ABSTRACT
From 1937 to 1945, Imperial Japanese military occupied Sanzao Island in south China. During the occupation the Japanese troops committed mass murder, sexual violence and arson; the native population reduced from 12,000 before the occupation to 1,800 in June 1938. However, the traumatic events received little public attention in the post-war era until the global surge of trauma studies in recent years. Based on interviews of eyewitnesses and local researchers, this chapter examines how memories of the trauma bear witness to the structure of domination and violence and recounting the traumatic experiences performs a critical function against political or ideological closure.
