[Mar 4] From Ainu Cosmologies to Imperial Symbols: The Colonial Narratives of Mt. Asahidake in Hokkaido, 1900s-1930s

From Ainu Cosmologies to Imperial Symbols: The Colonial Narratives of Mt. Asahidake in Hokkaido, 1900s-1930s

Date: March 4, 2026 (Wed)

Time: 17:00-19:00

Venue: CRT-5.41, 5/F, Run Run Shaw Tower,

Centennial Campus, HKU

This talk examines how Japanese settlers reimagined and branded Mt. Asahidake, Hokkado's highest peak, to advance colonial goals. For the Ainu, it was a sacred and distant realm, but after Hokkado's annexation in 1869, settlers replaced Ainu cosmologies with new narratives. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Hokkaido government, educators, journalists, and alpine clubs sought to bring the mountain closer everyday life by promoting its sublime beauty and accessibility, while the Imperial Japanese Army elevated it as a symbol of Japanese spirit. These redefinitions transformed Mt. Asahidake into a symbol of Japanese imperial identity, illustrating how mountains served as tools of dominance and regional assertion within the empire.

Chris Tsui Shuen Lau is a historian of modern Japan and a postdoc at the University of Tübingen, Germany. Her research focuses on cultural, social, colonial, and global history. Her current project explores modern mountaineering in the Japanese empire, using Mt. Asahidake in Hokkaido and Yushan in Taiwan as case studies to investigate how mountains were reimagined and repurposed for colonial objectives.

This talk will be hosted by Prof. Michael Roellinghoff of the Department of Japanese Studies at HKU. No registration is required to attend this talk.

For enquiries, please contact Prof. Michael Roellingoff (roellimr@hku.hk)