War crimes and the Japanese military, 1941-1945. During the Second World War, Japanese military forces in Asia and the Pacific committed extraordinary atrocities against prisoners-of-war, civilian internees and local populations. These atrocities shocked Japan's Western enemies, not least because Japanese military behaviour in the early 20th century had been celebrated as remarkably humane. This project seeks to explain Japanese wartime brutality, identifying the specific circumstances in which ....War crimes and the Japanese military, 1941-1945. During the Second World War, Japanese military forces in Asia and the Pacific committed extraordinary atrocities against prisoners-of-war, civilian internees and local populations. These atrocities shocked Japan's Western enemies, not least because Japanese military behaviour in the early 20th century had been celebrated as remarkably humane. This project seeks to explain Japanese wartime brutality, identifying the specific circumstances in which it occurred and considering the particular wartime context. It challenges the prevalent explanation of Japanese wartime violence which locates the causes of brutality in deeply rooted aspects of Japanese national culture. This research is expected to contribute to understandings of war and violence.Read moreRead less
Understanding Japan's human-centred environmentalism. Japanese environmental activism has influenced attitudes and policymaking on the environment in Japan and worldwide for half a century. This project will demonstrate the strengths and limitations of Japan’s human-centred environmentalism and will encourage us to reconsider the tension between human satisfaction and environmental protection.
Repatriation and release of Japanese war criminals 1946-1958: Southeast Asia, Japan and the Great Powers. Japanese war criminals held in Southeast Asia were repatriated and released in Japan from the late 1940s. Releases were negotiated between Japan and the nation that had convicted the prisoner. The project provides new understandings of the emergence of Southeast Asian states in regional diplomacy and of Japan's re-emergence as a regional power.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101746
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$344,208.00
Summary
Contaminated life: hibakusha in Japan in the nuclear age. This project will compare aesthetic reflections of hibakusha, or those who have been exposed to prolonged doses of radioactive contamination, after the 1945 and 2001 contaminations. Comparing their core concerns, how has the social image of hibakusha changed? What do hibakusha reflections imply for a new ethics in individual-state and human-nature dyads?
Northeast Asia and the Korean War: legacies of hot and cold wars in contemporary constructions of the region. This project will provide the first comprehensive study of the socio-economic, cultural and ideological impact of the Korean War on Korea's northeast Asian neighbours: China, Japan, Russia's Far East, Taiwan and Mongolia. It will deepen understanding of the region's cold war and of contemporary moves to and create a post cold war northeast Asia.
Beyond Domestic Borders: Transnational Mobility in the Making of Modern Korea, 1920-1945. The project offers a new perspective on gender and colonial history by examining crossborder movements and networks of women and men in and beyond East Asia in the early to mid-twentieth century. It focuses on Korea, which had the distinctive experience of being colonised by Japan, a non-Western colonial power. Through analysis of archival and visual materials, it explores the ways in which Korea’s interact ....Beyond Domestic Borders: Transnational Mobility in the Making of Modern Korea, 1920-1945. The project offers a new perspective on gender and colonial history by examining crossborder movements and networks of women and men in and beyond East Asia in the early to mid-twentieth century. It focuses on Korea, which had the distinctive experience of being colonised by Japan, a non-Western colonial power. Through analysis of archival and visual materials, it explores the ways in which Korea’s interactions with Europe, North America, and other Asian countries transformed gender norms and bodily practices during Japanese rule. The project will deepen our understanding of the impact of transnational flow of people and ideas in the making of one of Australia’s most important partners in the region.Read moreRead less
Unlocking the missing Millennia of mainland Southeast Asia. This project will reveal the prehistoric transition from Neolithic to Bronze Age in South and Southeast Asia, the missing Millennia of the archaeological record. Sophisticated linguistic analyses, facilitated by innovative computational methods and bioinformatics, reconstruct the languages, migrations, and societies of the region’s oldest cultures
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL120100155
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,796,420.00
Summary
Informal life politics in the remaking of Northeast Asia: from Cold War to post-Cold War. This project will create a new approach to our understanding of non-state politics and social change in Northeast Asia as that region completes its crucial transition to a post-Cold War order. It will advance scholarship in area studies and strengthen Australia's place as a world-leading centre for the study of Northeast Asia.
Southeast Asia's global economy, climate and the impact of natural hazards from the 10th to 21st centuries. This project's scope is uniquely broad and multidisciplinary, comprising collaborations between historians, archaeologists, seismologists and others. The aim is to analyse the development of south east Asia's vast and sophisticated economic system within the context of human-environment interactions, over a scale and time period which has been inadequately investigated.
Politics of public health in the Asia-Pacific region: the League of Nations Health Organization and the Japanese Empire, 1921-41. The project's outcomes will deepen public knowledge of how key actors in the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan and Australia, interacted with the League of Nations in shaping norms of global health governance. It will also show the continued engagement of these regional actors in a period of military confrontation.