On September 30 and October 1, 2011, an international conference entitled, “Japan’s World War II in Asia: 70 Years On,” will take place at the University Club. Twenty-one historians from many parts of the world: Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Great Britain, and the United States will join five Pitt professors to discuss issues such as the rise of nationalism in prewar Japan; the origins of Japan’s World War II in Asia; what led the Japanese to think they could win simultaneous wars against a country with a population seven times theirs and another with an economy five times theirs; how military and civilian planners created a centrally-directed war economy modeled after German and Soviet systems of total mobilization; how ordinary Japanese viewed and justified their war against China and then against the United States and its other allies; the impact of the war on the Japanese home front during the war and even afterward; its impact on other parts of Asia; the nature of its warfare; and postwar Japanese memory of the war. See the Conference web site for more details.