MASA JEPUN: SARAWAK UNDER THE JAPANESE 1941-1945
Bob Reece
MASA JEPUN: SARAWAK UNDER THE JAPANESE 1941-1945
Bob Reece
The Japanese occupation of Borneo has been one of the yawning gaps in Southeast Asian history. Although there are military histories of the Japanese invasion and subsequent Allied re-conquest, what went on under Japanese rule has remained a mystery.
In this ground-breaking book, Professor Bob Reece of Murdoch University in Western Australia has put together a fascinating mosaic of oral and documentary accounts to reveal the everyday realities of life under what the Chinese liked to call 'the iron heel'.
The leading historian of 20th century Sarawak, Professor Reece draws on his intimate knowledge of 'White Rajah' rule in his scene-setting description of the Brooke Centenary in September 1941. He narrates what is known of the early history of the Japanese in Sarawak, the Brooke government's pantomime preparations for war and the blitzkrieg Japanese invasion of Kuching on Christmas Eve.
The book goes on to outline the policies of the Japanese military administration, including its efforts to combat the power and influence of the Chinese population and to encourage economic self-sufficiency amongst the natives, especially in rice production.
The major focus is on the experience of individuals, including the Chinese, Malays, Iban and other natives as well as European civilian and military internees. Particular attention is paid to the way people adaptated and improvised in the face of drastic shortages of consumer goods. For the Iban in particular, the occupation meant a revival of the old way and customs including head-hunting.
In its final chapters, the book describes the Allied re-conquest of Sarawak in early 1945, in particular the guerilla war waged by the Iban against the Japanese along the Rejang river and acroos the border in Kalimantan.
The work of the post-war Australian military administration is also described, together with the occupation's immediate aftermath and its long-term significance. MASA JEPUN ('the Japanese time') is a people's history of the occupation, bringing together a wealth of first-hand narrative accounts to supplement an extraordinary range of previously unpublished documentary information from archives in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Japan.
The large-format (A4 size) book is copiously illustrated
with black and white and colour photographs from archival and private collections,
together with facsimiles of rare original documents. Professor Reece writes
in a lucid and eminently readable style which will appeal to a wide audience.
To contact the author:
Bob Reece ,
MASA JEPUN is published by the Sarawak Literary Society
and is available in library and paper editions. xix + 254 pp. ISBN 983-9115-06-5
Australian and New Zealand Orders
Hardback A$65.00
Paperback A$45.00 Available from: Masa Jepun, 15 Holland
St., Fremantle WA 6160 WESTERN AUSTRALIA
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Hardback US$48.50
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UK and European Orders
Hardback Stg £40.00
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