Japan and Its East Asian Neighbors: Japan’S Perception of China and Korea and the Making of Foreign Policy from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth Century
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JAPAN AND ITS EAST ASIAN NEIGHBORS: JAPAN’S PERCEPTION OF CHINA AND KOREA AND THE MAKING OF FOREIGN POLICY FROM THE SEVENTEENTH TO THE NINETEENTH CENTURY DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Norihito Mizuno, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2004 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor James R. Bartholomew, Adviser Professor Philip C. Brown Adviser Professor Peter L. Hahn Graduate Program in History Copyright by Norihito Mizuno 2004 ABSTRACT This dissertation is a study of Japanese perceptions of its East Asian neighbors – China and Korea – and the making of foreign policy from the early seventeenth century to the late nineteenth century. Previous studies have overwhelmingly argued that after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan started to modernize itself by learning from the West and changed its attitudes toward those neighboring countries. It supposedly abandoned its traditional friendship and reverence toward its neighbors and adopted aggressive and contemptuous attitudes. I have no intention of arguing here that the perspective of change and discontinuity in Japan’s attitudes toward its neighbors has no validity at all; Japan did adopt Western-style diplomacy toward its neighbors, paralleling the abandonment of traditional culture which had owed much to other East Asian civilizations since antiquity. In this dissertation, through examination primarily of official and private documents, I maintain that change and discontinuity cannot fully explain the Japanese policy toward its East Asian neighbors from the early seventeenth to the late nineteenth century. The Japanese perceptions and attitudes toward China and ii Korea had some aspects of continuity. I also challenge previous studies’ argument about the change in Japanese attitudes toward China. Although they have argued that Japan turned aggressive soon after the Meiji Restoration. I contend that that kind of change did not occur at the time. In the first two chapters (Chapter 2 and 3), following the introduction, I examine the early modern Japanese perceptions of China and Korea and foreign policymaking by the Tokugawa shogunate (bakufu) (1603-1867). Chapter 2 focuses on the Tokugawa perceptions of and diplomatic relations with Korea. The Tokugawa bakufu held traditional contemptuous perceptions of Korea and, for political and ideological reasons, needed to establish diplomatic relations projecting Japan’s superior status. However, the reality of diplomatic relations revealed discrepancies with the Japanese vision of a hierarchical relationship with Korea and also the limitations of Tokugawa diplomacy. Chapter 3, focusing on Tokugawa China policy, examines the Tokugawa vision of the Chinese tributary system and policy toward China. Some previous studies have argued that the bakufu had considered paying tribute to China. I contend that from the very beginning, it had no intention of subjecting Japan to the suzerainty of China. I also disagree with the interpretation, however, that Tokugawa Japan had decided to proclaim superiority over China by the early eighteenth century. China’s status was ambiguous in the hierarchical Tokugawa international relations, though the Tokugawa perception of China was under the sway of ideological and religious belief in Japanese superiority. iii In the subsequent two chapters (Chapter 4 and 5), I examine the Meiji government’s perceptions and diplomatic attitudes toward China and Korea in the late 1860s and the 1870s. Chapter 4 focuses on the attempt of the Meiji government to establish a government-to-government relationship with Korea. While desperate to modernize Japan by learning from the West, the new regime, replacing the Tokugawa, did not depart either from the traditional perception of Korea or from traditional diplomatic practices. While intending to install treaty-based diplomatic relations introduced from the West, the Meiji government still sought to spell out the traditional Japanese perception of superiority over Korea in the relationship by employing traditional East Asian diplomatic protocols. The Meiji government was simultaneously the inheritor of another tradition. It had to find a way to break through the diplomatic quagmire by compromising with the Tokugawa legacy of equal relations with Korea, when Korea persisted in maintaining the traditional form of equal relations with Japan. Chapter 5 deals with two issues of the early Meiji Japanese policy toward China. First, I demonstrate that the Meiji government’s policy of establishing diplomatic relations with China revealed that it was also the inheritor of the traditional Japanese stance to the self-proclaimed Middle Kingdom in two ways. Like the Tokugawa bakufu, the Meiji government had no intention of placing Japan in an inferior position toward China and sought to achieve Sino-Japanese equality in diplomatic relations. Despite its emphasis on the imperial authority which would ideologically imply Japan’s supremacy iv over any other country, including China, the policymakers of the new regime did not try to spell out such a belief in the actual diplomatic relations. Second, I challenge the argument that soon after the Meiji Restoration, Japan turned aggressive against China. China viewed the Japanese annexation of the Ryukyus and expedition to the Taiwanese aboriginal territories as aggression into its territory and tributary system, and historians have also argued that those events were the first step toward modern Japan’s aggression toward China. I contend, however, that the Ryukyu-Taiwan policy, motivated by their concerns over national prestige and security in the Western-dominated international environment, did not come out of Meiji Japan’s desire to encroach upon and antagonize China. This dissertation thus demonstrates the following two points. First, a broader perspective is required to understand Japan’s attitudes toward its East Asian neighbors. Along with change and discontinuity, continuity is a necessary and valid perspective in respect to Japan’s perceptions of and policies toward China and Korea. Second, change did occur after the Meiji Restoration, but it did not occur in the form of an aggressive posture toward China at the initial state of the Meiji period. v To the Nunome family, my mother, my wife, and the memory of those of whom I was beloved vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In researching and writing this dissertation, I have continuously felt much gratitude for the assistance and support from many people. Without their generous and sincere support, I would not have been able to complete this dissertation. I wish to express gratitude to my advisor, Professor James R. Bartholomew, for his intellectual support and encouragement since the time I started the doctoral program at the Ohio State University in the autumn of 1994. Although I was interested in modern Sino-Japanese relations when I came to Columbus, Professor Bartholomew suggested that I broaden my focus to Japanese-East Asian relations. I would also like to express my appreciation to the professors of the Department of history, the Ohio State University. Professor Philip C. Brown has instructed me in his lecture and seminar courses for years and read drafts of this dissertation. Professor Peter L. Hahn participated in the dissertation defense committee. I owe a great debt to the staff of the Ohio State University Libraries. Professor Maureen H. Donovan, Japanese Studies Librarian, was my supervisor when I worked at vii the Main Library and has helped with my library and archival research. Thanks go also to the Interlibrary Loan section staff. During my research in Japan and the United States, many people were kind and helpful. I would like to express my gratitude to the staff of The Diplomatic Record Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Gaimushō Gaikō Shiryōkan), Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo (Tōkyō Daigaku Shiryō Hensanjo), Nagoya University Library (Nagoya Daigaku Toshokan), The National Archives of Japan (Kokuritsu Kōbunshokan), The National Diet Library (Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan), and the University of Michigan Libraries. I also make special mention of the help of Patricia Frame Rugola, who patiently and generously gave advice on writing and corrected stylistic errors. Finally, I would like to express my great gratitude to the Nunome family and my family. I would not have been able to pursue a doctorate without the support of the Nunome family. I will never forget the day following the sudden death of my paternal grandmother, Tokie, in January 1994. I dearly hope to repay even an infinitesimal part of their kindness to me with this dissertation. I also thank my wife, Megumi, for many years of patience and support. viii VITA April 25, 1967 …………………….. Born - Nagoya, Japan 1991 ……………………………….. B.L. Keio University, Tokyo, Japan 1994 ……………………………….. M. A. History, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington 1995-2001 ………………………… Graduate Administrative Associate, The Ohio State University Libraries 2001-2004 ………………………… Graduate Teaching Associate, Department of History, The Ohio State University PUBLICATION “China in Tokugawa Foreign Relations: The Tokugawa Bakufu’s Perception of and attitudes toward Ming-Qing China,” Sino-Japanese Studies Vol. 15 (April 2003): 108- 144. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: History ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………….. ii Dedication ………………………………………………………………………………. vi Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………...