Introduction

The Chinese, Korean and Japanese cultures are among the oldest in the world, dating back over 3,000 years. East Asia is home to several of the world’s dominant religions. Buddhism began in India but later took root in all the countries of East Asia. China, Japan and South Korea have complicated and interwoven histories. Their societies have intersected over the centuries in peace and in war, resulting in both cultural closeness and outrage and anger. The ascendency of Japanese imperialism in the late 19th century damaged established relationships, and World War II effectively ended them. The Chinese Communist Party drove the Nationalist forces to a final fortress on the island of Taiwan while in 1949 establishing the People’s Republic of China on the mainland. Hong Kong, the United Kingdom’s commercial jewel in the Far East and Europe’s primary entrance point to China, had been overrun by Japanese forces in 1941–1942.