Kenkoku University and the Experience of Pan-Asianism: Education in the Japanese Empire

Kenkoku University and the Experience of Pan-Asianism examines the Japanese wartime ideology of Pan-Asianism by focusing on the experiences of students at Kenkoku University, which recruited students of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, Mongolian, and Russian backgrounds and aimed to foster a generation of leaders for the state of Manchukuo. Yuka Hiruma Kishida argues that an idealistic and egalitarian conception of Pan-Asianism exercised considerable appeal late into the Second World War, even as mobilization for total war intensified contradictions between ideal and practice.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 22 April 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Kenkoku University and the Experience of Pan-Asianism offers a significant contribution to the ongoing re-examination of the Japanese wartime ideology of Pan-Asianism, with a particular focus on the experiences of students at Kenkoku University, also known as "Nation-Building University" or Kendai (1938-1945). Situated in the northeastern provinces of China, commonly referred to as Manchuria, the university proclaimed its mission to achieve minzoku kyowa, or "ethnic harmony." It actively recruited students from diverse backgrounds, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, Mongolian, and Russian, with the aim of nurturing a generation of leaders for the state of Manchukuo.

What sets Kendai apart from other colonial schools within the Japanese Empire is its commitment to ethnic equality for its diverse student body. While imposing Japanese customs and beliefs on all students, the university sought to foster a sense of unity among its diverse community. In her book, Yuka Hiruma Kishida delves into the theory and rhetoric of Pan-Asianism as an ideal serving the Japanese Empire, as well as its implementation in the curriculum and daily lives of students and faculty.

Drawing on extensive archival material, Kishida explores the dynamic exchanges of ideas about Asian unity within the campus community. She documents both convergences and clashes of competing articulations of Pan-Asianism, highlighting the appeal of an idealistic and egalitarian conception of Pan-Asianism even as mobilization for total war intensified contradictions between ideal and practice.

Rather than being merely an institutional history, Kenkoku University and the Experience of Pan-Asianism makes a substantial intervention into the historiography on pan-Asianism and Japanese imperialism. It sheds light on the experiences of individuals who were actively engaged with the ideology and its implications during a critical period of world history. By examining the experiences of students at Kendai, this book provides valuable insights into the complexities and contradictions of Pan-Asianism, as well as its impact on individuals and societies in the region.

Weight: 436g
Dimension: 156 x 233 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350226395