Among the many women’s organisations emerging in late 19th- and early 20th-century Japan, the Aikoku Fujinkai was one of the most prominent. Founded in 1901 by Okumura Ioko to support the Imperial Army through donations and aid supplies, it soon expanded into colonised Taiwan and Korea, where it recruited not only Japanese but also Taiwanese and Korean women as members. While the Aikoku Fujinkai actively promoted imperialist and militarist agendas, it pursued distinctly gendered objectives through large-scale social welfare projects focused on women and children. This presentation will share insights from recent archival fieldwork in Tokyo to discuss how the Aikoku Fujinkai’s social welfare work in interwar Taiwan and Korea can be interpreted within the political and social context of Japanese colonialism. Details and registration here