The Establishment of Japan's Far Eastern Policy in 1880s and the Great Powers

Abstract

This article deals with the establishment of Japan's Far Eastern policy (especially toward Korea) in 1880s, which was one of the most important problems for the Japanese Government of those days. Many studies have chiefly analysed this policy only through the relation among China, Korea and Japan. But, in reality, Japan's policy was intensely influenced by the Great Powers' attiude towards the Far East, and was established under the complex diplomatic relations. 1)Japan's interventionism in Korea in 1880 was caused not only by the antagonism between Japan and China since the disposition of the Ryukyu Islands ("琉球処分"), but also accelerated by the fact that the Great Powers, having taken advantage of the Ili incident, had claimed to enter inter diplomatic relations with Korea. Such a policy, on the contrary, made the Great Powers alarmed against Japan. They tried to achieve the rapprochment with China and consented to the suzerainty of China over Korea. 2)On the occasion of the disposition of the First Seoul incident (1882), the Japanese Government could not adopt any positive policy, being ristricted by such diplomatic relations. Even after France's proposal of (a dual) alliance against China in the Sino-French War, the Japanese Government did not yet modify its policy. As it seemed that the invasion to China became inevitable, the Japanese Government recklessly launched the Second Seoul incident (1884), forecasting that the victory of France would bring the diplomatic relations disadvantageous to Japan in the Far East. The Japanese Government had to conclude a Treaty with China ("天津条約"), and lost the Great Powers' support for its Korean policy. 3)After the enforcement of the Treaty, England and Germany supported China's hegemony over Korea. The isolated Japanese Government, in the case of the Port Hamilton incident, suggested to China a joint control over Korea, but this proposal was refused. However this incident revealed the confrontation between England and Russia. The Japanese Government, intervening in the power policy of the Great Powers, established a new national aim to be a world power, and started in the full-scale expansion of armaments.