Sir Ernest Satow in Tokyo, 1895-1900: From Triple Intervention to Boxer Rebellion

Satow's term as minister plenipotentiary at Tokyo has not been studied much in detail, though it is arguably the highpoint of his career as a diplomat. Satow was the first British envoy to Japan to have a profound, scholarly understanding of Japanese culture and politics gained over many years of residence in the country. This article offers a survey of Satow's diplomatic activities, and focuses especially on the revision of the so-called unequal treaties in 1899 and the marked improvement in Anglo-Japanese relations during this period.     

Sir Ernest Satow in Tokyo, 1895-1900: From Triple Intervention to Boxer Rebellion

Satow's term as minister plenipotentiary at Tokyo has not been studied much in detail, though it is arguably the highpoint of his career as a diplomat. Satow was the first British envoy to Japan to have a profound, scholarly understanding of Japanese culture and politics gained over many years of residence in the country. This article offers a survey of Satow's diplomatic activities, and focuses especially on the revision of the so-called unequal treaties in 1899 and the marked improvement in Anglo-Japanese relations during this period.     

‘A question between empires’: the restriction of Japanese immigration in British Columbia and the reassessment of Japan's foreign policy, 1907–1908

Abstract

Great Britain was the first of the major Powers that revised its unequal treaty with Japan, recognizing the success of Japan's modernization and its growing role in the international arena. However, British Columbia perceived Japanese residents as a threat to ‘the British character’ of this regions' population profile. After the movement against Japanese residents in British Columbia peaked during the anti-Japanese riots in Vancouver in September of 1907, Canadian Minister of Labor Rodolphe Lemieux headed a diplomatic delegation to Tokyo to negotiate the restriction of Japanese immigration to Canada. The dispatch of this mission revealed some of the complexities in relations between the Colonial and Foreign Offices in London on the one hand and the Dominion's and British Columbian governments on the other. Based on previously unused primary sources, this article will examine the interplay between the policy towards Japanese migrants in the British Dominion of Canada and the British policy towards Japan as a nation.     

‘Yong lads of very good capacitie.’ Christopher and Cosmus,Anglo-Japanese pioneers

Abstract

On 12 November 1588 two young Japanese men, known to posterity only by their English names Christopher and Cosmus, arrived in London with Thomas Cavendish, who had just completed the third known circumnavigation of the globe. Sources described them as intelligent and literate in Japanese, but also able to speak English, and hence they were consulted and celebrated by English scholars and courtiers; possibly also by Queen Elizabeth I. Three years later they attempted to sail with Thomas Cavendish for Japan via South America, but the English fleet failed to make it through the Strait of Magellan. Christopher and Cosmus almost definitely died on the voyage, along with most of their colleagues, although exactly where and when is not clear. This article attempts a research-based reconstruction of their lives and posits answers to outstanding questions, where did they come from in Japan, why were they on the Spanish galleon sailing to North America, and what was their legacy? It also looks at the aftermath, and later Anglo-Japanese relations.     

试析日英同盟成立的历史背景

日英同盟的成立在国际关系中绝非偶然,有其深刻历史背景。从日本来讲,是其资本主义政治、经济发展不平衡导致日本军国主义形成及对外扩张的必然结果。从英国来讲,则是英国面临其他资本主义国家 (法国、德国、俄国)的挑战,为维护其在东北亚的利益做出的无奈选择。     

Japan–UK: perspectives of partnership

One of the most remarkable developments that took place in the postwar international order is the relationship between the United Kingdom and Japan, two major world powers. Formerly bitter enemies in war, their relationship is today perhaps at the best ever. They are connected by a network of shared interests in the politico-strategic, scientific-technological and socio-cultural spheres, beyond the economic realm. Nonetheless, as cooperation between Japan and Europe has been the fragile side of the triangle of “Japan–US–Europe” relations, the promotion of Japan–UK ties at bilateral, regional and international levels might have a significant effect. The trilateral structure of “Japan–Britain–EU” relations also creates diverse dynamics that involve all three forces in a broader regional cooperation including the security arena, than would be possible on just a bilateral Britain–Japan level. These impulses might help to facilitate Europe to become a more influential global actor and to serve as a key enabler of the British foreign policy toward the Asia-Pacific region. Under this context, this article strives to explore how Japan–UK bilateral relationship, one of the strongest ties binding Asia to Europe, stands today, by shedding light on the new horizons of their partnerships for global responsibilities.Monir Hossain Moni is a PhD Scholar under the Japanese Government Monbukagakusho: MEXT Scholarship Program at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies (GSAPS) of Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan. He is currently on study leave from his position as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Japan Study Center of University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh     

论1990年以来越南与日本的经济关系

自20世纪90年代以来，越南与日本的经济关系快速发展，其主要体现在两国的贸易、日本对越南的投资以及日对越ODA为主的经济援助等方面。两国经济关系的快速发展，反映了两国在追求各自国家利益上的一致。一方面，越南为发展国内经济，争取更大的国际市场、国外投资以及外国经济援助，积极同日本发展经济关系；另一方面，日本为逐步扩大对越的影响力，通过贸易、投资以及经济援助等方式推进对越经济外交政策。     

The trust deficit in Sino-Japanese relations

Abstract

Recent years have seen a deterioration in political relations between China and Japan, in particular over the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands and history-related problems. Commentators have noted an attendant decline in trust between the two sides and have stressed the need for confidence-building measures in order to address the trust deficit. This article explores the origins of declining trust between the Chinese and Japanese leaderships. It argues that attempts to build a friendly and trusting relationship in the early post-war and post-normalisation periods began to fail in the 1980s, and have been in a gradual state of decline ever since. Using the concepts of trust and friendship, the article suggests that the lack of trust properties such as empathy, bonding, reliability and predictability have contributed to the deterioration of trust at both elite and popular levels.     

Japanese revisionists and the ‘Korea threat’: insights from ontological security

Abstract

This article contributes to the debate on Japanese security. Drawing on insights from ontological security, it challenges conventional understandings that China and North Korea are Japan’s main security threats. It argues that South Korea poses a powerful threat to the Japanese right-wing revisionists’ perception of Japan. The revisionists have attempted to secure Japan’s identity from the ‘Korea threat’ by labelling South Korea a ‘non-democracy’, and this tactic has been taken up by the Japanese government as well. The article concludes by pointing out that such moves could unwittingly result in the emergence of security dilemmas between the two main democracies in Northeast Asia.     

Nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula: strategic adaptation,the Abe administration and extended deterrence in the face of uncertainty

Abstract

In the wake of two nuclear tests in 2016, an additional test in 2017 and a series of missile launches by North Korea in 2016–17, Japan's government is facing a critical set of security challenges. These require adaptation and careful planning by the Abe administration and raise important questions about the future of Japanese defence policy, alliance relations with the United States, and cooperation between Japan and the Republic of Korea. The following article considers both the history and current state of relations between Tokyo, Washington and Seoul, the relationship between elite and public opinion within Japan, and the character of Prime Minister Abe's leadership at a time of acute strategic risk. While the danger of conflict in northeast Asia should not be minimized, the gravity of the current crisis potentially offers an important opportunity for policy innovation for the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).     

Food safety and consumer trust in post-Fukushima Japan

Abstract

The contamination of food with radionuclides has posed serious problems to consumers, producers and policy makers in Japan since the Fukushima nuclear disaster of March 2011. Many Japanese consumers were and still are worried about the safety of domestic food products. How did the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima affect consumer trust in food safety regulation, and how did the Japanese government try to (re)establish consumer trust in its food governance system? Drawing on empirical data from a consumer survey, expert interviews and documents issued by the Japanese government and public authorities, this paper argues that existing institutions had difficulty handling the situation and rebuilding consumer trust. I will argue that consumers in Japan lack trust in government institutions and the food industry and that the government's risk communication was not suitable for rebuilding trust. This specific situation saw the emergence of new actors from civil society, such as citizens’ radioactivity monitoring stations (CRMS). These actors took over some of the functions of public authorities by providing information and monitoring food. I argue that they have the potential to build trust by fostering the participation of lay people and encouraging a more democratic discourse on food safety. Nevertheless there are some limitations.     

日本对东盟的文化外交战略

到目前为止，国内外学者在分析日本和东盟的外交关系时，大多从经济、政治或军事方面人手，而对于双方的文化关系，以及日本对东盟的文化外交战略的论述还相对缺乏。本文主要分析日本对东盟的文化外交战略，全面了解日本的东盟外交战略，并探讨其对日本和东盟关系的影响。     

Russian–Japanese relations after the Russo-Japanese war in the context of world politics

Abstract

The Treaty of Portsmouth could not solve all the diplomatic problems between Russia and Japan, and dissenting voices were heard in both countries. Nevertheless, Russo-Japanese relations went in the direction of not only normalization, but also building an alliance. That radical change from hostility has not often happened in history and needs careful research, in particular the early stages of this process after the conclusion of the Treaty of Portsmouth. The construction of an alliance was not the primary goal at the beginning of Russo-Japanese negotiations after the war between the two nations. This goal appeared during the process of solving different problems, and so the international situation is extremely important to understand changes in Russo-Japanese relations. This process had several facets. First, there was the deterioration in Anglo-German relations with a corresponding realignment of British policy towards Russia. Second was the resolution of problems in Central Asia between Russia and Great Britain. Third, there was the mutual interests Japan and Russia had in China, in particular rail interests, which were related to the organic unity of the northern part of the Russian railroad in China. Finally, Russia had the desire to keep relations with France as a corner-stone of foreign policy.     

Britain and Japan: Long-Range Images, 1900-52

The Anglo-Japanese Alliance signed in 1902 was revised substantially in 1905 and 1911. It survived the First World War and did not lapse until 1923. For two decades, it enabled Britain to withdraw its navy from East Asia, leaving its commercial interests to the protection of Japan. Meanwhile it enabled Japan to expand its influence in Korea and China. There was not an immediate breach of the alliance, but interests clashed in China in the difficult world of economic collapse in the 1930s. When they failed to come to an accommodation, Japan declared war on Britain in 1941. After the war, Britain shared with the United States the task of policing the military occupation of Japan. But when that occupation came to an end in 1952 during the anxious days of the Korean war, the vast majority of Japanese believed that their country's future rested with Washington.     

Trade,non-state actors and conflict: evidence from Greece and Turkey

Abstract

To what extent does growing trade lessen the probability of inter-state conflict? This paper addresses this question by using the curiously under-studied dyadic relationship between Greece and Turkey. Measuring trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) volumes as well as tourism flows and by use of elite interviews with key actors from both countries, we find that economic relations have become stronger and more diverse over time, non-state actors now featuring prominently in deepening interaction. Such developments, however, fail to translate into conflict resolution at the political level. To account for these findings, we use a New Liberal approach, arguing that this helps us explain both enhanced plurality in bilateral economic exchange and the incompatibility of the two countries' respective conceptions regarding legitimate national borders.     

Britain and the Bonins: discovery,recovery and reclamation

In this article, I explore a little known aspect of British and Japanese history that began not long after Japan open its ports to the west in the middle of the nineteenth century. It is about negotiations between Japan and foreign powers over sovereign control of an island archipelago 1,000 kilometers southeast of Edo (Tokyo). The Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands were first visited by Japanese in the seventeenth century, declared British territory in 1827 and then reclaimed by Japan in 1876. The diplomatic discussions involved the British and US Consuls acting under instructions from their respective governments and negotiating with the highest levels of Japanese authority during both the Tokugawa and Meiji Periods. I argue that the islands were of little importance to either the governments of Britain or America and that the British authorities were more than willing to hand over sovereign control of the Bonin Islands to the Japanese as early as 1862. Indeed, by the mid-1870s, the British authorities in England were more concerned that the Japanese would not claim the islands and that Britain would be burdened with their responsibility. In arguing this, I provide a novel perspective of Japan's struggles with becoming a modern nation in an increasingly international setting.     

World heritage and the local politics of memory: the Miike coal mine and fu no isan

Abstract

This article investigates the complex relations between heritage and memory through an analysis of the UNESCO World Heritage ‘Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution’ and its component Miike coal mine. When discussing this World Heritage Site, scholars and the media have focused on the diplomatic controversy over the history of forced labour between Japan and South Korea, interpreting it as a new example of a dispute over history in East Asia. However, this understanding oversimplifies the relations between heritage and memory. Based on fieldwork research and documentary analysis, this article investigates the diversity and complexity of the collective memory of Miike coal mine from a local perspective. The results show that there is a sharp dissonance between the World Heritage story and some of the ex-miners’ memories, which focus on the negative past, fu no isan. Documentary analysis shows that fu no isan has two different but closely related meanings: negative legacy and negative heritage. Fieldwork research reveals that the various commemorations of fu no isan in the local community, mainly based on ex-miners’ social networks, constitute a form of vernacular memory, independent from the official memory of the World Heritage. Finally, I conclude that heritage can be public memory, rather than just official memory, as long as it is open to plural memories of the past.     

The Australian journalism vs cultural studies debate: implications for South African media studies

ABSTRACT

This article describes an investigation into factors required for a development programme in intercultural business communication amongst the personnel of a South African company operating in the Japanese market. Drawing from items that were identified in the literature, and amongst individuals who operate in the Japanese market, a set of criteria was identified that could be included in a South African-Japanese intercultural business communication course. These criteria were used in a structured questionnaire, which was pre-tested in interviews and a focus group, and then administered to a group of company managers who had travelled to Japan on business. The results of the research are a set of items ranked in terms of salience within three categories. The first comprises degree of knowledge of important aspects of Japanese life, the second consists of factors that lead to culture shock, and the third includes aspects that are deemed to be important in a course on South African–Japanese intercultural business communication.     

The China–EU relation and media representation of China: the case of British newspaper’s coverage of China in the post-Brexit referendum era

This paper presents a comparative approach that discusses whether British newspapers with different political agendas report China differently, in the post-Brexit referendum UK. As UK still remains as a member country of the EU 3 years after the vote, the relationship between China and the UK is still a source that impacts China–EU relations. Specifically, political agendas of British newspapers heavily impact their reports of domestic political issues and of the EU; this research questions whether such a difference can be observed in reports of China or not. The research selects four popular newspapers in the UK, The Sun, The Times, The Guardian and The Mirror, and analyses their coverage of China between 01/01/2017 and 31/12/2018. Among them, The Sun and The Times are right-wing/leaning newspapers and support the Conservative Party, while The Guardian and The Mirror are left-wing/leaning and the Labour Party supporters. This study applies content analysis and compares three perspectives in these four newspapers’ reports of China: the number of reports, the topics of reports and the associations (threats or cooperate) with China. By comparing the similarity and difference in those four newspapers’ coverages, this paper aims to understand what image of China those popular British newspapers were creating for their readers, what impressions of China were generated and whether and how the coverage reflects the changing Sino–UK relations in the post-Brexit era. If so, how the right-leaning and left-leaning newspapers frame China differently.

     

Paradiplomacy of India’s chief ministers

ABSTRACT

Since the mid-1990s, state governments within India’s federal system have taken a greater interest in foreign relations. They have sought indirect influence by lobbying the central government to take account of their preferences and direct influence by seeking investment and making links with international organizations and other national and subnational governments. This article considers how chief ministers engage in parallel diplomacy noting how they draw on regional cultural resources and make connections with a regionally defined diaspora. The article finds that some chief ministers have embraced the role of “chief diplomat,” while others take a more discreet approach to international activity. Comparing the cases of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu reveals the political logic for expanding, de-emphasizing, or avoiding international engagement.