Name: Nguyen Minh Nga Student number: 518404
Date: 02.10.2017 Email: mnnguy@utu.fi
Course title: MPAS2001 Instructor: Professor Lauri Paltemaa
Grade:
TITLE OF THE SUMMARY ARTICLE: Sven Saaler: "Pan-Asianism in modern Japanese history: Overcoming the nation, creating a region, forging an empire", in Pan-Asianism in modern Japanese history: Colonialism, Regionalism, and Borders, edited by Seven Saaler and J. Victor Koschmann, London and New York: Routledge, 2007, 1-18
INTRODUCTION: The author of the article is Sven Saaler who is an associate professor of Modern Japanese History at Sophia University in Tokyo. He has written and published many books on issues of historical memory in Japan, Pan-Asianism and regionalism in modern East Asia, as well as Japanese-German relations. Routledge is a British multinational and leading academic publisher in Humanities and Social Sciences.
KEY POINTS IN THE ARTICLE: The article is a well-packed and overall introduction about pan-Asianism
…show more content…
When the Sinocentric world system and Tokugawa Shogunate dynasty collapsed, it was instantly necessary for Japan to define itself. Therefore, the Meiji government had to choose between two approaches, one is modernization and military to survive under Western Imperialism, another is unifying with Asian countries against the threat of the West. While many intellectual associations advocated the idea of a unified Asia under Japan leadership, Meiji government was still afraid of augmenting Western fears of the "Yellow Peril". As a consequence, ideals about Asian unity or equality were neglected, at the same time, the idea that Japan had "the holy mission to liberate Asia" and soon, pan-Asian rhetoric was used to legitimize Japanese leadership and in the justification of Japanese aggression in East Asia during the World War
The East Asians, mostly China and Japan, both were trying to become or stay a great power, and did it in different ways. Japan tried to isolate themselves by only allowing limited contact and no spreading of Christianity, as was talked about in document sixteen. China tried to keep up with them by using a strong legal system as was mentioned in document six, and government set up like the monarchs of Europe, in that the power is passed from father to son, as seen in document five. Japan, at first, let the newcomers in and learn about them, and let them learn a little from them. However, they didn't have very good experiences, like as portrayed in document twelve, the Japanese thought of the Europeans as arrogant and full of themselves, and the Europeans, like Will Adams in document fourteen, didn't like what the Japanese did, in holding them there when they wanted to leave, and the way they treated the women as completely there just to serve and help the men, as was mentioned in document eleven.
Japan led a ruthless assault in the Pacific for fifteen years. This small island was able to spread imperialism and terror to neighboring countries through means of force and brutality. Japan even attempted to combat and overcome European and Western countries such as Russia and the United States. Even with an extreme militaristic government, Japan was unable to achieve the glory it was promised and hoped for. The Pacific War analyzes Japan’s part in the war and what the country could have done to prevent such a tragedy.
“By 1870, 90% of Japan’s international trade was controlled by Westerners living in Japan.” (Woods, SW. (2004). Japan an Illustrated History (1st Edition). Hippocrene books pg. 111).
Four warships of America’s East Asia Squadron anchored at Uraga, in the predawn hours of July 14, 1853. This is twenty-seven miles south of Japanese capital, also known as Edo (renamed Tokyo in 1868). A prominent scholar had recently warned of people who came from the earth’s “hindmost regions” were “incapable of doing good things,” to Japan. The recent Mexican Spanish-American War, Americans has sharpened his desire for taking advantage of his wealth and power for political and commercial benefit. For al...
Japan from Prehistory to Modern times. New York: Delacorte, 1979. Print. The. Lockwood, William W. Japan's Response to the West: The Contrast with China. New Haven: n.p., 1956.
John Dower's War Without Mercy describes the ugly racial dimensions of the conflict in the Asian theater of World War II and their consequences on both military and reconstruction policy in the Pacific. "In the United States and Britain," Dower reminds us, "the Japanese were more hated than the Germans before as well as after Pearl Harbor. On this, there was no dispute among contemporary observers. They were perceived as a race apart, even a species apart -- and an overpoweringly monolithic one at that. There was no Japanese counterpart to the 'good German' in the popular consciousness of the Western Allies." (8) Conservative readers, don't fret - Dower isn't making this argument to exonerate the Japanese for their own racism or war crimes -- after all, "atrocious behavior occurred on all sides in the Pacific War." (12-13) Rather, Dower is exploring the propaganda of the US-Japanese conflict to delineate the "patterns of a race war," the cultural mechanisms of "othering," and the portability of racial/racist stereotypes. For "as the war years themselves changed over into into an era of peace between Japan and the Allied powers, the shrill racial rhetoric of the early 1940s revealed itself to be surprisingly adaptable. Idioms that formerly had denoted the unbridgeable gap between oneself and the enemy proved capable of serving the goals of accommodation as well." (13)
...feat of Japan in World War 2). With the changes of the nature of power, Japan by balancing out aggressive economic policies and a quiet military buildup, was able to build herself up to become a prominent player in the international sphere today. In closing, while Japan’s policies today in general have been skewered towards the arguments of the ‘Gentleman’, increasingly Japan has considered more realist concerns of security in the escalation of tensions of the East Asian geopolitical sphere. Chomin’s Discourse has nonetheless served as a prophetic blueprint for more than a century of Japan policy-making.
Ogawa, D. (1993) The Japanese of Los Angeles. Journal of Asian and African Studies, v19, pp.142-3.
In “The Most Controversial Decision,” by the Rev. Wilson Miscamble, professor of history at the University of Notre Dame, blames the incredibly and unreasonably persistent attitude of Japan on “the twisted neo-samurai who led the Japanese military geared up with true banzai spirit to engage the whole population in a kind of kamikaze campaign. Their stupidity and perfidy in perpetuating and prolonging the struggle should not be
Tsuzuki, Chushichi. The Pursuit of Power in Modern Japan, 1825-1995. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Questia. Web. 28 Apr. 2011.
Though it seems that it was the Western influence that set off this revolutionary change, a more scrutinizing look into Japanese society at the time reveals that Japan was in fact on the brink of supplanting the fixed, hierarchical Tokugawa order for one that was better suited for its fast evolving, capitalistic society. As historian David Lu states, “Our people began to discover [modern civilization’s] utility and gradually and yet actively moved towards its acceptance. However, there was an old fashioned and bloated government that stood in the way of progress.” (Lu, 351). Therefore in a way we can view the intrusion of Western powers in Japan on that infamous July day in 1853 as an event that occurred during a time when Japan was ready for a world renewal, and not a direct and complete cause of modernization of Japan; in fact it was Japan’s revaluation of modernization and what it meant to be Japanese amidst strong western influences that eventually ...
Imperialism has not only influenced colonial territories to better themselves or to further the mother country’s realm of power, it also had a significant impact on the people’s culture, education, environment, and political systems. Japan and Britain were two imperial systems that countered each other in many facets but also had strikingly similar qualities that had helped them become strong imperial powers that needed one another to continue their position amongst others. The Japanese empire was an inspirational country to other Asians that spearheaded the fight against the European imperialism. After the Meiji restoration, the emperors decided that the modernization of Japan was going to begin and in order for it to be a success, the government had to change along with their culture, “.restored authority faced new dangers in a new age.
...high power status, Japan had to have a self-reliant industrial common ground and be able to move all human and material resources (S,195). Through the Shogun Revolution of 1868, the abolition of Feudalism in 1871, the activation of the national army in 1873, and the assembly of parliament in 1889, the political system of Japan became westernized (Q,3). Local Labor and commercial assistance from the United States and Europe allowed Japan’s industry to bloom into a developed, modern, industrial nation (Q,3). As a consequence production surplus, and food shortage followed (Q,3). Because of how much it relied on aid of western powers, Japan’s strategic position became especially weak. In an attempt to break off slightly from the aid of the west Japanese leaders believed that it would be essential for Japan to expand beyond its borders to obtain necessary raw materials.
Our preliminary class gave a brief, yet detailed outline of major events affecting the East Asian region. Within that class, prompted by our limited geographical knowledge of Asia, we were given a fundamental explanation of the geographical locations of the various events taking place in the region. In subsequent classes, we were introduced to the major wars, political shifts, and economic interests which shaped Japan, China and Korea to what they are today. We examined the paradigm of pre-modern Japanese governance, the Shogunate, and the trained warriors which defended lord and land, Samurai. In addition, we examined the socio-economic classes of Medieval Japan, which included the Samurai, peasants, craftsmen, and the merchants. We also examined pre-1945 Japan’s policies toward foreign entities, notably the Sakoku Policy, which sought to expunge all foreign presence and commerce in an effort to protect its borders and culture. 1945, however, saw ...