Lexington Books
Pages: 246
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-1-4985-1663-1 • Hardback • February 2016 • $123.00 • (£95.00)
978-1-4985-1665-5 • Paperback • September 2017 • $55.99 • (£43.00)
978-1-4985-1664-8 • eBook • February 2016 • $53.00 • (£41.00)
David Chapman is associate professor and reader in Japanese studies at the University of Queensland.
Chapter 1: The Orphan, the Uninhabited, and the Archbishop: Narratives of Discovery and Possession
Chapter 2: An Unsettled Settlement: Narratives of Promise and Menace
Chapter 3: Encountering Japan: Narratives of Possession and Reclamation
Chapter 4: Naturalized Foreigners: Narratives of Nation and Modernity
Chapter 5: Christianity, Colonialism, and Community: Narratives of Spectacle and Religion
Chapter 6: Strangers at Home: Narratives of Suspicion and Conflict
Chapter 7: A World Apart: Narratives of Identity
Chapter 8: Conclusion
Through a careful consideration of personal accounts, collective memory, government records from Japanese and European countries, presettlement travel records of explorers, and so on, Chapman weaves together the multiple narratives that "form the many strands that make up the very fabric of Bonin history".... The scope of the work is truly impressive.
— The Journal of Japanese Studies
The story of the Bonin Islands is an extraordinary and little-known part of Japan's frontier history. A place of multiple cultural encounters, migrations, displacements, and occupations, the Bonins offer a vantage point for a fresh look at the shaping of modern Japan. David Chapman provides a superb historical analysis of the islands' history, while also recounting their fascinating and sometimes tragic history with the skills of a consummate storyteller.
— Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Australian National University
David Chapman narrates a fascinating chapter of global history through the story of the Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands, their people, and shifting regional power dynamics. He reveals a space and time of cosmopolitanism in the history of Japan and the Pacific.
— Vera Mackie, University of Wollongong