"A Complete History of Pan-Asianism"
Writer Profile
Takashi Saga
Other : Professor Emeritus, University of ShizuokaKeio University alumni
Takashi Saga
Other : Professor Emeritus, University of ShizuokaKeio University alumni
2020/11/09
It was about 15 years ago that I began researching Pan-Asianism in earnest. Until then, my main research themes were the political and intellectual history of modern China. My first paper dealing with Pan-Asianism was about the "Greater Asianism" lecture given by Sun Yat-sen in Kobe in November 1924. Through this research, I came to believe that Pan-Asianism needed to be compared and re-examined from the perspectives of both Japan and China over a long-term span. The results of my subsequent research were compiled in my previous book, "The Intellectual Intersection of Pan-Asianism and Modern Japan and China" (Keio University Press, 2016).
This book, which has just been published, is a revision of my previous academic book to make it as accessible as possible. Based on findings from subsequent research, I have added discussions on the thoughts of several individuals and expanded the target period from the Edo period to the present day. Early Japanese thinkers covered include Tarui Tokichi, who advocated for the equal merger of Japan and Korea; Konoe Atsumaro, the first president of the Toa Dobun-kai; and supporters of the Chinese Revolution such as Toyama Mitsuru, Miyazaki Toten, and Kita Ikki. It will be understood that Pan-Asianism was an ideology that encompassed both advocates of national rights and advocates of civil rights.
Figures on the Chinese side include Sun Yat-sen, later known as the Father of the Nation; people who participated in the Asian Solidarity Society; and Li Dazhao, who was involved in the founding of the Communist Party of China. To varying degrees, their arguments were all influenced by the Japanese government's policy toward Asia and trends in the intellectual world, and they called for the liberation of Asia from Western powers from the standpoint of either cooperation or opposition to Japan.
After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Pan-Asianism in both countries took on new aspects. This book introduces Japan's theory of an East Asian Community, China's anti-Japanese Pan-Asianism, and Chinese thought and movements that responded to Ishiwara Kanji's East Asia League theory. Ultimately, Japanese-style Pan-Asianism was declared bankrupt by the defeat in the war. As a result, Pan-Asianism tended to receive negative evaluations in the post-war intellectual world. Of course, it is impossible for Pan-Asianism to be reborn in its past form in today's world. However, in a situation where Western modernism is reaching a deadlock, I believe there is a possibility that it could serve as a basis for inheriting the high-quality parts of past thought and creating new values.
*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.