Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：School of Global Japanese Studies, Meiji University  

This paper examines Japanese perspectives on encounters with African soldiers during the Second World War, focusing on the India-Burma theatre. Drawing on Japanese writings, memoirs, and contemporary newspaper articles, it explores how Japanese soldiers, journalists, and others depicted African troops. The study begins by providing historical context, emphasising Japan’s military campaigns in Southeast Asia and the Allied forces’ deployment of African troops to the region. It analyses Japanese perceptions of African soldiers, which often combined admiration for their bravery and physical prowess with misunderstandings about their identity, including instances of mistaking them for Indian soldiers. Using primary sources such as diaries and media reports, the paper investigates representations of African soldiers in the Japanese press, particularly the Asahi Shimbun. The findings reveal both respect for the African soldiers’ strength and underlying racial biases, evidenced by the use of derogatory terms. The study offers insights into cross-cultural interactions during wartime and sheds light on the Japanese imperial worldview.

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：School of Global Japanese Studies, Meiji University  

One intriguing phenomenon found in Igboland, Nigeria, is the level of emotional outburst for the Japanese people during and after the Second World War. Such emotions made some Igbo communities to name their settlements after Japan. Equally intriguing is the fact that the period of this new found love for Japan coincided with the colonial period when the Igbo as part of Nigeria were under British colonial rule. Britain fought alongside the Allied Powers while Japan fought alongside the Axis Powers. This stance of the Igbo raises a fundamental question as to how they were able to overcome opposition from the colonial authorities. However, what is pertinent to unravel is what informed the new found favour for Japan and not all the Axis Power nations assuming the Igbo were opposed to the Allied Powers war efforts. How did the rationale for such new found friendship help in transforming the image of Japan among the local people of the area bearing in mind the spate of propaganda against Japan by the British during the colonial era. How had the people continued to keep alive their love for Japan? These questions are pertinent as they would not only show why the Igbo are in love with the Japanese to the detriment of their colonial masters but will also show what the Igbo and the Japanese have in common which helped to foster that sympathy and drive to be like Japan among such communities.

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Authorship：Lead author   Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Japan Society for African Studies  

African historical studies have been a minor branch of African studies in Japan up until the beginning of this century. However, things have been rapidly changing in the recent years, as the younger generations of researchers have been publishing notable works, especially in the field of global history. It has been paramount for the Japanese historians to research African history by using sources not only from Europe and the United States but also Africa. Additionally, historical sources, whether written or unwritten, have been diversified, and research projects based on new methodologies have also been applied. Presently, it is anticipated that historical studies as a transnational discipline will develop and become more thorough in accordance with the global trends in African historical studies. Under these conditions, the Japanese (or Japan- based) historians are required to make contributions to the enrichment of African historical studies in the world, not only by improving their research by using more sophisticated empirical analytical methods, but also by providing new or alternative images of African history through the Japanese, and more broadly the Asian points of view and sources.

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Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (bulletin of university, research institution)   Publisher：Research Institute fo the History of Global Arms Transfer, Meiji University  

During the era of decolonization, Kwame Nkrumah, the first Prime Minister of newly independent Ghana, hosted several international conferences calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. Tomi Kora, a former female councilor in the Japanese House of Councillors, attended the Conference on Positive Action for Peace and Security in Africa in 1960. Additionally , Shinzo Hamai, then mayor of Hiroshima City, and Ichiro Moritaki, then chairperson of the Japan Confederation of Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Sufferers Organizations, along with Tomi Kora participated in the Accra Assembly for World Without the Bomb in 1962. Their experiences in Ghana were recorded in the newsletters of peace movement organizations and newspaper articles published in Japan at the time. However, previous research on the history of peace movements and Japanese-African relations has not discussed these documents. Therefore, this paper elucidates the impacts of Ghana-led anti-nuclear weapons campaigns in the early 1960s on Japanese peace movements.

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Authorship：Lead author   Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Research paper (bulletin of university, research institution)  

This paper is a final report documenting the author’s 2-year research project on Japanese nationals who were interned by British colonial authorities on the British Gold Coast (present-day Ghana) during WWII. The author reviewed official and private documents at the Public Record and Archives Administration Department of Ghana (the former Ghana National Archives; hereafter, “PRAAD”) in Accra and Sekondi, as well as in the British Library, St. Pancras and the Tyne and Wear Archives in the United Kingdom, to ascertain the number of Japanese internees, their backgrounds, and how they were treated by the British colonial government during their internment.
While at PRAAD in Accra, the author encountered three collections of documents, entitled ‘Treatment of Enemy Aliens in Time of War—Japanese Internees’, ‘Letters from Japanese internees—instructions regarding’, and ‘Internees—Particulars Required by the Secretary of State, 1942-45’, respectively. These documents indicate that there were three ‘Japanese’ internees on the British Gold Coast during WWII.
According to these documents, at the time of arrest, one of these three Japanese nationals was 48 years old and was born in Japan, while the remaining two had been born in Korea, with one being 42 years old and the other being 58 years old. All of them were immigrants to Britain: two of them were living in London, and one was living in North Shields, employed as a seaman on a British merchant ship, the S.S. Starstone. Since the 28th November 1941, the ship had been anchored at Takoradi, one of the then major trading ports on the British Gold Coast. Following Japan’s declaration of war against the Allied Nations, they were arrested as ‘enemy aliens’ by the Gold Coast authorities on the 9th December 1941. On the following day, they were interned in the central prison in Sekondi, a town neighbouring Takoradi. On the 9th March of the following year, they were transferred to an internment camp in Accra, the capital of the Gold Coast. However, approximately 4 months later, they were again transferred by the military and taken to the Sekondi central prison.
Immediately after their arrest, colonial authorities discussed what type of diet should be provided to them, as the Gold Coast colony had no experience treating internees from Asian countries. Citing the fact that the three ‘Japanese’ men had been living in Britain for more than 15 years, the medical officer of the Sekondi central prison suggested that they be given diets approximate to European prisoners. However, the Acting Director of Prisons did not agree despite the Colonial Secretary of the Gold Coast supporting the medical officer’s opinion.
As noted above, the author has confirmed that those three internees were transferred by the military in July 1942; however, information about their whereabouts afterward has not been found. Therefore, further investigation at the National Archives in the United Kingdom and Japan, as well as at the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, will be required to further uncover unidentified aspects of the three Japanese seamen who were interned at the British colony in West Africa during World War II.

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Total pages：381p   Language：Japanese   Book type：General book, introductory book for general audience

A comprehensive introduction to Ghana, covering history, politics, economy, society, culture, religion, and the arts. The second edition updates each chapter with recent scholarship and field-based insights, reflecting major transformations in Ghana and its relationship with the world. Contributed to overall editing and chapter coordination.

CiNii Research

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Total pages：372   Language：Japanese   Book type：Textbook, survey, introduction

When considering modern Africa’s economic development, it is impossible to overlook the historical experiences that the continent has undergone. Among these, Africa’s interactions with Europeans, beginning in the Age of Exploration in the mid-15th century, marked a turning point that integrated the continent into the global economic system.

From the 16th century onward, Africa became an integral part of the emerging Atlantic trade network, serving as a major source of labor for New World plantations. This exploitation intensified during the late 19th century, an era of European imperial expansion, when most of Africa—except for a few exceptions—was placed under colonial rule. The continent, situated south of Europe, was significantly impacted by the expansionist policies of European powers, which reshaped its political and economic structures.

Today, the territorial boundaries of most African nations remain as they were defined during the colonial era. These colonial borders were drawn arbitrarily through negotiations among colonial powers, often disregarding the distribution of local ethnic and social groups. As a result, many African states emerged as multi-ethnic nations, with divided communities or disparate groups forced to coexist within newly formed countries.

The multi-ethnic nature of African states has also had long-term linguistic and educational implications. Many nations retained their former colonial languages as neutral official languages after independence. Consequently, even today, millions of African children are unable to receive primary education in their first language, highlighting the enduring impact of colonial rule on African societies.

This chapter examines two historical events that had a profound influence on the formation of modern Africa:

The Transatlantic Slave Trade (16th–19th century)
Colonial Rule (late 19th century–mid-20th century)
By analyzing these events, this chapter aims to explore their realities and assess their long-term effects on Africa’s economic landscape.

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Responsible for pages：103-125  

1 Africa's 20th century—100 years of continuous struggle against colonialism
2 African solidarity against colonialism
3 The nuclear arms race and Africa in the second half of the 20th century—the continuing struggle against colonialism after independence
4 Towards a nuclear-free world

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Total pages：2   Responsible for pages：303-304   Language：Japanese   Book type：Scholarly book

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Total pages：vii, 261p   Language：Japanese   Book type：Textbook, survey, introduction

CiNii Research

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Authorship：Lead author   Language：English   Publishing type：Internal/External technical report, pre-print, etc.  

This preprint introduces and analyses the 1932 Investigation Report of the Western Coast of Africa, a 490-page economic survey conducted by Yaichi Ōuchi of the Yokohama Specie Bank. Based on his three-month field investigation across West and Central Africa, the report provides valuable primary data for understanding Japan’s interwar commercial strategies and intelligence activities in African markets.

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Authorship：Lead author   Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Article, review, commentary, editorial, etc. (trade magazine, newspaper, online media)  

This column reflects on the significance of Japan–Africa relations at the milestone of 80 years after World War II. It highlights the historical importance of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) and considers Japan’s evolving role in the international community.

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Authorship：Lead author   Publishing type：Article, review, commentary, editorial, etc. (other)  

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Other Link： https://english-meiji.net/articles/4950/

Language：Japanese   Publishing type：Book review, literature introduction, etc.  

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Language：Japanese   Publisher：東京外国語大学アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所  

CiNii Research

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Event date： 2024.5

Language：Japanese   Presentation type：Public lecture, seminar, tutorial, course, or other speech  

Venue：Osaka University Minoh Campus   Country/Region：Japan  

The presenter has previously conducted research on records and memories of direct encounters between former Japanese soldiers and African soldiers dispatched as part of the Allied Forces during the India-Burma front in World War II, as well as the forms of solidarity explored between Japanese peace activists and Africans during the nuclear disarmament movement of the early 1960s. This work has shed light on various aspects of mid-20th-century Japan-Africa relations that had not been the focus of previous studies (Mizobe 2024).

In this series of studies, it became clear that the Afro-Asian solidarity in the nuclear disarmament movement of the early 1960s progressed within the framework of the AA solidarity movement of the 1950s. Furthermore, it was revealed that at the Asian Socialist Conference (ASC), formed in Rangoon (now Yangon), Burma, in 1953, Roo Watanabe, a secretary for international affairs of the Japanese Socialist Party, and James Markham of the Convention People's Party (CPP) from the British Gold Coast (now Ghana) were jointly serving as co-secretaries of the ASC during the same period.

Key findings include:

Watanabe and Markham worked together for a certain period, and it was reported in a Japanese newspaper that Markham visited Japan in 1954.
A local Singaporean newspaper, The Singapore Free Press (9 August 1954), reported that Watanabe, Markham, and two other ASC members were heading to Tokyo after field inspections in Malaysia.
Records in Japanese Socialist Party documents confirm an invitation to "youths from Africa" in 1954.
Additionally, at the founding of the ASC, representatives from the Uganda National Congress and the Kenya African Union (KAU) participated as observers. Moreover, the Coordinating Committee of the ASC’s “Anti-Colonial Bureau” included Markham, Nnamdi Azikiwe of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (later Nigeria’s first president), and Joseph Murumbi of the KAU.
Recent studies (McCann 2019) have increasingly focused on the global socialist networks centered in mid-20th-century Asia, including a reevaluation of Africa's decolonization in relation to India and Southeast Asia. However, research focusing on Japan's connections with Africa remains limited. By exploring the nature of human networks between Africa and Japan in the 1950s, during the acceleration of Africa’s decolonization movement, and by utilizing Japanese-language sources, this study discusses the potential to offer new insights into modern African history.

References
Mizobe, Yasuo. (2024). "Colonialism: Nuclear Disarmament Led by Post-Independence Africa." In Chigusa Kita (Ed.), Society and Culture of the 20th Century: Understanding the Connected Past (pp. 103–125). Minerva Shobo.
McCann, G. (2019). "Where Was the Afro in Afro-Asian Solidarity? Africa’s ‘Bandung Moment’ in 1950s Asia." Journal of World History, 30(1–2), 89–123.

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Language：English   Presentation type：Symposium, workshop panel (nominated)  

Country/Region：South Africa  

This paper explores the Yokohama Specie Bank's (YSB) integral role in Japan's official strategy to cultivate African markets during the 1930s, focusing on a 1932 survey report by a YSB representative. Established in 1880, the YSB became a major player in Japan's international trade, facing challenges after World War I due to an unfavorable trade balance. In response, the bank, particularly its Survey Division, undertook efforts to explore new markets, including Africa. The 1932 Investigation Report of the Western Coast of Africa by Yaichi Ohuchi is highlighted, providing a comprehensive analysis of West Africa as a potential market for Japanese goods. Ohuchi's research trip, detailed in maps, traced his journey through various African regions, offering insights into economic conditions and local preferences. The report underscored the importance of understanding pricing, quality, and individual preferences for successful market penetration. Post-publication, practical steps were taken to expand into West African markets, but World War II disrupted Japan's African ambitions until the 1950s. The paper concludes by posing questions about the continuity of Japanese-African relations and reflects on lessons for future relationships.

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Language：Japanese  

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Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

Venue：Rakuyu Kaikan, Kyoto University  

This paper is a preliminary report of the author's ongoing research on the Japanese view of African soldiers who fought (were forced to fight) against the Japanese Army in the India-Burma theatre during World War II. It refers to the Asahi Shimbun (Tokyo edition), which was one of the major national newspapers in wartime Japan, as well as published and unpublished diaries and memoirs written by Japanese ex-officers and ex-soldiers during and after the war. Unpublished items are in the possession of the Military Archival Library of the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS) of the Ministry of Defense of Japan.
The existing studies on African soldiers who were despatched to the India-Burma theatre during World War II have not referred sufficiently to records and memories of the Japanese people who fought against them. However, through this preliminary research, the author has confirmed newspaper articles, diaries and memoirs of ex-officers and ex-soldiers exist that mention African soldiers, although the number is very limited and the information is fragmentary.
The Asahi Shimbun used the term 'African soldiers (troops)', 'Negro solders' and 'black soldiers' for individual soldiers. However, it did not use the names of units organised in East Africa such as the 11th East Africa Division (or King's African Rifles), while it used the name of 'Seia 81 Shidan (the 81st West Africa Division)' for African units appearing in the newspaper after August 1944.
On the other hand, it has been confirmed diaries from some of ex-officers recorded the movements of the 81st / 82nd West Africa Divisions and East African military units such as the 11th East Africa Division, as well as information about the damages of 'black' troops. Furthermore, some of the memoirs written by ex-officers and ex-soldiers during or after the war refer to African soldiers in combat in addition to those in detention camps.

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Language：English   Presentation type：Oral presentation (general)  

Venue：University of Ghana, Legon  

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Audience： College students,　Graduate students,　General

Type：Other

The African continent is currently comprised of 55 countries, representing more than a quarter of the UN member states, and is home to more than 1.4 billion people, roughly one-fifth of the world's population. Without an understanding of Africa, it is impossible to understand today's globalised world. To deepen our understanding of Africa today, it is essential to first learn about the history of Africa up to the present day. In this course, therefore, we will focus on the modern and contemporary history of Africa from the 16th century to the late 20th century to examine the processes that have created the present-day Africa and to elucidate the real picture of modern and contemporary history from the African side, which has not been discussed in so-called 'world history'.

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Audience： College students,　General

Type：Lecture

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Author：Myself 

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