NEWS

2025.04.22

【Publication】Dr. Marika TSUKAHARA has published Historical Sociology of the Battleship Yamato: Military Technology and Japan’s Self-Portrait (2025, Shinyosha)!

Dr. Marika TSUKAHARA (Senior Researcher, Ritsumeikan Asian-Japan Research Organization) has published Historical Sociology of the Battleship Yamato: Military Technology and Japan’s Self-Portrait (2025, Shinyosha; written in Japanese). This book compiles her doctoral dissertation, which she completed at the Graduate School of Sociology, Ritsumeikan University in 2024, along with subsequent research findings.

This book thoroughly analyzes military journals and related materials to explore the development of “techno-nationalism”—a concept that envisions a nation founded on advanced science and technology. It examines how this ideology was shaped during the promotion of domestic battleship construction before the war. Additionally, it investigates why, despite transitioning from militarism to pacifism after the war, older military technologies, such as the battleship Yamato, were reinterpreted as symbols of "national pride" and regarded as the “cornerstone of a science and technology-driven nation.” While the previous research has mainly focused on the development of general technology for consumers after the war, Dr. Tsukahara applied a long-term perspective ranging from the Meiji period to the Heisei period to illuminate old military technology.

Furthermore, this book explores how military technology was socially accepted, interpreted, and contextualized. It also examines what was overlooked as the battleship, a symbol of military technology, became a national icon after the war. The findings are expected to enhance not only the study of nationalism, but also contribute to military sociology and the collective memory of war.

Dr. Tsukahara spoke about her book at the 23rd AJI Book Launch on May 14, 2025
(https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?id=654502&version=English).

The publication of this book was supported by the Doctoral Dissertation Publication Grant Program of Ritsumeikan University Graduate School.

Currently, Dr. Tsukahara is conducting a research project entitled “Historical Sociology of the Defense Industry and Military Technology Development in Postwar Japan: A Study of the Correlation between Corporate Logic and Peaceful Society” as the next research subject under JPSP (Start-up Support for Research Activities).

Other publications of AJI members can be found at the following links:
:https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/research/aji/books/