Contingent Colonial Rhetorics: Reconsidering Cheju in the Formation of Japanese Colonialism

Abstract

This article examines Japanese colonial rhetoric of Cheju Island through three publications: Saishūtō Annai (1905), Nansen Hōkutsu Saishūtō (1912), and Mikai no Hōko Saishūtō (1924). In so doing, this article reveals three interlocking observations through which Japan constructed Cheju as a colonial site. The first centers on discourses of cultural affinity and difference, the second includes the rhetoric of the treasure trove ( hōko ), and the third entails a discourse of development. A close reading of these texts reveals Japanese imperialism as a contingent practice, shaped by local conditions and the ambitions of the metropole.