BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//pretalx//pretalx.com//wha-annual-meeting-korea-2026//talk//X7MEHG
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:KST
BEGIN:STANDARD
DTSTART:20000101T000000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=1
TZNAME:KST
TZOFFSETFROM:+0900
TZOFFSETTO:+0900
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:pretalx-wha-annual-meeting-korea-2026-X7MEHG@pretalx.com
DTSTART;TZID=KST:20260626T150000
DTEND;TZID=KST:20260626T152000
DESCRIPTION:This presentation examines how the Japanese government conceptu
 alized and implemented civilian repatriation and exchange policies between
  1937 and 1944\, situating them within the continuous trajectory from the 
 Second Sino-Japanese War to the Pacific War. Although civilians in wartime
  are generally described as persons to be protected and removed from the b
 attlefield\, this presentation exposed the difficulty of distinguishing be
 tween noncombatants and those embedded in imperial economic\, administrati
 ve\, and strategic structures.\n\nIn 1937 alone\, more than fifty thousand
  Japanese nationals were repatriated from China. Yet during the early stag
 e of the war\, despite numerous requests for return\, the government delib
 erately restricted repatriation in order to sustain its continental strate
 gy. Civilians were treated not merely as protected subjects but as strateg
 ic resources whose movement required careful control. This wartime managem
 ent in China established a policy logic that later shaped trans-Pacific ex
 changes.\n\nWhen Japan declared war on the United States in 1941\, the exc
 hange ships of 1942 were therefore not unprecedented humanitarian initiati
 ves but extensions of an existing framework of selective repatriation. Dra
 wing primarily on records of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs\, th
 is presentation situates the U.S.–Japan exchange ships within this longe
 r policy trajectory. The inclusion of civilians—particularly businessmen
  and financial personnel—reflected calculations of economic and strategi
 c value rather than purely humanitarian concerns\, and selection remained 
 tightly controlled by the state.\n\nAfter the second exchange in 1942\, th
 e establishment of the Bureau in Charge of Japanese Nationals in Enemy Cou
 ntries reclassified civilians in the United States within a Geneva Convent
 ion framework as “prisoners.” This shift coincided with the effective 
 termination of further exchange ships\, revealing unresolved tensions in J
 apan’s wartime repatriation policy and in the legal status of civilians 
 under modern war.
DTSTAMP:20260412T140529Z
LOCATION:Room 201 (Seats 42)
SUMMARY:Homecoming During the War: Repatriation Policy and Civilian Exchang
 e of Japan\, 1937-1944 - Ma Xinghan
URL:https://pretalx.com/wha-annual-meeting-korea-2026/talk/X7MEHG/
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR