Imagining Japan in Post-war East Asia: Identity Politics, Schooling and Popular Culture

In the decades since her defeat in the Second World War, Japan has continued to loom large in the national imagination of many of her East Asian neighbours. While for many, Japan still conjures up images of rampant military brutality, at different times and in different communities, alternative images of the Japanese ‘Other’ have vied for predominance – in ways that remain poorly understood, not least within Japan itself.

Imagining Japan in Postwar East Asia analyses the portrayal of Japan i...