Jim Hoare - Böcker

This two–volume collection, supported by an in-depth introduction that addresses origins, actuality, endgame and afterlife, brings together for the first time contemporary documentation and more recent scholarship to give a broad picture of Japan’s Treaty Ports and their inhabitants at work and play in the second half of the nineteenth century. The material selected, shows how the ports’ existence and the Japanese struggle to end their special status, impacted on many aspects of modern Japan beyond their primary role as trading stations. Compared with their counterparts in China, the Japanese treaty ports cast a small shadow. They were far fewer – only four really mattered – and lasted for just under fifty years, while the Chinese ports made their centenary. Yet the Japanese ports were important. The thriving modern cities of Yokohama and Kobe had their origins as treaty ports. Nagasaki, a major centre of foreign trade since at least the sixteenth century, may not have owed so much to its treaty-port status, but it was a factor in its modern development.

South Korea-oriented articles in the 2007 yearbook deal with online grassroots journalism and participatory democracy, the Lone Star scandal, changing perceptions of inward direct investment, the impact of China’s economic ascendance, modern cityscape and mass housing production, new ancestral shrines, and the political economy of patriotism. Additional articles highlight lessons of negotiations with North Korea, the plight of North Koreans in China, and Korea-China border issues. The yearbook is essential reading for anyone interested in modern Korea.

South Korea-related refereed articles in Korea Yearbook 2008 focus on the domestic political scene, relations with Japan, policy towards the North, higher education reform, and new Korean cinema. Additional articles deal with the recovery of the remains of US soldiers killed in the Korean War, economic reform in North Korea, and inter-Korean economic cooperation.For Korea Yearbook 2009 the editors have announced a graduate student prize of US 750,-.More details on the Korea Yearbook can be found at wirtschaft.ostasien.univie.ac.at/index.