Japanese Perceptions of Papua New Guinea: War, Travel and the Reimagining of History

ISBN-13: 9781350139008 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022 / 264 str.

Japan) Ryota Nishino (Nagoya University

Opis

Japanese Perceptions of Papua New Guinea exposes the interactions between two ostensibly opposing worlds: war and travel. While soldiers deployed to Eastern New Guinea during the Second World War recalled first-hand their experience of war, post-war tourists visited battle-sites, met locals, and drew their own conclusions about the Pacific island from the Japanese media. This book, in bringing travel and war closer together through a comparative analysis of veterans’ memoirs and the records of postwar travelers, explores how individuals consume, create, and recreate war histories. As a result, Ryota Nishino reveals the extent to which the memory of defeat - for both soldiers and civilians alike - influenced the Japanese perceptions of Papua New Guinea and shaped future relations between the countries. Translating a diverse range of Japanese primary and archival sources, this book provides the first English-language analysis of the social and political impact of Japanese interpretations of the PNG campaign and its aftermath. As such, Japanese Perceptions of Papua New Guinea: War, Travel and the Reimagining of History is an important text for anyone seeking a sophisticated understanding of war, nationalism, and memory culture in Japan and the Pacific Islands.

Spis treści

List of Figures List of Maps List of Tables Note to the Reader Preface Acknowledgements Glossary 1. Introduction 2. To Hell and Back: The question of cannibalism in memoirs of the New Guinea campaign 3. Questioning Discipline: Military doctors’ writings and the medical gaze 4. Finding reasons for living and dying in a warzone: cinematic adaptations of Kato Daisuke’s Minami-no-shima ni yuki ga furu 5. Documentaries as co-performative partnership: Framing and presenting testimonies of painful memories 6. From a Soldier to a Best Friend Forever? Manga artist Mizuki Shigeru and the villagers of New Britain Island 7. Vicarious Consumer Travel and the Performance of Emotional Awakening in Travelogues 8. Conclusion: The Road Behind and Ahead Select Bibliography Index