In this episode of East Asia for All, we examine the sexual slavery system that took place under imperial Japan from 1937-1945 through the graphic novel Grass by Korean author Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. Grass tells the life story of Lee Ok-sun, a Korean girl who was forced to be a “comfort woman” for the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. 

We are joined by Dr. Lin Li, Assistant Professor of History at the University of St. Thomas (Saint Paul, MN), on this episode. Dr. Li’s research focuses on the intersections of gender, race, health, and imperialism in East Asia. She is currently working on a book project on the politics of representing and commemorating “comfort women” in East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific.

In this minisode, we compare literary representations of Korean women navigating very different social systems. In Friend, the 1988 novel by North Korean writer Paek Nam-Nyong, Judge Jeong Jin-wu attempts to save the marriage of a famous woman singer, Chae Sun-hee, who came to him requesting a divorce from her husband. In the process of Judge Jeong’s investigation, we catch rare and meaningful glimpses of daily life and relationships in North Korea. On the other side of the demilitarized zone author Cho Nam-Joo introduces us to the life of Kim Jiyoung, a South Korean woman struggling with her mental health as a housewife and mother. Kim Jiyoung Born 1982 takes us through Jiyoung’s childhood, adolescence, and early adult life as she navigates South Korean sexism against women.

This is a guest episode from The Channel, a podcast of the International Institute of Asian Studies (IIAS) at Leiden University. This episode features a lecture from Simanti Dasgupta. Simanti is Associate Professor of Anthropology and director of the International Studies Program at the University of Dayton, USA. Her work broadly explores the politics of citizenship and belonging in neoliberal and postcolonial nation-states. In 2021-2022, Simanti was a Research Fellow at the International Institute for Asian Studies. She is currently working on a book manuscript entitled Prophylactic Rights: Sex Work, HIV/AIDS and Anti-Trafficking in Sonagachi, India. 

Cape No. 7 (海角七號, Hǎijiǎo Qī Hào) by Taiwanese director Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖, who also directed Warriors of the Rainbow) is a romantic comedy about two intercultural couples (Taiwanese and Japanese) in the 1940s and the 2000s. In this episode, we again examine the fraught history of Japanese imperialism on the island of Taiwan, which was a colony of imperial Japan from 1895 to 1945. We are very excited to be joined on this episode by Dr. Fang Yu Hu, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. 

We recorded this episode in response to the March 16, 2021 Atlanta Massacre. We discuss the importance of understanding and confronting the history of anti-Asian racism in the United States, as well as current anti-Asian racism and racist violence. 

Shigeru Mizuki's Showa is an epic four-volume graphic novel series about the Showa era of Japan (1926-1989) and a semi-biographical account of Mizuki's own life during that period. It's funny, heartbreaking, illuminating, beautiful, and complex, and it shows why graphic novels are such a powerful and important medium. We talk with Dr. Maryanne Rhett about using graphic novels in the classroom and some of her favorites. 

Park Chan-wook set his 2016 film The Handmaiden in Korea under Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945). Colonial Korea proves to be the perfect setting for a romantic crime story that explores sexuality, deception, and power. Park is known for his gorgeous—and gory—films like Oldboy and Lady Vengeance. The Handmaiden is based on Sarah Waters's 2002 novel The Fingersmith, set in Victorian-era Britain and shortlisted for the 2002 Man Booker Prize. Professor Kelly Y. Jeong of UC Riverside joins us to discuss the film. 

Liu Cixin's The Three Body Problem is a wildly popular Chinese science fiction novel, and it's easy to see why. It opens during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, setting the tone for a multigenerational, universe-spanning story that careens between missing scientists, a mysterious video game, and an exploration of the nature of humanity and the cosmos itself. In this episode, we situate Liu's novel within the history of Chinese science fiction and also bring in Dr. Colin West, a theoretical physicist from the University of Colorado, to help us understand the science in the The Three Body Problem.

"Principal, call me if you want to get a room. Leave the students alone." This was the sign that Ye Haiyan, a Chinese activist better known by the nickname Hooligan Sparrow, held up during her protests over the handling of the kidnapping and rape of six girls in Hainan province, China. In this episode, Prof. Gail Hershatter joins us to talk about Hooligan Sparrow, Wang Nanfu's 2016 documentary about Ye Haiyan and her activism. 

Do you love wuxia (martial arts) films, Chinese history, Jet Li, the gorgeous 2002 film Hero, or all of the above? This is the mini-episode for you! We talk about Zhang Yimou's Hero, the historical narrative it tells about Qin Shihuang — best known as the first emperor of unified China, the concept of tianxia, and much more!