (Ritsumeikan University, Japan).
Dr. Juha Saunavaara’s paper, titled: "The Making of Postwar Hokkaido - Legacy of the Allied Occupation in Periphery," spotlights the process of recreating area in the allied occupation of Japan and figures out the extent the postwar era legacy has remained in the peripheral region namely Hokkaido. In particular, Dr. Saunavaara investigates the dynamics and the interconnectedness between the administration, the economy and the party politics in the making of postwar Hokkaido.
On the other hand, Dr. Thomas French highlights issues in the first years of postwar period in Japanese sea. Dr. French’s work, titled: “Dangerous Waters: The Mass Seizures of Japanese Fishing Vessels in Early Postwar Period," looks at the series of seizures of Japanese fishing boats by other states or governments during the allied occupation of Japan (1945-1952). As an ongoing research, his presentation provides historical significance, new interpretations, and further questions to the facts surrounding the seizures of fishing boats in the postwar years.
Both speakers and discussant shed lights on the other sides of the occupation time in the Japanese history by actualizing aspects that so far have been neglected. Undoubtedly, these two analysis have, to some extent, represented new frontiers in the studies of the allied occupation of Japan.
Approximately 20 participants attended and listened attentively to the resourceful insight and detail material of both speakers that are inspiring and intellectually stimulating. Participants asked questions one after another and enjoyed the lively discussions.
Dr. Juha Saunavaara’s paper, titled: "The Making of Postwar Hokkaido - Legacy of the Allied Occupation in Periphery," spotlights the process of recreating area in the allied occupation of Japan and figures out the extent the postwar era legacy has remained in the peripheral region namely Hokkaido. In particular, Dr. Saunavaara investigates the dynamics and the interconnectedness between the administration, the economy and the party politics in the making of postwar Hokkaido.
On the other hand, Dr. Thomas French highlights issues in the first years of postwar period in Japanese sea. Dr. French’s work, titled: “Dangerous Waters: The Mass Seizures of Japanese Fishing Vessels in Early Postwar Period," looks at the series of seizures of Japanese fishing boats by other states or governments during the allied occupation of Japan (1945-1952). As an ongoing research, his presentation provides historical significance, new interpretations, and further questions to the facts surrounding the seizures of fishing boats in the postwar years.
Both speakers and discussant shed lights on the other sides of the occupation time in the Japanese history by actualizing aspects that so far have been neglected. Undoubtedly, these two analysis have, to some extent, represented new frontiers in the studies of the allied occupation of Japan.
Approximately 20 participants attended and listened attentively to the resourceful insight and detail material of both speakers that are inspiring and intellectually stimulating. Participants asked questions one after another and enjoyed the lively discussions.