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The Japanese Colonial Legacy in Korea
The Japanese Colonial Legacy in Korea reexamines Japan's policies in Korea from 1910 to 1945. The authors contend that Japan's policies were moderate considering the magnitude of the colonial endeavor and were proportional when compared to the imperialist practices of Western nations. Drawing on recent scholarship, this study effectively contributes to the growing field of historical revisionism in Korean colonial history. Historical remembrance in South Korea unabashedly portrays the colonial era in a wholly negative light; The Japanese colonial regime is presented as an authoritarian regime that exploited the innocent Korean people. In some cases, academic circles in Asia and America have adopted positions that mirror the Korean historical paradigm.
Dr. Akita and Dr. Palmer challenge the pro-Korean nationalist narrative by using a plethora of archival documents written by the highest echelons of Japan's leadership. These documents, written by men such as Yamagata Aritomo and Hara Kei, reveal the origins and reasonableness of Japanese colonial policies, especially when shown in light of Japan's strong legalist tradition. A more nuanced view of Japan's rule in Korea is achieved by juxtaposing it to the Europeans' record in Asia and Africa. Furthermore, this work highlights various ways that Japan's colonial interlude contributed to South Korea's postwar industrialization.
Dr. Akita and Dr. Palmer challenge the pro-Korean nationalist narrative by using a plethora of archival documents written by the highest echelons of Japan's leadership. These documents, written by men such as Yamagata Aritomo and Hara Kei, reveal the origins and reasonableness of Japanese colonial policies, especially when shown in light of Japan's strong legalist tradition. A more nuanced view of Japan's rule in Korea is achieved by juxtaposing it to the Europeans' record in Asia and Africa. Furthermore, this work highlights various ways that Japan's colonial interlude contributed to South Korea's postwar industrialization.
215 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 13, 2015
A book like this is much needed, but this book is disjointed and unedited, and thus cannot be recommended to those who aren't dedicated to reconstructing the argument of the authors.
Much of the book reads like a personal letter from author Akita to a scholar on the fence about colonial Korea. Prof. Akita has been retired since 1984 and his academic writing is out of practice, although he has kept up-to-date with scholarly literature and newspapers. Akita wrote the basic narrative and chose what to focus on in what order, and he often injects personal asides, such as a positive experience he recently had with Japanese doctors. The role of the second author Palmer in the book's production is not entirely clear, and he is rarely referred to except as being fluent in Korean. Is he a background researcher who found a lot of statistics for Akita and was bumped up to co-author? I get the feeling that this is the case, but I cannot be sure. Tacking on a second author in this way is not common practice in academic or journalistic publications.
The book rambles between all sorts of different subjects, from the Japanese cultural background that influenced their administration in Korea, to Japanese economic and educational objectives in Korea, to modern-day China's ambitions in the Far East. I am often sympathetic with Akita's concerns but the book does not feel well-arranged and while there is good use of scholarly opinions and primary sources involved, there is also some reliance on tertiary sources and anecdotal evidence. The book also inserts rejoinders against other scholars here and there inside its rather short text, meaning that the narrative tilts back and forth between actually analyzing colonial Korea and talking about modern discourse on colonial Korea and how and why it may be biased. The tone of these rejoinders is a bit aggravating because Akita consistently proclaims that his own opinion will eventually be borne out by a coming revision in scholarship.
In short, while this book contains a decent amount of suggestions for revising the Korean nationalist narrative, and is bolstered by the support of many academics quoted within, it's far from a comprehensive and academic approach to the subject. I would put it at the level of a Japanese shinsho, except that shinsho typically exhibit stellar editing and contain all the materials needed to become a standard introductory text, and this book possesses neither of those virtues. Rather, I would equate it with a right-wing imitation of shinsho, typically published by a minor press in Japan. In point of fact, the Japanese translation of this book was published by the minor press Soshisha, who focus on translations and center-right publications.
Much of the book reads like a personal letter from author Akita to a scholar on the fence about colonial Korea. Prof. Akita has been retired since 1984 and his academic writing is out of practice, although he has kept up-to-date with scholarly literature and newspapers. Akita wrote the basic narrative and chose what to focus on in what order, and he often injects personal asides, such as a positive experience he recently had with Japanese doctors. The role of the second author Palmer in the book's production is not entirely clear, and he is rarely referred to except as being fluent in Korean. Is he a background researcher who found a lot of statistics for Akita and was bumped up to co-author? I get the feeling that this is the case, but I cannot be sure. Tacking on a second author in this way is not common practice in academic or journalistic publications.
The book rambles between all sorts of different subjects, from the Japanese cultural background that influenced their administration in Korea, to Japanese economic and educational objectives in Korea, to modern-day China's ambitions in the Far East. I am often sympathetic with Akita's concerns but the book does not feel well-arranged and while there is good use of scholarly opinions and primary sources involved, there is also some reliance on tertiary sources and anecdotal evidence. The book also inserts rejoinders against other scholars here and there inside its rather short text, meaning that the narrative tilts back and forth between actually analyzing colonial Korea and talking about modern discourse on colonial Korea and how and why it may be biased. The tone of these rejoinders is a bit aggravating because Akita consistently proclaims that his own opinion will eventually be borne out by a coming revision in scholarship.
In short, while this book contains a decent amount of suggestions for revising the Korean nationalist narrative, and is bolstered by the support of many academics quoted within, it's far from a comprehensive and academic approach to the subject. I would put it at the level of a Japanese shinsho, except that shinsho typically exhibit stellar editing and contain all the materials needed to become a standard introductory text, and this book possesses neither of those virtues. Rather, I would equate it with a right-wing imitation of shinsho, typically published by a minor press in Japan. In point of fact, the Japanese translation of this book was published by the minor press Soshisha, who focus on translations and center-right publications.
July 31, 2017
Propaganda-like and unscholarly. The nationalist school of Korean history could indeed be challenged, but please do it properly. This book is worse than those assignments written by mediocre first-year undergraduate, probably it's an epic example of "how not to write a thesis ".
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews