New Japanese Books on Shanghai

Two recent publications from Japan bring new perspectives on Shanghai history.

The first one is the edited volume published by the Japanese Association for Research on Shanghai History (日本上海史研究会), a major and regular contributor to Shanghai history through a multi-volume series. The last volume is the edited proceedings of a conference held in 2008 in Tokyo: Kenkoku zengo no Shanhai 建國前後の上海 (Shanghai around the time of the birth of the P.R.C.). The 15-contribution volume examines a variety of issues the city met with during the transition period before and after the civil war.

The second volume is a much awaited study of the Japanese community in Shanghai before 1949. It is authored by Prof. Hirofumi Takatsuna 高綱博文, the leading figure of Shanghai studies in Japan: , 'Kokusai toshi' Shanhai no naka no nihonjin '國際都市' 上海のなかの日本人. This is the most thorough study of one of the most influential foreign communities in modern Shanghai.