Acta Asiatica Varsoviensia No. 27 Acta Asiatica Varsoviensia
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ACTA ASIATICA VARSOVIENSIA NO. 27 ACTA ASIATICA VARSOVIENSIA Editor-in-Chief Board of Advisory Editors MARIA ROMAN S£AWIÑSKI NGUYEN QUANG THUAN KENNETH OLENIK Subject Editor ABDULRAHMAN AL-SALIMI OLGA BARBASIEWICZ JOLANTA SIERAKOWSKA-DYNDO BOGDAN SK£ADANEK Statistical Editor LEE MING-HUEI MARTA LUTY-MICHALAK ZHANG HAIPENG Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures Polish Academy of Sciences ACTA ASIATICA VARSOVIENSIA NO. 27 ASKON Publishers Warsaw 2014 Secretary Nicolas Levi English Text Consultant James Todd © Copyright by Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw 2014 Printed in Poland This edition prepared, set and published by Wydawnictwo Naukowe ASKON Sp. z o.o. Stawki 3/1, 00193 Warszawa tel./fax: (+48) 22 635 99 37 www.askon.waw.pl [email protected] PL ISSN 08606102 ISBN 978837452080–5 ACTA ASIATICA VARSOVIENSIA is abstracted in The Central European Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, Index Copernicus To the memory of Professor Karin Tomala Whom we lost for ever Contents ARTICLES OLGA BARBASIEWICZ, The Cooperation of Jacob Schiff and Takahashi Korekiyo Regarding the Financial Support for the War with Russia (19041905). Analysis of Schiff and Takahashis Private Correspondence and Diaries ............................................................................ 9 KAROLINA BROMA-SMENDA, Enjo-kôsai (compensated dating) in Contemporary Japanese Society as Seen through the Lens of the Play Call Me Komachi ........................................................................ 19 EMIL CIECIEL¥G, The Confucian Elements in the Book of Five Rings .................................................................................................. 41 MA£GORZATA CITKO, Ancient Japanese Poetry in Early Medieval Poetic Discourse Appropriation of the Manyôshû in Selected Poems of Princess Shikishi ............................................................................ 55 VERONICA GASPAR, History of a Cultural Conquest: The Piano in Japan ......................................................................................... 83 BEATA KOWALCZYK, Literary Response to Crisis Elements of Analytic Autoethnography in Tawada Yôkos After Fukushima. Journal of Trembling Days ............................................................................ 99 FORUM MITHANI, New Heroines for a New Era? Single Mothers in Contemporary Japanese Television Drama.............................................. 111 ANDREA REVELANT, Economic Growth and Tax Inequality in Japan: Evidence from World War I .......................................................................... 131 PARK SUNYONG, Consumption of an Expedition: Media Perceptions of Kyoto Universitys Expedition to Mt. Baekdu ........................................ 149 LEON WOLFF, Japanese Law Goes Pop ................................................................ 165 BOOK REVIEWS Patrick Hein, How the Japanese Became Foreign to Themselves. The Impact of Globalization on the Private and Public Spheres in Japan rev. Olga Barbasiewicz............................................................................... 185 Osamu Hattori, Viktoria Eschnach-Szabo, Martina Ebi (eds.), Japan and Japanese People. Views from a Transcultural Perspective. A Joint Project of Doshisha University and Eberhard Karls University Tübingen rev. Olga Barbasiewicz............................................ 186 Notes on Contributors ................................................................................................. 188 The Cooperation of Jacob Schiff and Takahashi Korekiyo Regarding the Financial Support 9 ACTA ASIATICA VARSOVIENSIA No. 27, 2014 PL ISSN 08606102 OLGA BARBASIEWICZ The Cooperation of Jacob Schiff and Takahashi Korekiyo Regarding the Financial Support for the War with Russia (19041905) Analysis of Schiff and Takahashis Private Correspondence and Diaries Abstract This paper presents the problem which the Japanese Government had in gaining financial support for the war with Russia (19041905). It is based on the private correspondence and diaries of Jacob Schiff and Takahashi Korekiyo, which provide a closer look at the problem of conducting the war. It also shows the first moment when Japan confirmed its position as a world power, becoming the first Asian country which was treated as an equal partner by the Western powers. Introduction The Russo-Japanese War of 19041905 was broadly described in numerous papers. The incredible victory of the Japanese army over Russias brought Japan into the club of leading countries and confirmed its position in the world. Nevertheless, not much has been written about the financial recourses that were used for waging the war. At the beginning of the 20th century, Japan was still conducting its modernization under the rule of Emperor Meiji. This modernization was visible in all spheres from daily life, to policy, economy and business. In 1904 Japan was only 36 years after the start of the Meiji Restoration. So, the main aim of this article is to answer this question: how was it possible to gain financial support for the war with Russia, and how did Japanese-American relations help to win the victory in this war? The aforementioned question of Japanese-American relations is relevant, because they always seemed to be unequal, and emphasized the power of the United States over the other countries, especially those from Asia. Regarding this problem, the next question that arises is: how was it possible to gain American support for Japans war with Russia? To answer those questions I will analyze the correspondence and private diaries of two people who contributed towards the financial support of the war, namely Jacob Schiff and Takahashi Korekiyo. Takahashi Korekiyo and Jacob Schiff The Meiji Restoration in Japan included numerous reforms, including the adoption of the yen as the official currency in 1871, and one year later the introduction of the National 10 OLGA BARBASIEWICZ Bank Regulation (Kokuritsu ginkô jôrei), which formed the basis for the establishment of the Japanese financial system.1 In 1880 the Yokohama Specie Bank (Yokohama Shôkin Ginkô) was established, and a year later the Bank of Japan (Nippon Ginkô) started its activity.2 Although the bank was a private venture, it was controlled by the government. In 1883 this institution was given a monopoly on controlling the money supply, and so the other banks were transformed into commercial banks.3 The regulations which controlled the banks activities were patterned after British models. In 1885 the first emission of the banknotes issued by the Bank of Japan took place. Two years later Japan adopted the gold standard4, which allowed financial transactions to be conducted worldwide. Takahashi Korekiyo became the seventh president of the Bank of Japan, and during his activity as vice-president of this institution, he gained funds for the warfare with Russia. Takahashi Korekiyo was born on July 27, 1854 in Edo (the former name of Tokyo). From the early years of his life he studied English. In 1866 he gained a job as a dogsbody in the London India and Chain Bank, which won him a scholarship to continue his English studies in the United States of America.5 After a two-year stay abroad, he came back to Tokyo, and under the supervision of the politician and minister of education Mori Arinori he continued his studies at the Nankô University (the former name of the University of Tokyo). In 1872 Takahashi started his job as an interpreter in the Ministry of Finance, and one year later he moved to the Ministry of Education. After the establishment of the Institute of Trademark Registration as a part of the Engineering Department in the Ministry of Agriculture and Trade in 1884, it was headed by Takahashi.6 This led him on another journey, this time to Europe and the United States, the aim of which was the preparation of a new patent law in Japan. In 1889, Takahashi became the head of the Patent Department, but in the same year he left Japan for Peru to run a silver mine. When this venture fell through, he got a position as the head of the construction office of a new seat of the bank, and then its employee, thanks to Kawada Koichirô, the then President of the Bank of Japan.7 During the First Sino- -Japanese war (18941895) Takahashi was responsible for investing in the bond market of the Bank of Japan, through which the state budget could gain the funds it needed to prosecute the war with China.8 After this armed conflict, Takahashi was moved to the Yokohama Specie Bank, which became an important institution in the international business brokerage thanks to his activities. In 1889, Takahashi went on another journey abroad, and one year later he took the position of vice-president of the Bank of Japan. His main task was to gain financial support for the increased expenditures on armaments, associated with the approaching war with Russia. To acquire foreign capital just after war 1 Micha³ Ko³odziejski, Takahashi Korekiyo (18541936) a gospodarka miêdzywojennej Japonii [Takahashi Korekiyo (18541936) and the Japanese Interwar Economy], Warszawa: Trio, 2004, pp. 1819. 2 Ibid., p. 19. 3 http://www.boj.or.jp/about/outline/history/his_1850.htm/ (accessed 20.01.2014). 4 The gold standard was the first international monetary system in which the unit of account was based on a given amount of gold. 5 Ko³odziejski, Takahashi Korekiyo..., pp. 2627. 6 Ibid., p. 31. 7 Ibid., p. 33. 8 Ibid., p. 3334. The Cooperation of Jacob Schiff and Takahashi Korekiyo Regarding the