Upcoming Events

Japan in the Long 1940s: A New History

Due to limited seating, in-person attendance will be limited to the first 20 USC faculty and students to RSVP. Please RSVP by Monday, November 29 if attending in-person. All other guests should register to attend virtually via the Zoom webinar.

December 3, 2021 | 10:00AM - 5:00PM
SPEAKERS | FLYER 

While there have been many studies and conferences on colonial, wartime, and postwar Japan, there has been much less attention paid to the connections between the era of total war and military occupation during the 1940s which ultimately shaped how we remember and write about the empire, the war, and contemporary Japan.

This workshop will showcase new, cutting-edge projects that unite the histories of wartime (1937-1945) and occupied Japan (1945-1952). Participants aim to demonstrate the possibilities of thinking about an integrated history of war and defeat in the Japanese context and stimulate new research directions for both Japanese studies and the global history of war mobilization and military occupation in the twentieth century. Furthermore, we hope to use the workshop as a vehicle for exploring and sharing new methodologies and sources in the writing of modern Japanese history.

During the one-day workshop, eight scholars will present papers that incorporate the histories of wartime and early postwar Japan from multiple perspectives, using different methodologies and sources. Sabine Frühstück (UC Santa Barbara) and Laura Hein (Northwestern University) will serve as workshop discussants.

Co-sponsored by the USC East Asian Studies Center and Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Cultures, with additional support by the Center for International Studies and Korean Studies Institute.

Morning Session

THE INVENTION OF THE KAMIKAZE
Nick Kapur

FOOD POLITICS: RE-EXAMINING THE WARTIME AND OCCUPATION PERIODS
Hiromi Mizuno

BITTERSWEET AFTER-WAR: CHOCOLATES AND CHEWING GUM IN DEFEATED JAPAN
Benjamin Uchiyama

YAGI YOSHINOSUKE AND THE WARTIME ROOTS OF LAND REFORM DURING THE ALLIED OCCUPATION
Timothy Yang

Afternoon Session

IN PRAISE OF 'MIXED BLOOD': IMPERIAL AND RACIAL EXPANSION IN IMPERIAL JAPAN 
Kristin Roebuck

SPY! THE BATTLE OF OKINAWA AND THE LEGACY OF ESPIONAGE: THE REAL SECRET AGENTS, EXECUTED 'TRAITORS,' AND THE HUNT FOR THE ENEMY WITHIN 
Kirsten Ziomek

PROSPECTING THE RUINS: MAPPING THE SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY OF BOMB DESTRUCTION IN URBAN JAPAN
David Fedman

A CRISIS OF SHELTER: URBAN DESTRUCTION AND PUBLIC HOUSING IN 1940S JAPAN
John Leisure