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The Nature of Empire: Forest Ecology, Colonialism and Survival Politics in Japan’s Imperial Order

Over the past quarter of a century, research on the connection between empire and environment has flourished worldwide. Most writings, though, have focused on the history of European empire-building or American westward expansion; few have anything significant to say about the Japanese empire. The present essay aims to address this lacuna by exploring interrelated changes to the forest landscape in imperial Japan’s colonies of Korea, Taiwan and Karafuto and in peripheral areas of ‘Japan proper’ (naichi). This exploration provides a basis for addressing the questions: How might our images of the Japanese imperial expansion be challenged if we consider its history from the vantage point of forests? What light does the natural and cultural history of forests in the Japanese empire shed on wider debates about imperialism, environmentalism and modernity?