Rethinking Circulation of Japanese-Language Books between Japan and its Oversea Territories before the World War II

ICC Research Unit “Japanese Literature in Motion” in Sophia University, January 23, 2015.

[Abstract]

Before the World War II, along with the expansion of the Japanese Empire, enormous amount of people, materials and information “migrated” from Japan to East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Americas and vice versa. The circulation of Japanese-language books, magazines and newspapers was a part of this migration. Most of the past scholarship on the Japanese-language publication outside Japan tended to pay attention to publications printed within the Japanese oversea territories, their creators and perhaps their readers. On the other hand, I am interested in the very network in which Japanese-language books were circulated, connecting Japan and its oversea territories or settlements -- specifically in the history of book distributors and bookstores.