Introduction

Compared to other colonial powers, Japan's meteoric rise to Imperial dominance in Asia, though rapid, was relatively short-lived. Unlike Britain’s hold on India, which fundamentally changed the intellectual and linguistic landscapes of that nation, with repercussions that still resonate to this day, Japan's colonial and cultural impact in Asia was and is mostly limited to East Asia. Surely, there was the obligatory introduction of institutions that encompassed colonial modernity: infrastructures for the railway system, hygiene, legal, and education apparatuses, together with the installation of a civil society that was not necessarily equal. Though relatively short-lived, Japan's colonial legacy was perhaps best manifested in the legacy of its colonial cities. Many cities in China, Taiwan, and Korea were created in the colonial period to accommodate the functions and needs of the Empire.

The nations of East Asia have long shared intertwined historical, cultural, and economic interests, and globalization further promoted economic and cultural integration. In the first half of the twentieth century, modern ideas and material goods circulated among cities like Dalian, Harbin, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Saigon, forming a network of urban centres that fostered a uniquely East Asian cosmopolitanism. All of these cities were shaped by one or more colonial experiences and all were at one time or another ruled by the only Asian colonizer, Japan. This brand of East Asian colonial modernity interwove colonialism, technology, and movements (of ideals, human resources, and material culture) that were disseminated from the metropole, circulated among the colonies, and formed a cultural sphere that encompassed local, regional, and global effects. The trajectory of the cultural flow was not always unilateral.