Constructing East Asia: Technology, Ideology, and Empire in Japan’s Wartime Era, 1931-1945

Synopsis

The Conventional Understanding Of Japanese Wartime Ideology Has For Years Been Summed Up By Just A Few Words: Anti-modern, Spiritualist, And Irrational. Yet Such A Cut And Dried Picture Is Not At All Reflective Of The Principles That Guided National Policy From 1931-1945. Challenging The Status Quo, 'constructing East Asia' Examines How Japanese Intellectuals, Bureaucrats, And Engineers Used Technology As A System Of Power And Mobilisation - What The Author Terms A 'technological Imaginary' - To Rally People In Japan And Its Expanding Empire. Introduction : The Technological Imaginary Of Imperial Japan -- Revolutionary Technologies Of Life -- Technologies Of Asian Development -- Constructing The Continent -- Damming The Empire -- Designing The Social Mechanism -- Epilogue : Legacies Of Techno-fascism And Techno-imperialism. Aaron Stephen Moore. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 281-301) And Index.