Japan'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.

Awards

Japan Society for Village Studies Research Award 2015 Japan Agricultural History Award 2015

About Editors and Authors

YASUOKA Kenichi is Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Letters at Osaka University. He specializes in modern Japanese history, especially focusing on peasant movements, immigration and settlement. He was born in Kobe, and after receiving his PhD in Agriculture from Kyoto University in 2011, he joined the Japanese Studies Laboratory, Graduate School of Letters, Osaka University as Special Lecturer in 2015, before being appointed to his current position.

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