This dissertation is a study of Japanese efforts to produce and utilize knowledge in the construction and management of their infamous "puppet state" of Manchukuo (1932--45). Using archival Manchukuo planning and policy documents from the National Diet Library in Tokyo, prewar Japanese dispatches and documents from the National Archives of Japan (JACAR), an array of Manchuria and Manchukuo-era gazetteers and information books, as well as military and civilian maps from various sources and time periods, I have traced elements of what was a vast knowledge production "industry" on northeastern China in the prewar period. An understanding of Japanese knowledge production in Manchuria-Manchukuo helps explain, beyond the well-known narrative of military violence and economic exploitation, how the Japanese were able to successfully build the foundation of a new trans-national Asian state in northeastern China.;After the introductory overview, chapter two examines the rise of Manchuria in cartography, showing that Western and Japanese maps and mapmakers played a role in creating and perpetuating both the Manchurian geo-body and its now obsolete toponym. The next chapter on the mapping of Manchukuo demonstrates that there was a great deal of continuity between it and the cartographic tradition of Manchuria. Nevertheless, once the Japanese had a free hand to map Manchuria as they saw fit, they instituted a large-scale military mapping program built upon previous Japanese, Chinese, and Russian cartography. The military mapping of Manchukuo also corresponded with the civilian cartographic industry in Japan, which, along with Western modes of mapping Manchukuo, is analyzed in chapter three.;Chapters four and five look at Japanese textual knowledge production of Manchuria-Manchukuo, as well as the evolution of Manchurian knowledge structuring from the early 20th century into the 1930s. Chapters 2--5 culminate with chapter six, an examination of Manchukuo-era low-level planning and policies, including full and partial translations of key documents. In the epilogue I explore the aftermath of Manchukuo in the wake of the Soviet invasion, and suggest avenues for future research---in particular road and minor city planning---based on documents discovered at the Diet Library but not utilized in the previous chapters.
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