The Japanese and the Americans: Contrasting Historical Periods of Economic and Social Development in Palau
Ballendorf, Dirk A. (1988). "The Japanese and the Americans: Contrasting Historical Periods of Economic and Social Development in Palau". Asian Culture Quarterly. Asian Cultural Center. 16 (4): 55–63.
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Abstract: Addresses contrasting historical periods of economic and social development in Palau under Japanese rule and subsequent American administration within Micronesia, foregrounding Palau’s place in the region and the policy approaches that shaped local governance, economy, and education. It highlights a stated American military government mission to establish self-governing communities, promote trade, industry, and agriculture to achieve economic independence, and to develop education adapted to islanders and local environments to support these objectives.
It records constraints on scholarship of the Japanese period in Micronesia due to limited access to Japanese-language documents and insufficient translation into English, while noting the growing availability and recognition of source materials that are expected to expand studies of this era.
The text references labor migration during the Japanese period from Taiwan, Korea, and Okinawa, with many workers engaged in fisheries, and notes the presented example of hard work as a central theme conveyed to observers.
Cited institutions and works include the Micronesian Area Research Center (MARC) at the University of Guam; a directive by Admiral Raymond Spruance associated with postwar naval policy; the compilation Winds of Change produced by the Education Department in Saipan under ESEA Title IV-C; the volume Statistics of the Pacific Islands linked to the International Japan Association in Tokyo; references to Donald R. Shuster; and Mark R. Peattie’s Tropical Sun: The Japanese
