Japanese Imperialism: Politics and Sport in East Asia

"This is a well-researched piece of scholarship that offers original research on a theme not often studied in international politics and sports diplomacy. Read this book and you will have acquired a unique and thoughtful lens through which to view the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, as well as East Asian international relations more broadly. A great contribution to the field." (Victor D. Cha, D.S. Song-KF Professor of Government and International Affairs, Georgetown University and Senior Adviser, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington D.C. Author of Beyond the Final Score: Politics and Sport in Asia, 2008) "Japanese Imperialism is an interesting and attractive study, especially for Asian historians. I am confident this collection will be successful: it is a wonderful work of scholarship. Reflections on the Tokyo Olympics of 2020 as an agent of regional reconciliation are constructive and important contributions to the future of East Asian politics." (Ikuo Abe, Emeritus Professor, University of Tsukuba, Japan) "This collection is the best compilation of scholarly work available in English on the relationship between Japanese imperialism and sport; thus is a seminal work in the field. The well-constructed addresses the overarching theme that sport was used in the Japanese Empire as a form of indoctrination, but for Japan's subject peoples in China, Taiwan, Korea, and Malaya it was a form of resistance. Sport during the Japanese Occupation has left a lasting legacy. Its consideration adds to the uniqueness of the collection. This book will be valuable for both scholars of the cultural history of the Japanese Empire and for students covering the history of modern Japan and the Japanese Occupation of East Asia." (Kevin P. Blackburn, Associate Professor, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; author The Sportsmen of Changi, 2012)

Offering a unique contribution to East Asian Studies, Colonial and Postcolonial Studies and Sport Studies, this work represent key reading for students and scholars of East Asian studies, International Politics and Sports Diplomacy.



This cutting edge collection presents a political reading of the power of modern sport in Asia. Providing an interdisciplinary study of political and cultural tensions in Asia, past and present, through the key case-study of sport, it illuminates the complex practices and legacies of Japanese imperialism across East and Southeast Asia through the 20th century and beyond. Focusing on the deep background to contemporary dynamics of intraregional tensions, it examines sport both as a tool of imperialism and as an agent of reconciliation as the region gears up to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Offering a unique contribution to East Asian Studies, Colonial and Postcolonial Studies and Sport Studies, this work represent key reading for students and scholars of East Asian studies, International Politics and Sports Diplomacy.