The Heart of the Japanese Empire: Stories of Those Who Were Forgotten

The construction of national states and powerful maritime powers never goes unnoticed for their peoples. An empire, sweeping away everything in its path, subjugates, erases the boundaries of the permissible, and subjects inconvenient facts to oblivion. However, there are always those who do not want to keep pace with this ruthless conquering march, and as punishment, they find themselves on the sidelines of history, deprived not only of personal freedom but also of the opportunity to be heard. Their bodies become instruments, and their native lands become a springboard for asserting the authority of the metropolis and the ruthless exploitation of natural resources.

Japan in the first half of the 20th century, obsessed with grand imperial ambitions and conducting aggressive expansionist policies in East Asia, is a bright confirmation of this. Wendy Matsumura aims to restore the voices of those who were forgotten in her dark past: the inhabitants of Korea and Okinawa, forcibly displaced and subjected to political persecution; women from the peasant class, who lost their right to choice and bodily autonomy; burakumin - former untouchables, who continued to face discrimination even after the abolition of their humiliating legal status. In this book, piercing personal testimonies and materials from previously unpublished archival documents are combined with a deep historical analysis based on the latest achievements of postcolonial theory.