The Intermittent Rhythms Of The Cantonese Pacific

Abstract

In an attempt to re-vision the interconnectedness of the Pacific Ocean and the Asian continent through migration, the chapter first discusses what can be termed a two empire paradigm. The rest of the chapter presents a story of Japanese migration as a varied but unified human experience within that interconnected space. Popularized during the 1880s, what was termed a discourse on overseas development ( kaigai hattenron ) formed a locus of intersections between Japanese and U.S. imperialism, as well as an ideological basis of modern Japanese migration. During the 1890s, the discourse on overseas development branched off into three major schools of thought: northward, southward, and eastward expansion. Each school displayed differing characteristics in terms of its relationship to state role and sovereignty, as well as its preferred locations of Japanese development. Keywords:Japan's colonial expansion; Japanese diaspora; Japanese migration; overseas development; Pacific Ocean; transpacific migration; two empire paradigm