Contents

Translator’s Foreword

Author’s Preface

List of Illustrations, Photos, Maps and Tables

Series Editor’s Introduction

Note to the Reader

Introduction—Defining Tōhoku

1 Tōhoku in the Spotlight

2 Situating Tōhoku in World History

3 A Vast Space

4 “Backward Tōhoku”

5 Toward a Tōhoku Discourse

6 Where is Tōhoku?

Chapter 1 Between Outland and Arcadia: 1780s–1880s

1 Travelers’ Accounts of Tōhoku

1.1 The Perception of Tōhoku in Tōyū zakki

1.2 The Concept of Nation in Tōyūki

1.3 The Emergence of Tōhoku in Historical Documents

1.4 The Significance of the Boshin Civil War

1.5 “Japan’s Wealth is in Ōu”

1.6 Tōhoku Through Foreign Eyes

2 Oppressed Tōhoku

2.1 Iwakura Tomomi’s Perception of Tōhoku

2.2 Tōhoku as Seen by the Imperial Entourage

2.3 Tōhoku in the News

2.4 Comparisons with Taiwan

2.5 Unequal Development

Chapter 2 A Dirt-Cheap Wasteland: 1870s–1880s

1 A Self-Portrait of Tōhoku

1.1 “Japan” and “Country”

1.2 An Ezo Consciousness and a Sense of Backwardness

1.3 An All-Consuming Sense of Mission

1.4 Support for the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement

2 The Inner Awareness of Tōhoku People

2.1 Self-Awareness vs. Inner Awareness

2.2 Akita Prefecture and the Korean Peninsula

2.3 The Aspirations of the Akita Nippō

2.4 No Complex

Chapter 3 A Burning Sense of Tōhoku Spirit: 1880s–1890s

1 Tōhoku vs. Seinan (The Southwest)

1.1 The Fighting Spirit of Tōhoku’s Freedom and People’s Rights Movement

1.2 The Argument for Establishing a Tōhoku Political Party

1.3 The Dream to Unify the Thirteen Regions of Tōhoku

1.4 Young Activists in the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement

2 “Insensitive” People

2.1 The Insensitive Incident

2.2 The Grand Alliance Movement and the Hinomaru

2.3 The Anti-Land Price Adjustment Movement

2.4 Sweet Potatoes and Peanuts

2.5 Structural Reform of the Liberal Party

2.6 History Repeats

Chapter 4 Constructing Tōhoku: 1890s–1900s

1 Youth Taking a Stand

1.1 Eisai Shinshi and Gakuyū Tsūshin

1.2 The Case Made by Tōhoku Kenji

1.3 Youth Nationalism

2 The Evolution of Tōhoku Discourse

2.1 The Magazine Aizu

2.2 Nagata Kenjirō’s Tōhokuron

2.3 Kayahara Rentarō’s Tōhoku Taiseiron

2.4 Itō Taiji’s Tōhoku Shinsakuron

2.5 Tamari Kizō’s Tōhoku Shinkōsaku

2.6 Hangai Seiju’s Shōrai no Tōhoku

Chapter 5 Development and Discrimination: 1890s–1910s

1 The Transportation Revolution

1.1 Narita Tetsushirō’s Mutsuwan no Shōrai

1.2 Opposition to Extending the Railroad Line

1.3 The Elusive Noiwagoe Railroad

1.4 The Gan’etsu Railroad and Ura Nihon

1.5 Tōhoku and Ura Nihon

2 Discomforting Images

2.1 Embarrassing Recollections

2.2 The Impact of the Sanriku Tsunami

2.3 A History of Famines

Chapter 6 Tōhoku Nationalism: 1880s–1900s

1 Tōhoku Nationalists

1.1 Kuga Katsunan, Tōhoku, and Regionalism

1.2 “Japanese Citizens” of the Future

1.3 Look to Scotland!

2 Tōhoku and East Asia

2.1 Within Asia

2.2 The Man Who Saw the Periphery

2.3 The Structure of Hinryokō no ki

2.4 The Scope of Chishima Tanken

2.5 The 8th Infantry Division and the Snow March Disaster

2.6 A Human Experiment

2.7 Preparing to Fight Russia

Conclusion—The Future of Tōhoku Discourse: 1900s–1910s

1 Unknown Tōhoku

2 An Abstract Understanding of Tōhoku

3 Tōhoku in the 1910s

4 Japan as Nation-State and Tōhoku

5 Yanagita Kunio’s Perspective

6 Toward a New World and a New History

Postscript to the Japanese Edition

Bibliography

Index