Japanese nationalism and propaganda before the First Sino-Japanese War

¶ … Sino-Japanese War: Japanese Precedents and Propaganda

The First Sino-Japanese War had significant international geopolitical implications for several reasons, not the least of which was firmly establishing Japan as a fully modern nation able to contend with others on their own level. The power structures and foreign policies that existed in China, Korea, and Japan were also profoundly affected by the outcome of this war (and were instrumental in causing the war in the first place), and this in turn greatly impacted the way these countries and the other nations in the region were perceived and dealt with by Western nations. Understanding the First Sino-Japanese War, the tensions that led to its development, and the effects this had on the national self-image and international perception of China, Korea, and especially Japan is necessary for developing an understanding of the full geopolitical situation that existed at the dawn of the twentieth century.

The Meiji Restoration and Rising Japanese Nationalism

Without the Meiji Restoration, the First Sino-Japanese War and indeed all prior and subsequent Japanese involvement in international affairs would not have occurred (Paine 2003). The opening of Japan and the move away from the shogun- and samurai-based government that had persisted for the better part of a millennia created new opportunities for Japan that it was quick to seize, despite the fact that these opportunities conflicted with other nations' interests (Jansen 1994). At the same time, there were new problems created by the Meiji Restoration, most especially a need to employ and occupy the samurai and other military members (Paine 2003).

Accompanying the official changes in Japan's governmental structure during the Meiji Restoration were changes in the national spirit of the country and its citizens, including the release of long bottled-up feelings of Japanese supremacy among the world's nations (Swale 2009). Many Japanese thinkers and political figures argued that certain features of Westernization were necessary in order for Japan to become a true world player, and the Meiji Restoration did more than simply bring imperial rule back to the country -- it enabled such sentiments to have practical effects, including increasing attempts to protect and further Japanese interests through international diplomacy as well as bulking up the archipelago's military and especially naval powers (Swale 2009). It was not just that the recently-removed-from-isolation Japan felt it was worthy of East Asian if not global supremacy, but this rising sense of nationalism was accompanied by a sense that Japan and the world were entering a new era, and that old modes and perspectives should be discarded (Swale 2009).

The Datsu -- A Ron was one particular piece published in the decade prior to the First Sino-Japanese War that clearly demonstrates these new strains in Japanese nationalistic and foreign policy thinking. Its anonymous (at the time of publication) author argued that Japan needed to "depart from Asia" in its mode of operation and its sphere of influences, not ignoring what was going on with their neighbors but looking elsewhere for ways to model Japan's progress and progress its civilization (Mamoru 2005). The First Sino-Japanese War was largely about Japan's rising influence in Korea, creating greater overall independence from China -- "leaving Asia," in a sense (Mamoru 2005).

The Seikanron, an internal Japanese political conflict regarding the nation's stance towards Korea that occurred in the 1870s (two decades before the First Sino-Japanese War) was also a major factor in determining the new sense of Japanese nationalism and how it would be manifested in the world. In many regards, the First Sino-Japanese War and the actions and situations that immediately preceded the outbreak of full-on warfare can be seen as an extension of the exact policy debate that made up the Seikanron, with the need for either control or liberation (from China) of Korea having become even more pressing in the twenty years since the Seikanron inflamed Japanese politics (Paine 2003). Seen in this context, it is actually surprising that the First Sino-Japanese War took as long to come about as it did.

Conclusion

There were several major causes for the First Sino-Japanese War, but essentially it was the emergence and insistence on Japanese independence that brought this conflict to a head. The rise in the sense of Japanese nationalism and the nation's fears regarding Chinese control of Korea went hand in hand, and as Japan emerged from isolation it felt a very real need to assert some level of control in a region it was increasingly looking beyond. In many ways, this perspective continues in Japan today.