Japan's Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism (Twentieth Century Japan: the Emergence of a World Power, 8)

Rating:
Summary: Essential reading on pre-Pacific War Japan.
Review: This book is essential reading for any serious student of the Japanese Empire, as well as anyone interested in the history of colonialism or Chinese-Japanese relations. Young shows that Japan's occupation of Manchuria and the subsequent transformation into Manchukuo may have been initially driven by the Imperial Army, but became an effort supported by various other political and economic agencies. She also describes how a perceived Japanese mission of improving fellow Asian nations may have been sincere, but was ultimately destructive. TOTAL EMPIRE is best read in conjunction with THE ABACUS AND THE SWORD, about Japan's colonial relationship with Korea. Military historians will find Young's book weak on details of the military administration, but that doesn't seriously detract from the social and cultural historical value of the work.