About
This website introduces a variety of primary sources related to the history of the Japanese empire in English translation. It is designed as a sourcebook, but presented in a more flexible format of a website. Unlike many sourcebooks, however, it does not aim to collect representative political documents or evenly represent the duration or geographical scope of Japanese imperialism. Rather, its goal is to allow students in high schools and colleges to read the sources that historians have actually examined in their own work and to experience the joy, wonder, and difficulty of historical interpretation.
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Each entry starts with an introduction written by a historian to give a basic context to understand the source. It also gives a list of related secondary sources so instructors can assign together. I obtained help from students at the National University of Singapore to translate each source, which was then edited by each contributing scholar.
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This is an ongoing and expanding project, and I welcome contribution of sources or translated texts from other scholars and students. I also encourage graduate school instructors to assign translation projects and let us share the projects here. Please read this page on how to contribute and contact us via email for any inquiry and suggestion.
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This translation project is funded by the National University of Singapore.
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Editor
Assistant Professor, Department of History, National University of Singapore
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