Histories of remote islands around Japan are usually told through the prism of territorial disputes. In contrast, Takahiro Yamamoto contends that the transformation of the islands from ambiguous border zones to a territorialized space emerged out of multilateral power relations. Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Tsushima, the Bonin Islands, and the Ryukyu Islands became the subject of inter-imperial negotiations during the formative years of modern Japan as empires nudged each other to secure their status with minimal costs rather than fighting a territorial scramble. Based on multiarchival, multilingual research, Demarcating Japan argues that the transformation of border islands should be understood as an interconnected process, where inter-local referencing played a key role in the outcome: Japan's geographical expansion in the face of domineering Extra-Asian empires.

Underneath this multilateral process were the connections forged by individuals. Translators, doctors, traffickers, castaways, and indigenous hunters crisscrossed border regions and enacted violence, exchanged knowledge, and forged friendships. Although their motivations were eclectic and their interactions transcended national borders, the linkages they created were essential in driving territorialization forward. Demarcating Japan demonstrates the crucial role of nonstate actors in formulating a territory.

About the Author
Takahiro Yamamoto is a lecturer in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at Singapore University of Technology and Design.

Reviews
Yamamoto's extensive work in researching and analyzing events as they unfolded in five maritime border areas during this time period is thus a boon to the field of modern Japanese history...a rich and truly comprehensive accounting of the demarcation of Japan's borders in the late nineteenth century....original and well-crafted. -- Robert Hellyer * Monumenta Nipponica *



Book Information
ISBN 9780674291386
Author Takahiro Yamamoto
Format Hardback
Page Count 284
Imprint Harvard University Press
Publisher Harvard University Press
Weight(grams) 522g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 20mm