The Ideological Background of Japanese Expansionism, C. 1900
This paper examines the ideologies informing the expansion of Japanese rule at c. 1900. The core feature discussed is the idea of tenka (天下; literally translated: all under heaven), constituting the group of ruled in terms of a universalist indigenat (kokumin 国民), which allowed its expansion beyond...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Studia Historiae Oeconomicae |
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| Online Access: | https://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/sho/article/view/33287 |
| _version_ | 1797768059094564864 |
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| author | Harald Kleinschmidt |
| author_facet | Harald Kleinschmidt |
| author_sort | Harald Kleinschmidt |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This paper examines the ideologies informing the expansion of Japanese rule at c. 1900. The core feature discussed is the idea of tenka (天下; literally translated: all under heaven), constituting the group of ruled in terms of a universalist indigenat (kokumin 国民), which allowed its expansion beyond the Japanese archipelago at government discretion. The concept of the universalist indigenat, having been tied to the Confucian perception of the world as a well-ordered and change-absorbing entity, conflicted with the European concept of the nation as a particularistically conceived type of group, tied to the perception of the world as a dynamic and largely unruly entity. During the latter third of the nineteenth and the early years of the twentieth century, some Japanese intellectuals came to appreciate the dynamism enshrined in the European perception of the world and worked it into established universalism. The fusion produced a powerful ideology of colonial expansion targeted primarily at East and Southeast Asia as well as the South Pacific. By contrast, European military strategists and political theorists, unaware of the Japanese strategic conceptions, expected that solely Russia formed the target of Japanese military expansion.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:49:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-508d5695ec3a4d4cbddc4ceb2e9c3408 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0081-6485 2353-7515 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:49:03Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studia Historiae Oeconomicae |
| spelling | doaj.art-508d5695ec3a4d4cbddc4ceb2e9c34082023-08-01T06:46:32ZengAdam Mickiewicz University, PoznanStudia Historiae Oeconomicae0081-64852353-75152023-02-0139110.2478/sho-2021-0002The Ideological Background of Japanese Expansionism, C. 1900Harald Kleinschmidt0University of Hildesheim, Germany This paper examines the ideologies informing the expansion of Japanese rule at c. 1900. The core feature discussed is the idea of tenka (天下; literally translated: all under heaven), constituting the group of ruled in terms of a universalist indigenat (kokumin 国民), which allowed its expansion beyond the Japanese archipelago at government discretion. The concept of the universalist indigenat, having been tied to the Confucian perception of the world as a well-ordered and change-absorbing entity, conflicted with the European concept of the nation as a particularistically conceived type of group, tied to the perception of the world as a dynamic and largely unruly entity. During the latter third of the nineteenth and the early years of the twentieth century, some Japanese intellectuals came to appreciate the dynamism enshrined in the European perception of the world and worked it into established universalism. The fusion produced a powerful ideology of colonial expansion targeted primarily at East and Southeast Asia as well as the South Pacific. By contrast, European military strategists and political theorists, unaware of the Japanese strategic conceptions, expected that solely Russia formed the target of Japanese military expansion. https://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/sho/article/view/33287colonialismPan-Asianismuniversalism |
| spellingShingle | Harald Kleinschmidt The Ideological Background of Japanese Expansionism, C. 1900 Studia Historiae Oeconomicae colonialism Pan-Asianism universalism |
| title | The Ideological Background of Japanese Expansionism, C. 1900 |
| title_full | The Ideological Background of Japanese Expansionism, C. 1900 |
| title_fullStr | The Ideological Background of Japanese Expansionism, C. 1900 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Ideological Background of Japanese Expansionism, C. 1900 |
| title_short | The Ideological Background of Japanese Expansionism, C. 1900 |
| title_sort | ideological background of japanese expansionism c 1900 |
| topic | colonialism Pan-Asianism universalism |
| url | https://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/sho/article/view/33287 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT haraldkleinschmidt theideologicalbackgroundofjapaneseexpansionismc1900 AT haraldkleinschmidt ideologicalbackgroundofjapaneseexpansionismc1900 |