Nichibunken News

On June 25, a Nichibunken Academic Encouragement Award 2024 debriefing session was held. After the presentation by the awardee, Mr. Julian Noah TASH, many questions and comments were exchanged actively among participants, including the Nichibunken faculty members and researchers.

Also, as his research stay at Nichibunken was coming to an end, Mr. TASH gave his report on the progress of his research as follows.

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"Remnants of Empire: Taiwanese Organizations in Japan and the Status of Overseas Taiwanese 1940-1970."

Taiwanese people living in Japan faced uncertain circumstances following World War II. By the end of 1947, most Taiwanese chose to register themselves as Overseas Chinese. However, by 1949 the Chinese Civil War raised the question of whether the Republic of China (ROC) or the People’s Republic of China (PRC) should legitimately represent Overseas Chinese. Due to the 228 Incident and rampant corruption within the ROC Representative Group in Japan, Taiwanese ironically came to overwhelmingly support the PRC on the mainland.

This research uses periodicals published by Overseas Chinese groups, name lists, and government documents to understand how Taiwanese created a postwar identity as “New Overseas Chinese.” Taiwanese quickly rose to prominent positions in Overseas Chinese organizations due to their high level of education. These elite Taiwanese used Overseas Chinese media to rethink historical narratives and emphasize the similarity of their experiences with those in China. Moreover, they sought to use local organizations such as schools as a platform to promote New Overseas Chinese identity. Together with Overseas Chinese media, these organizations served as the basis of a postwar imagined community that conceived of Taiwanese as an undisputed part of a progressive Chinese diaspora.

However, the Chinese-ness held by New Overseas Chinese in Japan was different from that which was experienced in the PRC. Although Overseas Chinese media heavily used Marxist language such as “reactionary,” its ideas diverged from Marxism. Articles provide limited coverage of workers and peasants, while also including information such as currency exchange rates and advertisements for local businesses. The gap between Marxist aspirations and capitalist realities reflects the elite background held by the Taiwanese who ran most Overseas Chinese media. To understand the meaning of Overseas Chinese in Japan, it is therefore important to understand the historical circumstances in which Taiwanese had to think of themselves as Chinese because they could no longer be included in the definition of Japanese. In this sense, being Chinese in Japan must be understood from a postcolonial perspective.

The rich materials I found at Nichibunken were instrumental in the formulation of this project, and I look forward to using them to guide my future work.

（by Julian Noah TASH, Nichibunken Research Fellow, Academic Encouragement Award）

• Mr. Julian Noah TASH
• Q＆A session