Ayse Orha

Hello, my name is Ayse Orha, and I am studying for a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Japanology and History at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) in Germany.

My bachelor’s thesis explored whether the Japanese diaspora in San Francisco between 1886–1896 influenced the early Japanese labour movement and the rise of unionism during the Meiji era (1868–1912).

My research interests lie in social and economic history, as well as the history of ideas, culture, and people’s history in late nineteenth- and twentieth-century Japan, and transnational and global history, especially on a local level. I am particularly interested in the experiences of ordinary people. About how they understood and perceived society, the state, and ideas such as equality. I also consider it important to study the lives of poverty-stricken groups, e.g. exploring how they lived, where they settled, and how they were perceived and problematised by society, politics, and intellectuals.

Closely related to this, I am interested in social movements such as the labour movement, including unionism, cooperatives, and other forms of organisation or association, like neighbourhood associations and community groups.