FAITH, RACE AND STRATEGY:

JAPANESE-MONGOLIAN RELATIONS, 1873-1945

This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Murdoch University 2008

James Boyd

(BA (Hons) Adelaide)

I declare that this thesis is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work which has not previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary education institution.

………………………….

ABSTRACT

Between 1873 and 1945 Japan and Mongolia had a complex and important relationship that has been largely overlooked in post-war studies of Japan’s imperial era. In fact,

Japanese-Mongolian relations in the modern period provide a rich field of enquiry into the nature of Japanese imperialism as well as further evidence of the complexity of

Japan’s relationships with other Asian countries in the decades before 1945. This thesis examines the relationship from the Japanese perspective, drawing on a diverse range of contemporary materials, both official and unofficial, including military documents, government reports, travel guides and academic works, many of which have been neglected in earlier studies. In previous analyses, the strategic dimension has been seen as overwhelming and Mongolia has often been regarded as merely a minor addendum to Japan’s relationship with Manchuria. In fact, however, Japan’s connection with Mongolia itself was a crucial part of its interaction with the Chinese continent from the 1870s to 1945. Though undeniably coveted for strategic reasons,

Mongolia also offered unparalleled opportunities for the elaboration of all the major aspects of the discourses that made up Japan’s evolving claim to solidarity with and leadership of Asia. It also functioned as a showcase for Japan’s supposedly benevolent intentions towards Asia. In some ways, moreover, the relationship with

Mongolia was presented as distinctive, particularly because of the common faith in

Buddhism and a supposedly shared ancestry in ethnic terms. In turn, the military, political, ideological and cultural opportunities apparently provided by Mongolia account for the wide range of groups and individuals in Japan that developed

Mongolian connections and for the often close relations between these groups and individuals on the one hand, and the most powerful institutions of the Japanese state on the other.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements i

Conventions ii

Abbreviations iii

Timeline iv

Maps and Illustrations vi

INTRODUCTION 1

Mongolia in Historical Context 3 Japan and Mongolia in the Modern Period 7 The Region of ‘Man-M’ 19 Scholarly Context 34 Thesis Argument, Sources, Approach and Structure 45

CHAPTER ONE 55

Soldiers, Adventurers and Educators: Meiji Encounters with Mongolia, 1873-1912

Fukushima Yasumasa and the Military Dimension of Japanese-Mongolian Relations 58 Kawashima Naniwa: Man of Action 65 Kawahara Misako: A Forgotten ‘Hero’ 70 Other Cultural Connections between Japan and Mongolia 88 Mongolia in Japanese Military, Diplomatic and Political Thinking after 1905 99 Conclusion 102

CHAPTER TWO 104

Carpe Diem?: The Manchurian-Mongolian Independence Movements, 1912-22

The Geopolitical Context of the ‘Independence’ Movements 106 The 1912 ‘Independence’ Movement 112 Ongoing Japanese Ambitions in Mongolia, 1912-16 120 The 1916 ‘Independence’ Movement 129 The 1918-22 Siberian Intervention and the Pan-Mongol Movement 134 The Japanese High Command and Mongolian Operations 143 Mongolian Overtures to Japan 153

Conclusion 157

CHAPTER THREE 159

Mongolia’s Riches: Japanese Explorers, Entrepreneurs and Military Opportunists, 1922-31

The Geopolitical Context 161 Mongolia in Japanese Bureaucratic, Political and Cultural Discourse 166 Japanese Business and Mongolia 175 Japanese Religious Aims in Mongolia: The Mainstream and the Fringe 181 The Japanese Military and the Mongolian Horse 192 Conclusion 204

CHAPTER FOUR 206

Inner Mongolia: Japanese Military Activity and its Cultural Support, 1932-45

The Japanese Military in Inner Mongolia, 1932-6 210 Japanese-Inner Mongolian Political and Diplomatic Relations, 1937-45 222 Japanese Writers and Mongolia, 1932-45 231 Western Writers and Mongolia, 1932-45 253 Conclusion 257

CHAPTER FIVE 260

Cultural Diplomacy in Action: The Zenrin Kykai in Inner Mongolia, 1933-45

Force versus Persuasion 262 Agents of Japanese Cultural Diplomacy 265 The Genesis of the Zenrin Kykai 268 The Zenrin Kykai’s Activities in Inner Mongolia, 1933-7 271 The Zenrin Kykai’s Activities in Japan, 1933-7 276 The Kwantung Army and the Zenrin Kykai 283 The Zenrin Kykai’s Activities after 1937 290 The Zenrin Kykai and the Muslims of Mengchiang 293 Conclusion 307

CONCLUSION 309

Appendix 1: List of Key Figures 315

Appendix 2: List of Mongolian and Chinese Place-Names 320

Bibliography 323

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I acknowledge the support that I received from my supervisor, Associate Professor Sandra Wilson of Murdoch University, who guided my research throughout. Without her incisive feedback, breadth of knowledge, and, most of all, boundless patience, this thesis would never have been completed.

I would like to thank the staff of the Japanese Studies Programme at Murdoch University; staff and postgraduates of the Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University; and officemate Dr Narrelle Morris.

I thank Assistant Professor Nancy Stalker, University of Texas at Austin, for allowing me to read a chapter of her forthcoming book; Professor Philip Billingsley, St Andrew’s University, Osaka, for providing me with a copy of his book; Associate Professor Alexis Dudden, Connecticut College; Mr George Eleftheriou; Professor Selçuk Esenbel, Bogazici University; Professor Laura Hein, Northwestern University; Professor Yoshikuni Igarashi, Vanderbilt University; Mr Philip Jowett; Professor Kitaoka Shin’ichi, Tokyo University; Dr Stephen Large, University of Cambridge; Dr Morris Low, University of Queensland; Dr Narangoa Li, Australian National University; Dr J. Charles Schencking, University of Melbourne; Professor Kerry Smith, Brown University; Dr Beatrice Trefalt, Monash University; Dr Timothy Tsu, then of the Australian National University, now of the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Dr David Wells, Curtin University of Technology; Ms Michelle Hall, Librarian, East Asian Collection at the University of Melbourne; Ms Mayumi Shinozaki, Australian National Library; Ms Sit-Ling Tull, Asian Research Librarian at Murdoch University; staff of the Beich shirykan, Tokyo; staff of the Gaik shirykan, Tokyo; staff of the National Diet Library, Tokyo.

This thesis was completed with financial support from Murdoch University in the form of a Murdoch University Research Scholarship, which is also acknowledged with gratitude.

Last, and most importantly, I thank Miki for her patience, as I spent far too many hours lost in my research.

i CONVENTIONS

Chinese and Mongolian personal and place names are given in the main text in the

Wade-Giles transliteration that was common in English-language sources produced during the period covered by this thesis. The Pinyin readings, with the appropriate characters, are found in the appendices. Transliteration of Mongol names follows

Gaik shirykan, Tokyo, ‘Mko yran’, November 1912, in Foreign Ministry papers,

1·6·1·57-1, ‘Mko jh chsa shoichi’. The appendix of personal names lists Chinese,

Japanese and Russian individuals referred to in the thesis. Chinese characters are given for Chinese and Japanese names, and dates of birth and death are included whenever possible.

Macrons have been omitted over the long vowels in the text, and in English-language works in the footnotes and bibliography, in the commonly-encountered Japanese place names: Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe.

Between 1928 and 1949, when the Nationalist Chinese government moved its capital to

Nanking, Peking was known as ‘Peiping’. To avoid confusion, however, I have used

‘Peking’ throughout the thesis.

ii ABBREVIATIONS

IMTFE International Military Tribunal for the Far East

JCWE Japan Chronicle Weekly Edition

SIA (Kwantung Army) Special Intelligence Agency

USMIRC United States Military Intelligence Reports, China

YS Yomiuri shinbun

ZKS Zenrin kykai shi — Zenrinkai (ed.), Zenrin kykai shi: Uchimko ni okeru bunka katsud, Tky: n. publ., 1981.

iii TIMELINE

1868 Meiji Restoration

1873 Buddhist monks from Nishi Honganji visit Inner and Outer Mongolia

1879 Fukushima Yasumasa dispatched covertly to Inner Mongolia by Yamagata Aritomo

1886 Kawashima Naniwa visits China for the first time

1892-3 Fukushima Yasumasa rides solo on horseback from Berlin to Vladivostok

1894-5 First Sino-Japanese War

1900 Boxer Rebellion. Fukushima Yasumasa commands the Japanese relief force. Kawashima Naniwa serves as interpreter for the Japanese military

1902-4 Kawahara Misako teaches at Karachin Banner in Inner Mongolia

1904-5 Russo-Japanese War

1912 Fall of the Ch’ing dynasty; first Manchurian-Mongolian independence movement

1916 Second Manchurian-Mongolian independence movement

1918-22 Siberian Intervention

1924 Deguchi Onisabur’s Mongolian excursion

1928 Japanese-Mongolian party rides on horseback from Manchuli to Tokyo to promote friendly relations between the two peoples

Sept. 1931 Manchurian Incident

iv Mar. 1932 Establishment of ‘Manchukuo’

Jan. 1933 Kwantung Army occupies Jehol province, Inner Mongolia, and incorporates it into Manchukuo

Nov. 1933 Zenrin kykai established in Tokyo

Early 1934 Zenrin kykai begins operations in Chahar province, Inner Mongolia

Nov. 1936 Suiyuan Incident

Dec. 1936 Sian Incident; Chinese Nationalists and Communists reconcile

July 1937 Outbreak of Second Sino-Japanese War; Kwantung Army occupies majority of Suiyuan province

Nov. 1937 Establishment of the Japanese-sponsored Inner Mongolian regime of Mengchiang

9 Aug. 1945 Soviet invasion of Inner Mongolia and Manchuria

15 Aug. 1945 Japanese surrender

v MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

Note: a number of the illustrations used in this thesis are taken from facsimile editions of pre-1945 publications, which has affected the quality of reproduction.

Figure 1: Mongolia in the 1860s 3

Figure 2: Map of Manchuria and adjacent regions showing Chinese provinces in the late Ch’ing/Republican era, with Mongol leagues and banners shaded 22

Figure 3: Map of North China, showing the provinces established in 1928, with areas of significant Mongol population shaded 23

Figure 4: Torii Ryz’s perception of ‘Eastern Mongolia’, 1915 27

Figure 5: Torii Ryz’s perception of Japan’s sphere of influence in ‘Inner Mongolia’, 1928 28

Figure 6: Kawase Tatsuo’s perception of ‘Eastern Inner Mongolia’, 1926 28

Figure 7: Japanese Army’s apparent perception of Japan’s sphere of influence (‘Inner Mongolia’), March 1931 29

Figure 8: Sat Yasunosuke ’s perception of ‘Man-M’, May 1931 29

Figure 9: Fukushima Yasumasa, c. 1895 63

Figure 10: Kawashima Naniwa and Prince Su, c. 1905 67

Figure 11: Kawahara Misako, Prince Gung and consort, c. 1904 77

Figure 12: Babujab 130

Figure 13: Grigorii Mikhailovich Semenov 135

vi Figure 14: Roman Nicolaus Feodorovich von Ungern-Sternberg 137

Figure 15: Flag of the 1924 ‘Army for Northwestern Autonomy’ 184

Figure 16: Deguchi Onisabur in Mongolia, 1924 185

Figure 17: 1928 poster advertising events connected with the erection of memorial tower commemorating the defeat of the Mongol invasion of Japan in 1281 200

Figure 18: Army ceremony commemorating fallen horses, late 1930s 203

Figure 19: Map of the contested region, c. 1936 210

Figure 20: Mongol cavalry in Japanese service, September 1937 224

Figure 21: Prince Teh and other Mongol notables in Japan, October 1938 226

Figure 22: Farewell portrait, Kharachin Banner, Inner Mongolia, 1906 236

Figure 23: ‘Mongolian boy’ 243

Figure 24: ‘Maiden of the Mongolian ger’ 244

Figure 25: ‘Kalgan typist’ 245

Figure 26: ‘Woman military journalist at Paotou’ 246

Figure 27: Hasegawa Haruko with an artillery unit, Shantung province, December 1937 247

Figure 28: ‘Shihchiachwang’s golden princesses’ 248

Figure 29: Mongolian girls studying, c. 1938 274

vii Figure 30: Japanese Army radio section in China, c. 1938 289

Figure 31: Students of the Zenrin Muslim Girls’ School together with the Japanese staff of the Zenrin kykai’s Kagan headquarters, June 1941 304

viii