
The Narrowing Sea
Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region
Hannah Shepherd(Author)
University of California Press
1st Edition
Will be published approx. on 2. December 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
402 pages
978-0-520-40529-5 (ISBN)
Description
In The Narrowing Sea, Hannah Shepherd examines the shared histories of Pusan and Fukuoka over the eight decades from Japan's forced opening of Korea's ports in 1876 to the end of the Korean War in 1953. One city was Korean, the other Japanese; one was a burgeoning colonial port, the other a provincial city buoyed by imperial expansion. Wars, colonization, and capitalist industrialization forged intimate connections between the two, knitting together an imperial region that transcended its maritime boundaries. Drawing on both Japanese and Korean archives, and emphasizing the concept of imperial urbanization, Shepherd challenges traditional views of empire and urban growth and shows how local networks, migration, and capital flows shaped the region's exploitative and uneven geographies. The waters between Fukuoka and Pusan narrowed through intensified interactions that continued even after the end of empire, creating enduring legacies for the postwar and postcolonial eras.
More details
Series
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
19 b-w illustrations, 8 maps, 3 tables
Dimensions
Height: 228 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
594 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-40529-5 (9780520405295)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
12/2025
1st Edition
Naval Institute Press
€33.99
Available for download
Person
Hannah Shepherd is Assistant Professor of History at Yale University.