Hannah Shepherd, "The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region" (U California Press, 2025)

*The Narrowing Sea: Fukuoka, Pusan, and the Rise and Fall of an Imperial Region* redefines modern Japanese urban history by positioning the Fukuoka-Pusan corridor as a critical, interconnected imperial region. Modern Japanese historian Hannah Shepherd argues that urbanization cannot be separated from imperial expansion, as the two cities developed through shared labor migration, industrial growth, and maritime trade across the Tsushima Strait. By tracing the lives of settlers and migrants, the book reveals how this "imperial dyad" functioned as a precursor to contemporary planetary urbanization. Shepherd demonstrates that regional dynamics, rather than just central government policies, drove the development of these port cities through multiple wars. This analysis shifts the focus from national capitals to the trans-border spaces where colonial power, local identity, and economic exploitation converged, ultimately shaping the region's trajectory from the Meiji era through the aftermath of the Korean War.