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JAPAN AND SINGAPORE IN THE WORLD ECONOMY. Japan's Economic Advance into Singapore 1870-1965. By Hiroshi Shimizu and Hitoshi Hirakawa. London and New York: Routledge (Routledge Studies in the Modern History of Asia.) 1999. xxii, 279. US$90. 00/60. 00, cloth. ISBNO415-19236-6.
THIS BOOK was first published in Japanese by the Commons Publishing Company, Tokyo, 1998. The English edition is not a mere translation of the Japanese original. Having English readers in mind, the authors have added a new chapter (chapter 1) and have substantially revised several chapters with additional source materials. Both authors are highly qualified for the topic of this book. Shimizu teaches Asian economic history at Aichi Shukutoku University and has published widely on Japanese trade expansion. Hirakawa teaches Asian economics at Tokyo Keizai University and his research focuses on Asian NIEs (newly industrialising economies.) Both have had the opportunity to teach or do research in Singapore. The book contains seven chapters, several plates, maps, figures and tables, followed by an exhaustive bibliography including diplomatic records and military administration documents as well as sources from Singapore National Archives and Mitsui Archives. The seven Chapters shed new light on the following issues: the role of Japanese...