Book launchThursday 19 May 2011
6:00pm – 7:00pm
The Japanese in War and Peace, 1942-48
Drinks reception from 8:00pm
Daiwa Foundation Japan House
Organised by the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
Selected Documents from a Translator’s In-tray
Published by Global Oriental, 2011
By Ian Nish
In the period 1946-48, as a member of the British Occupation Force in Japan, which formed part of the Allied Occupation following the Asia-Pacific War of 1941-45, Ian Nish collected a number of documents which throw light on the attitudes of the Japanese people in the latter part of the war and the equally critical first two years of the peace. These rare documents, including personal and propaganda materials, military memorabilia and teaching aids, provide insights into the views of those citizens who are often neglected in accounts of the Allied Occupation. Prefacing the documents and drawing on the memory of his own ‘Occupation days’ in Kure, southern Japan, is the author’s analysis of what actually took place, the role of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) and the issues that had to be addressed. Professor Nish’s summary of his own perspectives on the Japanese experience of occupation opens a new window into this significant period in Japan’s modern history.
About the contributors
Professor Ian Nish
Professor Ian Nish is Professor Emeritus of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and honorary senior research associate of the Suntory Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines (STICERD). He has published extensively – from his widely acclaimed early works on the Anglo-Japanese Alliance to the eight-volume collection of important historical works and documents he compiled and edited, entitled The Russo-Japanese War, 1904-5 (Global Oriental, 2004). Most recently, he compiled and edited Japanese Envoys in Britain, 1862-1964: A Century of Diplomatic Exchange (Global Oriental, 2007).