7 - Empire of Camps

Summary

Chapter 7 describes the Southeast Asian camp network as temporarily extending an emergent military industrial complex centered in Japan, already tested prewar in its East Asian colonies. This alliance of the military and defense industries manifests physically through temporary, existing or purpose-built facilities, ranging from factory dormitories to timber-and-attap huts. The distribution of working parties across Asia, including when constructing the Burma-Thai railroad, the journey to Japan, more specifically from Changi to Naoetsu, and, finally, the concentration, forced labor and eventual post-capitulation dispersal of Japanese Surrendered Personnel convey the aggregation and dissolution of the Japanese Empire through a study of its camps.