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The Question Of Opium: Money, Morality And Japan’S Transimperial Participation In Opium Regulation, 1868 – 1925, Brian F. Gibb

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

‘The Opium Question’ was not a question, but rather it framed the issue of the under-regulated production, trade and consumption of opium in Asia throughout the nineteenth century. How did opium contribute to Japan’s imperial expansion? Furthermore, how did Japan learn from other imperial powers and use non-state epistemic knowledge to learn to expand its empire? Historians of drugs often use the term prohibition in relation to illicit drugs, when I argue that we should be discussing their regulation. Meiji Japan was faced with the issue of Chinese imperial subjects who were also dependent on opium. As part of the …

Baseball: A Vehicle For Exchange Between Two Complicated Global Powers, Cole W. Tully

Honors Theses

Baseball, America’s “national pastime,” has a similarly prominent role in Japanese culture and the nation’s history. Since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, baseball at professional, collegiate, high school, and youth levels has become increasingly prominent within each nation. As baseball became increasingly central to each nation's social and cultural identities, it also began to play a critical role in furthering the nations’ bilateral relationship.

The paper explores various periods where baseball has influenced diplomatic relations, especially “soft diplomacy” and cultural exchange between each nation’s citizens. This includes baseball’s institutionalization into Japan’s education systems during the Meiji Restoration, as …

Americans In Japan: A Look At Race, Land, And The Colonization Of Hokkaidō In The Meiji Era, Jack Bamford

Senior Projects Spring 2024

The signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Japan and the United States on July 29, 1858 saw the opening of Japan to international relations on a much larger scale than previously experienced, allowing for not just the creation of connections with the Western world, but the transmitting of Western ideas of power and control--namely, the structures of imperialism and colonialism. The research that follows aims to grapple with just how much influence the United States had in the development of Japanese colonialism by looking at the development of Japan’s northern island of Hokkaidō in the Meiji period. …

Japan’S Minorities: Nations Within A Nation, Christopher Shumard

All Theses

This thesis concerns the modern history of Japan’s ethnic minorities. These are the Zainichi Koreans, the Okinawans or Ryukyuan People, and the Ainu. Analyzing the feelings expressed in their literature, the constitution of and shifting nature of each group’s identity is tracked. The central argument of this thesis is that there is something innate to the human adherence towards group identity. It is the goal of this work to prove this claim through Japan’s three ethnic minorities which demonstrated this shared tendency and desire for a solid group identity around which individuals clustered under dire circumstances. These circumstances originated with …

Caron's Japan: Tokugawa State And Society Through A European Lens, Cegan Hinson

Student Research Submissions

Dutch East India Company (VOC) merchant François Caron describes Tokugawa Japan as a rigid political hierarchy controlled by the Shogun, similar to the governments established by absolute monarchs in Europe. Caron understands and insightfully describes Tokugawa society by emphasizing perceived and real similarities between Tokugawa Japan and Early Modern Europe. He struggles to understand religious differences between these societies, but his description of Japanese religious practices still reflects how the Shogunate utilized Buddhism and anti-Christian policies to uphold their rule. Caron also depicts Tokugawa Japan as a land of plentiful resources prime for lucrative trade. He includes the writings of …

Japanese Colonialism: Unraveling The Complex Historiography And Cultural Genocide In The Korean Peninsula, Madison Huckabay

History | Senior Theses

Upon the influence of western imperialism reaching East Asia, Japan began its own imperial conquests as it worked to establish itself as a world power alongside Russia and Western powers. After the first Sino-Japanese war between Qing China and Imperial Japan, China was forced to recognize independence to Korea, along with ceding the Taiwan, Pescadores and Liaodong territories to Japan as of 1895. While Japan initially claimed to promote Korea’s independence and nationalism, they officially ended up annexing Korea as of 1910. From the perspective of the western powers and historians, they were initially optimistic about Japan’s reform on Koreans. …

Erotic Grotesque Nonsense: Veiled Criticism Through Extreme Entertainment, Thoby Jeanty

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This thesis examines the writings of Meiji novelists living during a time of transition. Their writings became known as part of a genre called Erotic Grotesque Nonsense. The genre became defined as engaging in extremes to entertain an audience captivated by the eroticism, grotesque, or even the nonsensical nature of the stories being told. The thesis discovers there is a pressing social commentary on the tumultuous transition to modernity hidden within these works. The traditions established during the Tokugawa era starting from 1603 and lasting until 1867 came under pressure with the start of the Meiji era in 1868. Each …

Imagined Realities: The Rise Of New Wave Cinema In Post-War Japan, Asia Miro Smudde Tom

Senior Projects Spring 2022

Project Submitted to the Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

My thesis explores cinematic representation in post-war Japan leading up the the New Wave movement. I examine the work of Yasujiro Ozu and Sun Tribe youth films and their relationship with conventions of cinema to bring awareness to narrative constructions of historical periods.

Bringing The Japanese Occupation Of Korea To High School Classrooms, Bree Rosenberger

Honors Projects

Bringing the Japanese Occupation of Korea to High School Classrooms is a set of three units on the occupation, designed using the Inquiry Design Model from the C3 Teachers. Each unit corresponds to a major time period in the occupation; unit one covers 1876-1919, unit two 1919-1931, and unit three 1931-1945. This project aimed to provide a way to teach the occupation in a manner friendly to high school students and presents an opportunity to align content more fully with the philosophy of social studies education. Finally, it presents a way to teach East Asian history actually from an East …

'Seeds Of Happiness': An Oral History Of Members Of Soka Gakkai International-New Orleans, Lorvelis Amelia Madueño

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a Japanese new religious movement present in 192 countries. Despite the substantial amount of academic work that has been produced on SGI’s overseas expansion, many scholars continue to overlook the local context when analyzing the organization’s global presence. This paper is based on oral history interviews and examines the experiences of five members of the SGI-USA New Orleans Buddhist Center, located in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. This thesis argues that many SGI practitioners choose to join and remain in the organization because it fills specific spiritual and emotional voids in their lives, creates …

Youth In World War Ii, Alyson Griggs

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This thesis project consists of two focuses. The first part focuses on the experiences of Japanese American adolescents who were interned with their parents at the Central Utah Relocation Center during World War II. Although these students were born in the United States and therefore U.S. citizens, they were considered "Japanese" by the U.S. government and many of its citizens. When the U.S. government forcibly removed Japanese American youth and their families from the West Coast, this heavily affected Japanese American youth's perceptions of themselves and the country of their birth. This portion of the project includes a digital exhibit, …

The Transition Of Guanyin: Reinterpreting Queerness And Buddha Nature In Medieval East Asia, Robert Wilf

Religious Studies Honors Papers

Avalokitesvara, better known by the Chinese name of Guanyin, is perhaps the second most pervasive figure in all of Buddhism after the historical Buddha himself. Part of this popularity comes from his adaptability and willingness to change to order to save everyone, no matter what part of society they might be from. It is thanks to this adaptability that Guanyin’s iconography varies wildly by region, with much of Theravada and tantric Buddhism depicting him as a man, while Mahayana Buddhism tends to revere her as the patron of women. From their earliest description, Guanyin was known to transcend boundaries to …

A Reexamination Of Emperor Hirohito's Military And Political Role In Wartime Japan, 1926-1945, Kazuaki Suhama

History Undergraduate Theses

This paper discusses and reexamines Emperor Hirohito’s degree of responsibility in Japan’s military aggression in China during the late 1920s and 1930s to the attack on Pearl Harbor in the United States during World War II. Scholars have long debated the extent of Hirohito’s role as a warmonger due to his ambiguous position as a head of state and the lack of primary evidence displaying his actions and thoughts on the war. This paper will utilize the Constitution of the Empire of Japan of 1889 (informally known as the Meiji Constitution) which delineated the emperor’s supreme position in the government …

In The Shadow Of Shuri Castle: The Battle Of Okinawa In Memory, Blake Altenberg

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

The memory of the battle of Okinawa was shaped by politics. The memory of the battle for Okinawans emphasizes war crimes committed against them and the devastating impact that was inflicted upon their peaceful island. Their emphasis on sole victimization led to other Okinawan narratives being either downplayed or outright denied. To remove American bases off their island, gain recognition for Japanese atrocities plus reparations, the Okinawans portrayed themselves as a peaceful people that were the sole victims of the battle of Okinawa. The United States glossed over the crimes committed by the Japanese on Okinawa and Asia to use …

Battlefield Mementos Care Of And Restitution Of Japanese 'Good Luck Flags' And Cultural Heritage Objects From War In Museum Collections, Andrew Armstrong

Master's Projects and Capstones

In World War II one of the most common objects found on the battlefield in the Pacific Theater was that of the Japanese Yosegaki Hinomaru or “Good Luck Flag” These objects were some of the most looted items from the war and soon found themselves in the possession of veterans of World War II and their families. In the past few decades as these veterans pass, increasing numbers of veterans and their families attempt to return the flags to Japan, or museums in the United States, believing they are the most suited to care for such objects. However this presents …

Professional Heartbreakers: Male Entertainers And The Divide Between Popular Culture And History In Japan, Meradeth Lin Edwards

Theses

While prostitution in Japan is widely studied, there are seldom specific examinations of males in these roles. This paper uses primary sources and secondary sources to study men as purchasable commodities, and how these roles have shaped the fictional world as well as the real world in Japan.

Betraying Revolution: The Foundations Of The Japanese Communist Party, Matthew J. Crooke

Master's Projects and Capstones

With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and China’s restoration of capitalism, it is easy to dismiss the relevancy of socialism today. Yet, the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) has enjoyed success at the polls and recognition as a serious opponent of the government of Abe Shinzō. The JCP however is not making a push for power. Instead, it supports liberal opposition parties, most recently throwing its weight behind the new Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) in the October 2017 general election. A future CDP government in Japan could include the JCP as a coalition partner. Does …

Comfort Women: The Unrelenting Oppression During And After Wwii, Alexandrea J. Riddell

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Comfort women is a term used to describe approximately two-hundred thousand young women that were forced into sexual slavery. While the physical torture of the women ended after the war, the conflict over the government’s role in recognition and restitution of comfort women between the Japanese and the comfort women continues to be heated on both sides with little end in sight. By analyzing the testimonies, I explore the horrendous torture of the women by the Japanese army. Furthermore, the paper reveals the present-day struggles of these women for recognition and compensation. The plight of the comfort women will continue …

The American Impact On The Evolution Of The Japanese Women’S Rights Movement, Caitlin Tripp

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of America’s influence on Japanese women’s efforts to obtain equal rights. America’s role in various Japanese women’s rights groups and movements has been the subject of essays and theses in the past, yet the topic is generally centered specifically on the period during the American occupation following World War II in 1945. This paper aims to take a broader look at Japanese Women’s Rights efforts before and after the war to garner a better understanding of the ways in which the American influence aided in the development of the movement. …

Knowledge And Power In Occupied Japan: U.S. Censorship Of Hiroshima And Nagasaki, May E. Grzybowski

Senior Projects Spring 2018

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Native Roots And Foreign Grafts: The Spiritual Quest Of Uchimura Kanzō, Christopher Andrew Born

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Between 1875 and 1890, Japanese academics, writers, legal experts, and intellectuals discussed and debated a host of new ideas and programs in the rapidly-expanding national media. Of great consequence were the 1890 Imperial Rescript on Education and the Meiji Constitution. The first sought to establish a strong nativist basis for a Japanese identity under the aegis of an imperial hegemon. The second sought to create a structure for modern citizenship based on Western notions of law and social contract. These seemingly antithetical documents came to symbolize the problematical status of the individual in Meiji Japan. They would become the touchstone …

Manipulated Museum History And Silenced Memories Of Aggression: Historical Revisionism And Japanese Government Censorship Of Peace Museums, Benjamin P. Birdwhistell

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The Japanese government has a vested interest in either avoiding discussion of its war-torn past or arguing for a revisionist take. The need to play up Japanese victimization over Japanese aggression during World War II has led to many museums having their exhibits censored or revised to fit this narrative goal. During the 1990’s, Japan’s national discourse was more open to discussions of war crimes and the damage caused by their aggression. This in turn led to the creation of many “peace museums” that are intended to discuss and confront this history as frankly as possible. At the beginning of …

The Scars Of War: The Demonic Mother As A Conduit For Expressing Victimization, Collective Guilt, And Forgiveness In Postwar Japanese Film, 1949-1964, Sophia Walker

Honors Projects

Contemporary American viewers are familiar with the vengeful and terrifying ghost women of recent J-Horror films such as Ringu (Nakata Hideo, 1998) and Ju-On (Shimizu Takashi, 2002). Yet in Japanese theater and literature, the threatening ghost woman has a long history, beginning with the neglected Lady Rokujo in Lady Murasaki’s 11th century novel The Tale of Genji, who possesses and kills her rivals. Throughout history, the Japanese ghost mother is hideous and pitiful, worthy of fear as well as sympathy, traits that authors and filmmakers across the centuries have exploited. This project puts together four films that have never before …

History And Context: Late Meiji (1905-1912) Narratives Of The Imjin War (1592-8), Brian Heise

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From a foreign policy perspective, Japan's Meiji period (1868-1912) invites comparison with the regime of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-98), the warlord who united Japan at the end of a 150 year period of civil war: in both times, the state leadership of the archipelago sought to expand its authority onto mainland Asia through both war and negotiation. These two period stand out in Japanese history as examples of only a very few instances when Japanese states had taken such an interest in continental affairs. Writers who recounted the story of Hideyoshi and his continental ambitions at the close the the Meiji …

The Brush Is Mightier Than The Bayonet: The Role Of Cooperation With The Art And Media Communities Of Japan During The American Occupation, William B. Carpenter

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

The Way Of The Gods: The Development Of Shinto Nationalism In Early Modern Japan, Chadwick Mackenzie Totty

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research looks at the development of Shinto nationalism in Edo Period Japan (1603-1868). It focuses on the development of intellectual thought and the relationship between the kogaku school in Japanese Confucianism and the kokugaku school in Shintoism. The primary goal is to demonstrate that there was a trend wherein members of these two schools looked back to the past in order to rediscover a lost utopia and Way. This study examines the works of Yamaga Soko, Itō Jinsai, Ogyū Sorai, Kamo no Mabuchi, and Motoori Norinaga to demonstrate how this line of thought helped contribute to the development of …

Ancient Magic And Modern Accessories: Developments In The Omamori Phenomenon, Eric Teixeira Mendes

Masters Theses

This thesis offers an examination of modern Japanese amulets, called omamori, distributed by Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines throughout Japan. As amulets, these objects are meant to be carried by a person at all times in which they wish to receive the benefits that an omamori is said to offer. In modern times, in addition to being a religious object, these amulets have become accessories for cell-phones, bags, purses, and automobiles. Said to protect people from accidents, disease, loneliness, failure, computer viruses, among many other things, these objects are one of the few material aspects of religion that are a …

The Art Of Crime, Irenae A. Aigbedion

Senior Theses and Projects

Studies of the yakuza generally agree that full body tattoos would be one of the hallmarks of the criminal bands, simply another intimidation tactic. This mindset most likely comes from the idea that centuries ago, criminals tattooed as punishment would often seek out tattoo artists to convert their punitive markings into decorative ones. In attempting to hide the perhaps shameful proof of their misdeeds and their exclusion from society, criminals unconsciously used tattoos as a way to prove that they were still included in the group that rejected them. Still, with the negative view of tattooing that remains to this …

The Pacific War Crimes Trials: The Importance Of The "Small Fry" Vs. The "Big Fish", Lisa Kelly Pennington

History Theses & Dissertations

In the post-World War II era, the Allied nations faced multiple issues, from occupying the Axis countries and rebuilding Europe and Japan to trying war criminals for atrocities committed prior to and during the war. War crimes trials were an important part of the occupation process and by conducting the trials, the Allied nations hoped not only to punish war criminals, but to provide examples of democratic principles to the former Axis powers and deter future wartime atrocities. When considering war crimes trials, it is most often Nuremberg that comes to mind, and it is Nuremberg that has dominated much …

Legacy Of Tiananmen: The Sino-Japanese Relationship Post 1989, Christine Somemiya

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis explores Chinese Communist Party's political use of history as a fuction to conduce patriotism and to legitimize Party rule. The research initially focused on how anti-Japanese sentiments have grown in China since the Tiananmen demonstrations in 1989 and after the esablishment of a new educational system in 1991. It then explores the impact of CCP's bias referral to conservative Japanese textbooks and views of history. These studies suggested that under the Patriotic Education Campagin and CCP's representation of Japanese right wing textbooks in China, the state has established methods to control the anti-Japanese sentiments to take focus away …