New Perspectives on the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore 1941-1945

Information on the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore is sparse, and Japanese-language materials are particularly difficult to find because the Japanese military systematically destroyed war-related documents when the war ended. The contributors to this volume participated in a Forum that spent four years locating surviving materials relating to the Occupation of Malaya. The group has three objectives: to collect primary sources, to interview Japanese military and civilian officials who took part in the military administration and people in Malaysia and Singapore who experienced the period, and to publish the results of the studies.

Akashi Yoji is Professor Emeritus of Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan and specialises in Southeast Asian Studies. He has published and edited numerous books and articles, particularly on the Japanese Occupation of Malaya and Singapore 1941-45. He served as President of the Japan Society of Southeast Asian History. Yoshimura Mako is Professor of Asian Studies at Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan. She received the Doctoral Degree on Economics from the University of Tokyo and specialises in Malaysian Studies. She has published numerous articles on labour/social issues in Southeast Asia (especially, Malaysia) and is the author of Economic Development and Labour Structure in Malaysia: Ethnicity, Gender and Nationality (in Japanese) (Tokyo: Hosei University Press, 1998).