Description
Book SynopsisJapan's national identity associates the 'Japanese people' with the Japanese land, making the farmer the backbone of the nation.
Others in Japanese Agriculture challenges this mythology, revealing the changing faces of Japanese farmers during the colonial and post-war eras. First, it traces the tangled trail of Koreans brought into farming villages as a result of war mobilization and capitalist development. Second, it discusses the plight of those who evacuated from cities as they attempted to eke out a living on marginal land. Third, it points out that settlers repatriated from the colonies were met with hostility from villagers and indifference from authorities. Finally, it explores how those who were encouraged to emigrate for 'the good of the nation' in post-war Japan, found themselves victims of agrarian reforms, which severed their ties. In sum, despite being lauded as the 'backbone of the nation' Japanese farmers have been repeatedly marginalized and othered.
Table of Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Photos
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The ethnic problem in Japan's farming villages
- 2 Evacuation, return to farming and postwar settlement
- 3 Farmers' lived experience of borders from Manchuria to postwar settlement
- 4 Japanese expatriate 'others': Postwar land reform and migration
- 5 Putting down roots: Postwar administration of overseas agricultural emigration and farmers
- Conclusion
- Notes
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Name Index
- Subject Index
