It has long been recognized that the legacies of Japanese imperialism have continued to impact the production of an East Asian regional imaginary throughout the postwar years, and it has primarily been the U.S.-Japan alliance under Anpo that has exerted pressure to make the Japanese nation and the region coheres. Successively, however, the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the bubble economy, and the emergence of testimony and demands from former “comfort women” have destabilized Japan’s prewar claims to symbolic status of being the sole “modern subject” among “non-modern” East Asian others. The more recent reconfiguration of power relationships in East Asia have only intensified this destabilization. What impact has this had on “Japan,” taken as an object of studies within Japanese Studies in Japan, as well as the object of area studies abroad? What are the generative possibilities offered by such destabilizations?

PANELISTS:

Minoru Iwasaki, School of Political Science and Economics, Yamato University, JapanNarita Ryūichi, Japanese Social History, Japan Women’s University, JapanWatanabe Naoki, Japanese and East Asian Comparative Studies, Musashi University, JapanDiscussant: Richard Calichman, Asian Studies, City College of New York

The event is from 9:00-11:00 p.m. EST on April 24 and from 10:00-12:00 a.m. on April 25 in Japan's time zone.