Koshiro, Yukiko

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KOSHIRO, Yukiko

PERSONAL: Female. Born in Yokohama, Japan; immigrated to United States. Education: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, B.A.; University of Tokyo, M.A.; Columbia University, Ph.D. (history).

ADDRESSES: Offıce—Department of History, Pettengill Hall, Bates College, Lewiston, ME 04240. Agent—c/o Columbia University Press, 61 West 62nd St., New York, NY 10023. E-mail—ykoshiro@bates. edu.

CAREER: Williams College, Williamstown, MA, visiting assistant professor; East Asian Institute at Columbia University, New York, NY, visiting scholar, 2001-02; University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, assistant professor of history; Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY, visiting professor; Bates College, Lewiston, ME, visiting professor in department of history, 2002-03.

AWARDS, HONORS: Fulbright scholarship; Social Science Research Council postdoctoral fellowship; Association for Asian Studies research travel grant; Japan Foundation research fellowship; Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize for Trans-Pacific Racisms and the U.S. Occupation of Japan.

WRITINGS:

Trans-Pacific Racisms and the U.S. Occupation of Japan, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 1999.

Also associate editor, American-East Asian Relations.

SIDELIGHTS: Yukiko Koshiro's Trans-Pacific Racisms and the U.S. Occupation of Japan attempts to analyze race as an important factor in U.S.-East Asian relations, specifically during the post-World War II American occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1951. Yuki Ichioka in Pacific Historical Review described the Japanese racial framework from which Koshiro writes as one of a "dual racial identity . . . within a Western-centered racial hierarchy" Ichioka explained, "the Japanese acknowledged and accepted this racial hierarchy. On the other hand, Japanese racism placed the Japanese people as superior to other Asians and colored people." Within this racial framework Koshiro presents a series of case studies illustrating what she terms the "codependence" of these racial identities and how they played out during the occupation.

Ichioka articulated Koshiro's motivation for such a study by writing, "only if we recognize our mutual racisms and how they have played out in U.S.-Japanese relations can we ever hope to transcend them and relate to each other on the basis of genuine equality and real mutual trust." And Choice reviewer J. C. Perry echoed the significance of addressing these issue: "Although the book focuses on the occupation period (1945-1951), its subject relates to a much broader sweep of experience."