Reopening the Opening of Japan

The 'Opening of Japan' has been central to the retelling of Japan's modern history. Reopening the Opening of Japan fundamentally reconsiders what that historical moment entailed.What did intensified connections between Japan and the world mean both inside and outside of the country, and what does this tell us about Japan's historical significance on a global scale? The chapters excavate a rich array of surprising cross-border connections, from the global trade in mummified mermaids to the Japanese-Russian intellectual links underpinning the work of Akira Kurosawa.Re-thinking connectivity through non-state transnational perspectives, the book guides readers to new ways of doing and writing history.Contributors are: Lewis Bremner, Natalia Doan, Manimporok Dotulong, Maki Fukuoka, Eiko Honda, Sho Konishi, Mateja Kovacic, Joel Littler, Chinami Oka, Yu Sakai, Olga Solovieva, and Warren Stanislaus.

‘A pioneering critique of the historiography of "the opening." The book is a major contribution to the field, re-thinking approaches to global as well as national history.’ - M. William Steele, Professor Emeritus, International Christian University

Lewis Bremner (University of Cambridge) is a historian in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge.Manimporok Dotulong (Brown University) studies transnational connections across and beyond Asia with a focus on intellectual and environmental history.Sho Konishi (University of Oxford) is a historian specialising in transnational formations of knowledge at Oxford University, where he is the Director of the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies.

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