Syonan: Singapore Under the Japanese 1942-1945

Shortlisted for Singapore Book Awards 2018, Best Illustrated Non-Fiction Title

To the generation of Singapore residents who lived through the Japanese Occupation, it was not at all clear that they were experiencing a turning point in their history. The period, to them, was about the brutality of Japanese military administration, of deprivation and about fear of the future. Most were unaware that Japan’s victory marked the sunset of British rule in the region.

This revised edition of Syonan: Singapore Under the Japanese 1942-1945, with extensively revised text and newly researched illustrations, frames the social memories of Singapore in the perspectives of war, surrender, suffering and legacy to present a vivid picture of how a people arose from ruin to take charge of their destiny.