Seeds of Control: Japan's Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea
Conservation as a tool of colonialism in early twentieth-century Korea

Japanese colonial rule in Korea (1905–1945) ushered in natural resource management programs that profoundly altered access to and ownership of the peninsula’s extensive mountains and forests. Under the banner of “forest love,” the colonial government set out to restructure the rhythms and routines of agrarian life, targeting everything from home heating to food preparation. Timber industrialists, meanwhile, channeled Korea’s forest resources into supply chains that grew in tandem with Japan’s imperial sphere. These mechanisms of resource control were only fortified after 1937, when the peninsula and its forests were mobilized for total war.

In this wide-ranging study David Fedman explores Japanese imperialism through the lens of forest conservation in colonial Korea—a project of environmental rule that outlived the empire itself. Holding up for scrutiny the notion of conservation, Seeds of Control examines the roots of Japanese ideas about the Korean landscape, as well as the consequences and aftermath of Japanese approaches to Korea’s “greenification.” Drawing from sources in Japanese and Korean, Fedman writes colonized lands into Japanese environmental history, revealing a largely untold story of green imperialism in Asia.

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Seeds of Control: Japan's Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea
Conservation as a tool of colonialism in early twentieth-century Korea

Japanese colonial rule in Korea (1905–1945) ushered in natural resource management programs that profoundly altered access to and ownership of the peninsula’s extensive mountains and forests. Under the banner of “forest love,” the colonial government set out to restructure the rhythms and routines of agrarian life, targeting everything from home heating to food preparation. Timber industrialists, meanwhile, channeled Korea’s forest resources into supply chains that grew in tandem with Japan’s imperial sphere. These mechanisms of resource control were only fortified after 1937, when the peninsula and its forests were mobilized for total war.

In this wide-ranging study David Fedman explores Japanese imperialism through the lens of forest conservation in colonial Korea—a project of environmental rule that outlived the empire itself. Holding up for scrutiny the notion of conservation, Seeds of Control examines the roots of Japanese ideas about the Korean landscape, as well as the consequences and aftermath of Japanese approaches to Korea’s “greenification.” Drawing from sources in Japanese and Korean, Fedman writes colonized lands into Japanese environmental history, revealing a largely untold story of green imperialism in Asia.

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Seeds of Control: Japan's Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea

Seeds of Control: Japan's Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea

Seeds of Control: Japan's Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea

Seeds of Control: Japan's Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea

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Overview

Conservation as a tool of colonialism in early twentieth-century Korea

Japanese colonial rule in Korea (1905–1945) ushered in natural resource management programs that profoundly altered access to and ownership of the peninsula’s extensive mountains and forests. Under the banner of “forest love,” the colonial government set out to restructure the rhythms and routines of agrarian life, targeting everything from home heating to food preparation. Timber industrialists, meanwhile, channeled Korea’s forest resources into supply chains that grew in tandem with Japan’s imperial sphere. These mechanisms of resource control were only fortified after 1937, when the peninsula and its forests were mobilized for total war.

In this wide-ranging study David Fedman explores Japanese imperialism through the lens of forest conservation in colonial Korea—a project of environmental rule that outlived the empire itself. Holding up for scrutiny the notion of conservation, Seeds of Control examines the roots of Japanese ideas about the Korean landscape, as well as the consequences and aftermath of Japanese approaches to Korea’s “greenification.” Drawing from sources in Japanese and Korean, Fedman writes colonized lands into Japanese environmental history, revealing a largely untold story of green imperialism in Asia.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780295747477
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Publication date: 07/23/2020
Series: Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 320
File size: 21 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

David Fedman is assistant professor of history at the University of California, Irvine.

Table of Contents

Foreword: Under Japans Green Thumb Paul S. Sutter ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Note on Names and Measures xv

Maps of the Japanese Empire and Korea xvi

Introduction 3

Part I Roots

1 Imperializing Forestry 23

2 Korea, Green and Red 47

Part II Reforms

3 Righting the Woodlands 73

4 Engineering Growth 99

5 The Timber Undertaking 119

6 Civic Forestry 148

Part III Campaigns

7 Forest-Love Thought 175

8 A Stiff Wind Blows 200

Conclusion 223

Notes 237

Bibliography 263

Index 279

What People are Saying About This

Aaron S. Moore

"Dexterous, skillful work—essential reading on the Japanese empire, environmental history in East Asia, and the modern history of Korea and Japan."

Albert L. Park

"The author does a splendid job of pulling in readers through his rich writing. Even though it is set in Korea and East Asia, Seeds of Control is a platform for studying pressing issues in environmental history/studies."

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