Bio

I am a history of Japanese empire, migration, and diaspora. My teaching and research focus on the following areas of interest:

Japanese empire in Asia and the Pacific
Colonial Korea
Comparative Colonialism
History of immigration and diaspora
Transpacific History
Settler colonialism
Decolonization and politics of memory
Oral history

My current book project, "Provincializing Empire: Ōmi Merchants in the Japanese Transpacific Diaspora," examines the diasporic history of Ōmi shōnin (merchant). Often compared to overseas Chinese and Jewish merchants, merchants of Ōmi (present-day Shiga prefecture) are famous for peddling textiles and other goods across the early modern Japanese archipelago. Far less known are their fate and activities that extended abroad after the late nineteenth century, when Japan fully entered the world of international commerce. Using the rich local archives in Shiga, my study traces such overseas strivings of Ōmi merchants and their descendants in the global age of capital and empire, from cotton trade with China to retail commerce in Korea and Manchuria, and immigration to North America.

Academic Appointments

  • Professor, History

Administrative Appointments

  • Directrice d’étude (Visiting Director), Japan Research Center at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France (2018 - 2018)
  • Director, Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University (2016 - 2019)
  • Associate Professor of History, Stanford University (2013 - Present)
  • Korea Institute & Reischauer Institute for Japanese Studies Joint Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard University (2008 - 2009)
  • Assistant Professor of History, Stanford University (2006 - 2013)
  • Head Teaching Fellow, Harvard University (2004 - 2004)
  • Teaching Fellow, Harvard University (2003 - 2003)
  • Social Science Research Council, International Dissertation Field Research Fellowship, Harvard University (2002 - 2003)
  • Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Japan (2001 - 2003)
  • Visiting Research Fellow, Cultural Center Arirang (NPO, Korean Documents Archive), Nishikawaguchi, Japan (2001 - 2003)
  • Harvard University Merit Fellowship, Harvard University (2001 - 2002)
  • Weatherhead Center for International Studies, Pre-dissertation Fellowship, Harvard University (2001 - 2002)
  • Head Teaching Fellow, Harvard University (2001 - 2001)
  • Teaching Fellow, Harvard University (2000 - 2000)
  • Intellectual-Cultural Fellow, Dudley House, Harvard University (1999 - 2001)
  • Harvard-Yenching Institute Fellowship, Harvard University (1998 - 2001)
  • Teaching/Research Assistant, University of California at Berkeley (1997 - 1997)
  • Graduate Student Instructor, University of California at Berkeley (1996 - 1996)
  • Graduate Student Reader, University of California at Berkeley (1995 - 1995)

Honors & Awards

  • National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowship for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan, National Endowment for the Humanities (2019-2020)
  • Gordon and Dailey Pattee Faculty Fellowship, Stanford University (2013-2014)
  • John K. Fairbank Prize, American Historical Association (2012)
  • Nomination for Robert F. Heizer Award, Journal for Asian Studies (2012)
  • Pacific Coast Branch Book Award, American Historical Association (2012)
  • Harold K. Gross Dissertation Prize, Harvard University (2006)
  • Academy Scholar, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, Harvard University (2004 - 2006)
  • Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, Harvard University (2004)
  • Certificate for dedicated service to Dudley House, Harvard University (2001)
  • Harvard-Yenching Institute Fellowship, Harvard University (1998-2001)
  • Anne Mcintyre Award in History, Cornell University (1995)
  • Magna Cum Laude, Distinction in All Subjects, Cornell University (1995)
  • Phi Beta Kappa, Cornell University (1995)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Organizer, Center for East Asian Studies Colloquia on New Directions in Japanese History, Stanford University (2013 - 2013)
  • Member, Graduate Admissions Committee, Department of History, Stanford University (2012 - 2013)
  • Member, Graduate Admissions Committee, Center for East Asian Studies M.A. Program, Stanford University (2012 - 2013)
  • Member, History 1 Committee on designing a gateway course for the History Major, Stanford University (2012 - 2013)
  • Member, Dissertation Writing Workshop, Department of History, Stanford University (2012 - 2012)
  • Member, Graduate Student Teaching Prize Subcommittee, Stanford University (2011 - 2011)
  • Member, Stanford Society of Fellows of Japanese Studies committee, Stanford University (2010 - 2011)
  • Member, Graduate Admissions Committee, Department of History, Stanford University (2010 - 2011)
  • Chair, Graduate Admissions Committee, Center for East Asian Studies M.A. Program, Stanford University (2010 - 2011)
  • Member, Graduate Admissions Committee, Department of History, Stanford University (2009 - 2010)
  • Member, Graduate Admissions Committee, Center for East Asian Studies M.A. Program, Stanford University (2009 - 2010)
  • Guest Lecturer, Center for East Asian Studies M.A. Core Seminar, Stanford University (2009 - 2009)
  • Organizer, Center for East Asian Studies Colloquium, Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University (2008 - 2008)
  • Member, Undergraduate Studies Committee, Department of History, Stanford University (2007 - 2008)
  • Interviewer, Bing Overseas Study Program, Internship in Japan, Stanford University (2007 - 2008)
  • Faculty participant, History Major Dinner, Department of History, Stanford University (2007 - 2007)
  • Guest Lecturer, Stanford University Honors College Seminar, Stanford University (2007 - 2007)
  • Member, Graduate Admissions Committee, Department of History, Stanford University (2006 - 2007)
  • Faculty facilitator, Center for Teaching and Learning Humanities Teaching Lunch, Faculty Club, Stanford University (2007 - 2007)
  • Fellowship Screener, Stanford Humanities Center fellowships, Stanford University (2006 - 2007)
  • Fellowship Screener, Stanford Society of Fellows in Japanese Studies, Stanford University (2006 - 2007)
  • Guest Lecturer, Center for East Asian Studies M.A. Core Seminar, Stanford University (2006 - 2006)
  • Co-organizer, Symposium on "Japanese Settlers in Colonial Korea and Modernity," Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan (2003 - 2003)
  • Co-organizer, Interdisciplinary Conference on Gender Studies, Harvard University (2001 - 2001)
  • Member, The Association for Asian Studies, Michigan, USA
  • Member, The American Historical Association, Washington, DC, USA
  • Member, The Association for Japanese Colonial Studies (Nihon Shokuminchi Kenkyukai), Tokyo, Japan
  • Member, The Association for Korean Historical Studies (Chosenshi Kenkyukai), Tokyo, Japan

Professional Education

  • Ph.D., Harvard University, History
  • M.A., University of California at Berkeley, History
  • B.A., Cornell University, History

Contact

  • Academic
    junu@stanford.edu
    University - Faculty Department: History Department Position: Professor
    • 450 Serra Mall, Bld 200
    • Department of History
    • Stanford,  California  94305 

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 2024

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

My current book project examines the diasporic history of Ōmi shōnin (merchant). Often compared to overseas Chinese and Jewish merchants, merchants of Ōmi (present-day Shiga prefecture) are famous for peddling textiles and other goods across the early modern Japanese archipelago. Far less known are their fate and activities that extended abroad after the late nineteenth century, when Japan fully entered the world of international commerce. Using the rich local archives in Shiga, my study traces such overseas strivings of Ōmi merchants and their descendants in the age of empire, from cotton trade with China to retail commerce in Korea and Manchuria, and immigration to North America.

2024-25 Courses

Stanford Advisees

All Publications

  • Cheguk ŭi pŭrok'ŏ dŭl: Ilche kangjŏmgi ŭi Ilbon chŏngch’angmin singminjuŭi, 1876-1945 (A Korean-language translation of Brokers of Empire, with a new preface). Uchida, J. edited by Sŭng-dong , H. Seoul: Ghil. 2020
  • From Island Nation to Oceanic Empire: A Vision of Japanese Expansion from the Periphery JOURNAL OF JAPANESE STUDIES Uchida, J. 2016; 42 (1): 57-90

    View details for Web of Science ID 000370213800003

  • The ‘Pacific Empire’ as a Useful Analytical Category Amerasia Journal (Pacific Empires Working Group Forum) Uchida, J. 2016; 42 (3): 28-31

    View details for DOI 10.17953/aj.42.3.1-41

  • THE PUBLIC SPHERE IN COLONIAL LIFE: RESIDENTS' MOVEMENTS IN KOREA UNDER JAPANESE RULE PAST & PRESENT Uchida, J. 2013: 217-248

    View details for DOI 10.1093/pastj/gtt002

    View details for Web of Science ID 000322925400007

  • Between Collaboration and Conflict: State and Society in Wartime Korea Tumultuous Decade: Empire, Society, and Diplomacy in 1930s Japan Uchida, J. edited by Kimura, M., Minohara, T. Toronto: Toronto University Press. 2013
  • A Sentimental Journey: Mapping the Interior Frontier of Japanese Settlers in Colonial Korea Critical Readings on the Colonial Period of Korea, 1910-1945 Uchida, J. edited by Hyung-Gu, L. Leiden: Boston: Brill. 2013
  • Public Sphere in Colonial Life: Resident's Movements in Korea under Japanese Rule (peer review) Past & Present Uchida, J. 2013; 220 (August): 217 - 248
  • A Sentimental Journey: Mapping the Interior Frontier of Japanese Settlers in Colonial Korea The Rise and Fall of Modern Empires, Vol. 1: Social Organization Uchida, J. edited by White, O. Ashgate. 2013
  • A Sentimental Journey: Mapping the Interior Frontier of Japanese Settlers in Colonial Korea JOURNAL OF ASIAN STUDIES Uchida, J. 2011; 70 (3): 706-729

    View details for DOI 10.1017/S0021911811000878

    View details for Web of Science ID 000295974700005

  • Brokers of Empire: Japanese Settler Colonialism in Korea 1876-1945 Uchida, J. Harvard University Asia Center; Harvard University Press. 2011
  • "A Scramble for Freight": The Politics of Collaboration along and across the Railway Tracks of Korea under Japanese Rule COMPARATIVE STUDIES IN SOCIETY AND HISTORY Uchida, J. 2009; 51 (1): 117-150

    View details for DOI 10.1017/S0010417509000061

    View details for Web of Science ID 000262253000006

  • Japanese Settlers' Collaboration with 'Naisen Ittai' Policy in Colonial Korea under Total War Entangled Modernities: Crossings between Korean and Japanese Studies Uchida, J. edited by Em, H., Chun-hyok, K. Seoul: Humanitas. 2009
  • Ch'ongnyokch'on sigi e issoso ui chae Choson Ilbonin ui 'naeson ilch'e' chongch'aek e taehan hyomnyok [Japanese Settlers' Collaboration with 'Naisen Ittai' Policy in Colonial Korea under Total War] (peer review) Asian Studies Uchida, J. 2008; 51 (1)
  • Between Fascism and Colonialism: Japan's Naisen Ittai Policy and Mass Mobilization in Wartime Korea New Currents in the Humanities: Crossing National and Disciplinary Boundaries in Korean and Japanese Studies Uchida, J. Seoul: Asiatic Research Center, Korea University. 2007
  • Securing prosperity and serving the nation: Japanese farmers and Manchuria, 1931-33 Nijusseiki Nihon no nomin to nason Wilson, S., Yoshiaki, N., Waswo, A., Trasnlated by Uchida, J. University of Tokyo Press. 2006
  • Ethnos and Ethnology in Manchukuo Iwanami Koza: Ajia, Taiheiyo Sensa, vol. 7: Shihai to boryoku Duara, P., Translated by Uchida, J. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. 2006
  • Brokers of Empire: Japanese and Korean business elites in colonial Korea Settler Colonialism in the Twentieth Century: Prqjects, Practices, Legacies Uchida, J. edited by Elkins, C., Pedersen, S. New York and London: Routledge. 2005
  • Securing prosperity and serving the nation: Japanese farmers and Manchuria, 1931-33 Farmers and Village Life in Twentieth-Century Japan Wilson, S., Translated by Uchida, J. edited by Waswo, A., Yoshiaki, N. RoutledgeCurszon. 2003: 345–296
  • The Japanese in Colonial Korea (Book Review) Korean Culture and Society Uchida, J. 2003; 2 (October)
  • Assimilation Policy and Japanese Settlers in Colonial Korea: A Case Study of the Dominkai (peer review) Journal of Korean Studies Uchida, J. 2003; 41 (October)
  • Settler Colonialism: Japanese Merchants in Korea in the 1920s Japanese Settler Colonialism and Capitalism in Japan: Advancing into Korea, Settling Down, and Returning to Japan, 1905-1950 Uchida, J. 2002
  • Japanese Colonists in Korea and Japanese Modernity Arirang Courier Uchida, J. 2002; 27 (July)
  • Recent Trends in Colonial Studies in the United States: Exploring New Perspectives (peer review) Journal of Japanese Colonial Studies Uchida, J. 2001; 13 (May)
  • Weber's Ambivalent Legacy: Bureaucracy and Famine in Eighteenth-Century China Berkely Journal of Asian Studies Uchida, J. 1996; 7