{"id":32929,"date":"2024-06-19T10:00:42","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T02:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/?p=32929"},"modified":"2024-01-25T09:23:36","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T01:23:36","slug":"mapping-middle-road-prewar-japanese-community-in-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/2024\/06\/19\/mapping-middle-road-prewar-japanese-community-in-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping Middle Road: Prewar Japanese Community in Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Mapping Middle Road: Prewar Japanese Community in Singapore\u2019 is a research project funded by the National Heritage Board Heritage Research Grant from 2022 to 2024. Led by Dr Clay Eaton (NUS Japanese Studies), Professor Naoko Shimazu (The University of Tokyo, Tokyo College), and Senior Lecturer Lee Chee Keng (NUS College) and hosted by the NUS Asia Research Institute, the project seeks to reconstruct and understand the prewar Japanese community in Singapore.<\/p>\n

The project examines the relatively obscured prewar period in Singapore\u2019s history that has been predominantly overshadowed by the events of the wartime Japanese occupation. \u2018Mapping Middle Road\u2019 hence explores Singapore\u2019s prewar era, looking at the critical role of the prewar Japanese community in shaping Singapore\u2019s identity as a cosmopolitan port city. It delves into the complex social history of this community, which included individuals who held significant influence as well as those in marginalized positions.<\/p>\n

Central to the research are questions concerning the establishment of the Japanese community in the Middle Road area, otherwise known as \u2018Little Japan\u2019, their integration into Singapore’s cosmopolitan culture, and their positioning within colonial society. The study thus aims to shed light on socio-economic disparities, the intricate dynamics between colonizer and colonized, \u00a0and the interplay of Asian and non-Asian cultures in Singapore.<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s objectives are twofold: 1) provide an in-depth analysis of the prewar Japanese community in Singapore and 2) use this historical insight to better understand broader cultural and racial dynamics in colonial and cosmopolitan settings. As such, it is instrumental in bridging gaps in Singapore\u2019s historical landscape and promises to make significant contributions to both academic scholarship and public knowledge.<\/p>\n

Overall, \u2018Mapping Middle Road: Prewar Japanese Community in Singapore\u2019 is poised to redefine our understanding of Singapore\u2019s prewar era. With a focus on the Japanese community, it will illuminate a largely unexplored aspect of Singapore\u2019s history, offering vital perspectives for future historical, cultural, and social discourses in the region.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: \u2018Japanese graves\u2019 by Filbert Koung, from SRN\u2019s SG Photobank<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Mapping Middle Road: Prewar Japanese Community in Singapore\u2019 is a research project funded by the National Heritage Board Heritage Research Grant from 2022 to 2024. Led by Dr Clay Eaton (NUS Japanese Studies), Professor Naoko Shimazu (The University of Tokyo, Tokyo College), and Senior Lecturer Lee Chee Keng (NUS College) and hosted by the NUS […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":269,"featured_media":32930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4529,4606,4609,4604],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-research","category-singapore-research-nexus","category-visible"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/269"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32929"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32940,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32929\/revisions\/32940"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fass.nus.edu.sg\/srn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}