This cutting edge collection presents a political reading of the power of modern sport in Asia. Providing an interdisciplinary study of political and cultural tensions in Asia, past and present, through the key case-study of sport, it illuminates the complex practices and legacies of Japanese imperialism across East and Southeast Asia through the 20th century and beyond. Focusing on the deep background to contemporary dynamics of intraregional tensions, it examines sport both as a tool of imperialism and as an agent of reconciliation as the region gears up to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Offering a unique contribution to East Asian Studies, Colonial and Postcolonial Studies and Sport Studies, this work represent key reading for students and scholars of East Asian studies, International Politics and Sports Diplomacy.

J.A. Mangan is Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Royal Anthropological Society and Royal Society of Arts, with Fellowships at Berkeley, Cambridge and Oxford. Dr Peter Horton is Hon. Fellow at Australian Catholic University and has taught at James Cook University, Griffith University and Queensland University of Technology, the Communication University of China, Beijing and Nanyang Technological University. Tianwei Ren is International Coordinator, International League of Higher Education in Media and Communication, Communication University of China, and holds a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr Gwang Ok is an Associate Professor at Chungbuk National University, South Korea, regional board editor of The International Journal of the History of Sport and editor of Asia Pacific Journal of Sport and Social Science.