I have published several books and articles on modern Japanese history and politics. Below please find my most recent publications and a selection of books I consider representative of my work. Some of them are available in full-text for download. For more details, please check out my CV or my profile at academia.edu.
In Men in Metal, Sven Saaler examines Japanese public statuary as a central site of historical memory from its beginnings in the Meiji period through the twenty-first century. He shows how the elites of the modern Japanese nation-state went about constructing an iconography of national heroes to serve their agenda of instilling national (and nationalist) thinking into the masses. Based on a wide range of hitherto untapped primary sources, Saaler combines data-driven quantitative analysis and in-depth case studies to identify the categories and historical figures that dominated public space. Men in Metal also explores the agents behind this visualized form of the politics of memory and introduces historiographical controversies surrounding statue-building in modern Japan.
Men in Metal is now Open Access! You can download the book from the publisher’s website.
This section is for updates regarding ongoing projects and other activities. Click on the categories to narrow down the results.
For more details regarding my research and other activities, please follow the links below.
