“See You in Yasukuni”: Western Perceptions of the Imperial Japanese Before and During the War in the Pacific

Author

• Joshua Naccarato

Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Strain, Christopher

Abstract

Japan’s history is one of extremes. From an island’s seclusion, Japan rose to become the “golden child” of Asia upon her lifting of her isolationist policies at the start of the Meiji period to falling into international ill-renown at start of her aggressions in Manchuria around 1931. One factor that has stayed constant is that the outside world has told of life on her shores, first through traders and shipwrecked sailors, then through the more reliable “globetrotters,” scholars, and professional advisors. This thesis uses a wide selection of voices from the more and less reputable to examine what the outside world thought of Japan and will argue that her rise and fall are both due to contact with the outside, with the fall especially being due to Japan’s brutal militarism and wide-reaching imperialism.

Comments

Thesis (B.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, 2021

Recommended Citation

Naccarato, Joshua, "“See You in Yasukuni”: Western Perceptions of the Imperial Japanese Before and During the War in the Pacific" (2021). Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2020 - Present. 84.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_honors/84

Extent

77 p.

Identifier

FAUHT00181