"Explores the role history and historians played in imperial Japan's nation and empire building from the 1890s to the 1930s. As ideological architects of this process, leading historians wrote and rewrote narratives that justified the expanding realm. Yoshikawa argues that scholarship and politics were inseparable as Japan's historical profession developed"--
Yoshikawa explores how history and historians helped construct the Japanese nation and empire from the 1890s to the 1930s by writing and rewriting narratives that justified the expanding realm. Focusing on the career of Kuroita Katsumi, the field's doyen at Tokyo Imperial University, she covers becoming a historian 1874-96, resuscitating the historical field 1896-1908, entrenching the historical field 1908-18, history in action 1918-27, historians' manifest destiny 1927-36, and a historian's death and bequest. Distributed in the US by Harvard University Press. Annotation ©2017 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
Making History Matter explores the role history and historians played in imperial Japans nation and empire building from the 1890s to the 1930s. As ideological architects of this process, leading historians wrote and rewrote narratives that justified the expanding realm. Learning from their Prussian counterparts, they highlighted their empiricist methodology and their scholarly standpoint, to authenticate their perspective and to distinguish themselves from competing discourses. Simultaneously, historians affirmed imperial myths that helped bolster statist authoritarianism domestically and aggressive expansionism abroad. In so doing, they aligned politically with illiberal national leaders who provided funding and other support necessary to nurture the modern discipline of history. By the 1930s, the field was thriving and historians were crucial actors in nationwide commemorations and historical enterprises.
Through a close reading of vast, multilingual sources, with a focus on Kuroita Katsumi, Yoshikawa argues that scholarship and politics were inseparable as Japans historical profession developed. In the process of making history matter, historians constructed a national past to counter growing interwar liberalism. This outlookwhich continues as the historical perspective that the Liberal Democratic Party leadership embracesultimately justified the Japanese aggressions during the Asia-Pacific Wars.
Lisa Yoshikawa explores the role history and historians played in imperial Japans nation and empire building from the 1890s to the 1930s. Through a close reading of vast, multilingual sources, Yoshikawa argues that scholarship and politics were inseparable as Japans historical profession developed.
