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A Phase of Meiji Japan's Attitude toward China: The Case of Komura Jutarō
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 November 2008
Extract
William L. Langer, the eminent scholar of imperialism, has succinctly defined the nature of the Russo-Japanese War:
The Russo-Japanese War still remains the classic example of a conflict waged for purely imperialistic motives. There was no sentiment, no tradition involved. The Japanese and the Russians were equally disliked by the population of the territories which they desired to control. At bottom it was merely a question of which nation should victimize the moribund Korean and Chinese Empires.
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References
1 Langer, William L., ‘The Origin of the Russo-Japanese War, ’ in his Exploraiwn in Crisis (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1969), p. 3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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12 Komura Shōji, ‘Pōtsumasu kaigi no zengo’ (At the Time of the Portsmouth Conference), Nihon hyōron (Japan Review), April 1929, p. 148; Gaimushō, Komura gaikō shi, p. 711.
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66 Torajirō, Naitō, Nait¯ Ko'nan zenshū (hereafter cited as NKZ) (The Complete Works of Naitō Torajirō) (Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō, 1972), Vol. 6, pp. 369–93Google Scholar: Shinagaku (Sinology) (February, 1934) Vol. 7, No. 2, p. 4; Miyakawa, Hisayuki, ‘An Outline of the Naitō Hypothesis and Its Effects on Japanese Studies of China,’ Far Eastern Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 4 (08 1955), pp. 533–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar I have received kind suggestions from Professors Banno Masataka and Etō Shinkichi concerning the relations between Komura and Naitō. Needless to say, I alone am responsible for my interpretation of Naitō's ideas.
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71 Ibid., pp. 453, 483–9.
72 Ibid., Vol. 2 (1971), p. 214.
73 Ibid., Vol. I, pp. 434–6.
74 Ibid., p. 523; and Vol. 2, p. 317.
75 bid., Vol. 3 (1971), p. 190.
76 Ibid., Vol. 2, pp. 127–35.
77 Ibid., p. 235.
78 Ibid., p. 140–3, 151–6, 489–91, and 622–4.
79 Ibid., p. 610–16.
80 Ibid., p. 611.
81 Ibid., Vol. 3, pp. 283–304.
82 Ibid., Vol. 2, pp. 146–50.
83 Ibid., Vol. 3, pp. 258–60.
84 Ibid., Vol. p. 420.
85 Ibid., Vol. 3, pp. 748.
86 Ibid., Vol. 3, pp. 51.
87 Ibid., pp. 37 and 41–3.
88 Ibid., pp. 308–9.
89 Ibid., p. 359.
90 Ibid., p. 117. On the meaning of the slogan ‘maintenance of China's integrity’ (Shina hozen) as proclaimed by such groups as the Tö-A Dōbunkai and the Kokumin Dōmeikai, see Sakai Yūkichi, ‘Konoe Atsumaro to Meiji sanj¯ nendai no taigaikōha’ (Konoe Atsumaro and the Advocate of a Strong Foreign Policy in the Decade after 1897), Kokka Gakkai zasshi (Journal of Political Science), Vol. 83, Nos. 3 and 4, pp. 188–257, particularly pp. 220–4.Google Scholar
91 NKZ Vol. 4 (1971), pp. 26–8.Google Scholar
92 This is a phrase that Komura often used to express his attitude toward China. Nihon gaikō bunsho, Vol. 38, No. 1, p. 106, and Vol. 41, No. 1, p. 76.Google Scholar
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