The Power of Names

I found the articles on the debate over the name of the Sea of Japan/East Sea and the discussion in class around names to be facinating. Having taught Geography in the past, and being a current World History teacher, I often go over certain naming controversies with students, looking at issues of how former European colonies grapple with the names of cities and countries that were imposed on them by others. But in class this last week, I realized that I've made one of the mistakes I often tell my students not to make: of taking the map at face value. Since I'm less familiar with the history of East Asian countries, I use the map to inform my understanding of the region, based on what the mapmaker decides to draw it as. It was interesting to read about the struggles going on between countries in the region over who has naming rights to things that on the surface seem trivial, but which carry a ton of weight and meaning. Someone in class (I don't remember who) remarked in our discussion about what constitutes "East Asia", that Australia is now including itself to some extent in the category of Asia, after spending decades separating itself off as "Oceania", which I thought was a striking shift. I'm looking forward to learning more about these kinds of struggles over names, narratives, and history in East Asia over the coming weeks!