Youjoung (Yuna) Kim Publishes Article in "Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus"

Youjoung (Yuna) Kim, the Human Rights Initiative's Postdoctoral Fellow, published an article entitled ‘Contingent Colonial Rhetorics: Reconsidering Cheju in the Formation of Japanese Colonialism’ in the Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. This article examines the Japanese colonial rhetoric surrounding Cheju Island through three publications: Saishūtō Annai (1905), Nansen Hōkutsu Saishūtō (1912), and Mikai no Hōko Saishūtō (1924). Through this analysis, the article reveals three interconnected observations through which Japan constructed Cheju as a colonial site. The first focuses on discourses of cultural affinity and difference; the second on the rhetoric of the treasure trove (hōko); and the third on a discourse of development. A close reading of these texts reveals that Japanese imperialism was a contingent practice shaped by local conditions and the ambitions of the metropole.

Click here to read the full article, Contingent Colonial Rhetorics: Reconsidering Cheju in the Formation of Japanese Colonialism.