Challenges of Writing Zainichi Korean History: Ethics, Emotions, and Politics

The presence of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Koreans in Japan, or "zainichi Koreans," is one of the visible legacies of Japanese colonialism. This talk reflects on the experience of working closely with a zainichi research partner, interviewing more than two hundred zainichi individuals, and writing an intimate social history of the pro-North Korean zainichi community called Chongryon. Can an outsider write about the minority's complex emotions? What are the challenges of collaborative work? What ethical issues arise in collecting personal stories and revealing ironies? This talk delves into these open-ended questions to welcome a discussion of the politics of writing history.

Bio:

Sayaka Chatani is Associate Professor and Deputy Head in the Department of History at the National University of Singapore. She is a multilingual social historian of the Japanese Empire and its aftermath, focusing on ideological mobilization, emotions, and community dynamics. Her first book, Nation-Empire: Ideology and Rural Youth Mobilization in Japan and Its Colonies (Cornell University Press, 2018; a recipient of Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award 2019), compares the experiences of young men under imperial mobilization in the countryside of northern Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Okinawa. Her second book, A Nation Within: North Korean Zainichi in Postimperial Japan (Stanford University Press, 2026), delves into the internal dynamics of the North Korean zainichi community and proposes a new perspective to conceptualize "postimperial" Japan.

Light meal will be provided half-hour before event

Hosted by the ANU Korea Institute