EAJS Conference

Mason, R. (Speaker)

Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference

Description

Convening and presenting panel (Hist.21) at EAJS2023, the 17th International Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS) will be hosted by the Institute of Japanese Studies at Ghent University on 17-20 August 2023.

Period	17 Aug 2023 → 20 Aug 2023
Event type	Conference
Conference number	17
Location	Ghent, Belgium
Degree of Recognition	International

Keywords

Okinawa
Decolonisation
International Relations

Documents & Links

Panel Hist.21: As the so-called "Keystone of the Pacific" Okinawa sits in a pivotal location between the East China Sea and the Western Pacific, at the intersection of the world's three largest economies, two most powerful militaries and a myriad of cultural and artistic influences. As such, most of the literature on this former island nation is polemic, parochial or partisan to specific interests and academic disciplines. One area that typically unites scholarship on Okinawa, however, is debate over the significance of its colonisation, controversy regarding the extent to which it has successfully decolonised and claims about re-colonisation. This panel takes an interdisciplinary approach to analyses of Okinawa's colonial legacy and contemporary reality as a means by which to decentre grand narratives of Japan, so often promoted by successive LDP administrations, such as that led by former PM Abe, in order to gain original insights into the often underemphasised domestic and international challenges faced by Japan's diverse outlying regions. The panellists draw on a rich intersection of extensive specialist research experience that spans the history of empire, impact of artistic influences, narrative construction and geopolitics in order to stimulate a genuinely original discussion of colonisation and decolonisation in the Okinawan context. In so doing, it will provide a platform for those interested in the complexities of Okinawa to engage with lines of enquiry that are rarely accessible to interrogation from cross disciplinary perspectives. The combination of insights gained from the resulting discussion also promises to open up new conceptual spaces and analytical frameworks relating to complex issues on Okinawa and its surrounds. In these regards, the panel aspires to act as a catalyst for the development of more inclusive and integrated research agendas.