Conclusion: Japanese Nationalism and Its Discontents

Abstract

This chapter provides concluding remarks for the book Representing Empire: Japanese Colonial Literature in Taiwan and Manchuria. By examining the literary activities in Taiwan and Manchuria in the interwar period, the book has provided an account of the variety and heterogeneity of Japanese identities in the two areas and example of two personalities. Nishikawa Mitsuru's concern was with his legitimate position in Japanese literary history: he believed that he was not only a member of Japanese kokumin, but also belonged to the Japanese nation. Nishikawa and Ōuchi's understanding of imperialism and colonialism was embodied in their literature and translations. Japan's colonial measures in Taiwan and the arguable pan- Asianism in Manchukuo failed to regenerate a new Japan, in the same way as they failed to liberate Asian countries. The imperialist intervention by metropolitan Japan, engineered through political and financial means, propelled the confluence of national identity and imperialist identity.Keywords: colonialism; imperialism; Japanese kokumin; Japanese nationalism; Manchuria; Nishikawa Mitsuru; Taiwan