HISTORY DEPARTMENT POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS SPEAKER SERIES: JAPAN'S MARITIME BORDERS: LAW AND CARTOGRAPHY (1868-1945)
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MODERATED BY: PROF. TAKASHI FUJITANI
JAPAN'S MARITIME BORDERS: LAW AND CARTOGRAPHY (1868-1945)
In 1933, the Japanese navy claimed possession of the adjacent waters of the South Seas Mandate, whose size was comparable to the land area of Canada today. Placed under Japanese jurisdiction by the League of Nations, the mandate was composed of numerous minuscule islands in Micronesia. In depicting the mandate's adjacent seas as its "maritime lifeline," the Japanese government tethered the metropole's security to its peripheral Pacific holdings. This presentation discusses the oft-neglected 1933 proclamation and Japanese cartographic representations of Micronesia. It argues that Japan joined Western empires in extending maritime reach through mapping practices during the early twentieth century.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Jiaying Shen earned her Ph.D. in History from the University of Toronto. Her research examines the construction of maritime sovereignty in the Japanese empire (1868-1945).