Nov. 22: Conference “Oceans Dis:Connect,” LMU Munich (Germany).

Panel Chaired by Roland Wenzlhuemer, LMU.

Paper Title: “Business, State and Piracy: The Oceanic Frontier Triangle in the Making of Japan’s Pacific Empire”

Abstract: Japan holds a unique position in world history as a Pacific archipelago turned continental empire. Its ambiguous position between the island Pacific and its continental rims is metaphorical of the way colonizing remote islands figured as an overture to the empire’s landing on the continent. This contribution studies how frontier migrants and frontier businesses blurred the boundaries of business, state, and piracy. The incorporation first of the Bonin Islands, and later of island colonies set up by Japanese rogue businessmen, inspired strategies such as purchasing territory, naturalizing foreign subjects, or out-populating “foreign” settlers. In a manner reminiscent of chartered company states in Europe’s “Scramble for Africa,” island colonies in the oceanic frontier kept challenging state rule. Thus, subsequent debates over the relationship between state and business in the oceanic frontier informed the way Japan defined its colonial ambitions and its subsequent mode of expansion.