Behind Japan’s modernization and westernization was the recognition that Western imperialism was surging in Asia and that China was a prime example of what happened to countries unable to defend themselves against it. Accordingly, achieving political and military equality with the Great Powers of Europe and the United States became a central aim of Japan’s modernization program.

Strengthening Japan against Western aggression increasingly meant “throwing off Asia,” a phrase that implied rejecting many of Japan’s own cultural traditions and its habit of imitating China as well as creating an Asian empire of its own. Fukuzawa Yukichi, a popular advocate of Western knowledge, declared:

We must not wait for neighboring countries to become civilized so that we can together promote Asia’s revival. Rather we should leave their ranks and join forces xwith the civilized countries of the West. We don’t have to give China and Korea any special treatment just because they are neighboring countries. We should deal with them as Western people do. . . . I reject the idea that we must continue to associate with bad friends in East Asia.6

Historically the Japanese had borrowed a great deal from China — Buddhism, Confucianism, court rituals, city-planning ideas, administrative traditions, and elements of the Chinese script. But Japan’s victory in a war with China in 1894–1895 showed clearly that it had thrown off the country in whose cultural shadow it had lived for centuries. Furthermore, Japan had begun to acquire an East Asian empire in Korea and Taiwan at the expense of China. Even more dramatically, its triumph over Russia in 1904-1905 illustrated its ability to stand up even to a major European power. It was the first modern military victory by an Asian country against a Western power, and its implications resonated widely.

The significance of that victory is expressed in Source 19.7, a 1904 print by Japanese artist Chomatsu Tomisato, created during the Russo-Japanese War. It shows a triumphant Japan, stomping on a Russian battleship and holding aloft a figure representing the Russian czar Nicholas, who carries a white flag of surrender. Korea cowers behind the Japanese figure, while China kneels in submission.

Questions to consider as you examine the source:

War and Empire

Notes