Paper short abstract:

How is Japanese post-war media on Mongolia influenced by pre-war conceptualisation and visualisations of Mongolian identity and by the trajectory of media creators active involvement in a colonial project ? I discuss examples of a lingering imperial gaze and complex new views on Mongolia and Japan.

Paper long abstract:

During the early to mid-twentieth century, the territory often subsumed under the acronym ‘Manmo’, a region encompassing large parts of North East China and Inner Mongolia, played a crucial role in the Japanese empire’s geopolitical objectives, settlement plans and imaginary. Japanese media reports emphasized the friendship and co-operation between Japan and (Inner) Mongolia and it’s importance to Japan as a military ally. Moreover, Mongolian scenery and customs were favourite topics among Japanese professional photographers. Their images ensured high visibility for Mongolians as Imperial subjects in Japan and were used to legitimize Japan’s expansionist endeavours and promote pan-Asian ideals.

In the post-war years, by contrast, Mongolia received relatively little attention and media on Mongolia - with the exception of movies on the Mongolian invasions in the 13th century - were quite rare. In this paper, I introduce selected examples of media productions, such as movies, photography and childrens books, that endured beyond the Japanese imperialist period, trace conceptions of Mongolian (and Japanese) identity through the Japanese lens and critically interrogate how colonial imaginations were transcribed into media examples popular today.

I demonstrate that some popular media still relies on the accentuation of “exotic” cultural difference and portrayals of intercultural encounters as mutually beneficial for both Japanese and Mongolians. Their reliance on strongly sentimental imagery echoes the Japanese imperial gaze.

Yet while occasionally in event recent Japanese media productions, Mongolians continue to serve as ‘the other’ and as enigmatic signifiers of a Japanese view that ‘Asia is One’, other examples of visual media speak of more complex conceptions of Japanese-Mongolian relations. For a broader view, I introduce narratives that break with stereotype and nostalgia and may offer a space for viewers to reflect on a changed post-war Japanese identity. I conclude that the historization of popular media examples is a deciding factor for understanding their role in the long post-war shadow of Japan’s imperial project.