End of Empire Migration as Evacuation and Individual Flight: The Far North of the Japanese Empire, 1945-1947

Abstract

ABSTRACT Japanese end of empire migration led to the emergence of a repatriate figure (hikiagesha) in post-war Japan. In its earliest incarnation, the repatriated figure appeared as a female fleeing from violence in Manchuria. This article examines how former colonial residents who came from a different part of the empire (Karafuto, present-day southern Sakhalin) and who were not part of the official repatriation adapted to the Manchurian repatriate figure. It argues that new forms of self-identification for male former colonial residents emerged in response to widespread images of the female hikiagesha. The article therefore suggests that researchers should further examine how and why fragmented end of empire narratives subsequently coalesced into a dominant narrative of repatriation.