Prostitutes Hostesses and Actresses at the Edge of the Japanese Empire

<p>Analysing materials from literature and film this book considers the fates of women who did not or could not buy into the Japanese imperial ideology of good wives wise mothers in support of male empire-building.</p><p>Although many feminist critics have articulated women’s active roles as dutiful collaborators for the Japanese empire male-dominated narratives of empire-building have been largely supported and rectified. In contrast the roles of marginalized women such as sex workers women entertainers hostesses and <i>hibakusha</i> have rarely been analyzed. This book addresses this intellectual lacuna by closely examining memories (semi-)autobiographical stories and newspaper articles grounded or inspired by lived experiences not only in Japan but also in Shanghai Manchukuo colonial Korea and the Pacific. Chapters further explore the voices of diasporic Korean women (Zainichi Korean woman born in Japan as well as Korean American woman born in Korea) whose lives were impacted intervening ethnocentric narratives that were at the heart of the Japanese empire. An appendix presents the first English translation of a memorable statement on comfort women by former Japanese propaganda actress Ri Kōran / Yamaguchi Yoshiko. </p><p>Prostitutes Hostesses and Actresses at the Edge of the Japanese Empire will appeal to students and scholars of Japanese literature and film studies as well as gender sexuality and postcolonial studies.</p>