131-114 Japan and the Pacific World 1550s-1990s

Usually 25 points of first year history, see Prerequisites.

This subject will examine Japan's role as a Pacific actor from the 1550s to the 1990s. Topics explored will include Japan's earliest notions of a Pacific World; the growth of Japanese overseas communities and trade networks; the emergence of a 'South Seas Consciousness in Japan'; overseas Japanese and the formation of 'trans-Pacific identities'; Japanese colonisation in the Pacific; the Imperial navy's military and ideological contribution to Japan's southern advance from the 1880s to the 1940s; Japan's postwar development as a Pacific superpower; and Japan's role within the Pacific Rim today. These topics will be examined through methodologies which focus on political, economic, social, colonial, and military history. On completion of this subject, students should have a solid understanding of Japan's important historical, political, social, and economic role in shaping the Pacific World and the Pacific Rim.