This article discusses shifts in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs' understanding regarding the Open Door Principle following the establishment of Manchukuo, as exemplified by the issue of "treaty rights" claimed by foreign countries. Immediately following the establishment of Manchukuo, although both the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Manchukuo government emphasized that 1) the legal order previously established by the Republic of China would be preserved and 2) the new state would respect the Open Door Principle, in actuality economic regulation, not in line with Open Door were put firmly in place. Since the world powers continued to demand that it support Open Door, forcing Japan to take nominal steps to demonstrate its respect for international law, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs set itself to the task of bridging the gap between what had been put in place in the governance mechanism Japan had created for Manchukuo and the actual fluidity of the situation there. The author then proceeds to an analysis of the specific case of the negotiations between Japan and world powers that arose over the regulation of Manchukuo's oil and tobacco industries. Both Great Britain, which was the holder of huge interests from central China southward and had instituted a boycott of Japanese goods throughout its commonwealth, and the United States, which was the original supporter of the Open Door Principle and left the decision of whether to do business in the region up to individual enterprises, did react to the "treaty rights" issue as an invasion of their Manchurian interests, but did not go as far as taking a decisive stance on the matter. The Japanese Foreign Ministry responded to the "treaty rights" issue by revising its interpretation of the Open Door Principle itself. However, in the process, a state of affairs was created making it difficult for Japan to pursue its campaign for the international recognition of Manchukuo. Ultimately, the Foreign Ministry ended up announcing the "natural death" of the Nine-Power Treaty and proposing a new international order. Under the conditions of its escalation of military action without a declaration of war and its assumption of governance over the territory it had so occupied, it is ironic that Japan would be put in a position of having to show such high respect for the "treaty rights" of foreigners in China.

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When looking back on the history of pre-modern local school education in China, one finds that the Northern Song period marked an important turning point, in that the central government adopted a policy to facilitate establishing local schools and planned to establish the school system as a major route to entering the bureaucracy. As to the purpose of such a plan, one possibility is an attempt to standardize the cultivation and training of scholar-officials, an explanation that has already been pointed out in the research to date focusing on the history of education, in general, and the Imperial Examination System, in particular. However, there is another side to the issue, in that the school education system was primarily an ideal institution, meaning that it should be considered from the view of new ideological currents developing during the Song period which aimed at restoring ancient political ideas. The present article takes up this alternative view, focusing on ceremonies conducted in local schools in honor of venerable sages of the past, in order to discover their rationale utilizing mainly traditional interpretations of the Confucian classics and clarifying the receptivity of the scholar officials of the period to local school education. The analysis produces the following conclusions. To begin with, the concept of shidian 釈奠, a ceremony worshipping Confucius and his followers initially held at the shrine to Confucius during the latter part of the Tang period, gradually changed its venue to the schools during the mid-Northern Song period, at a time when the shrine to Confucius and the school were consciously differentiated ritual spaces conceptually. Secondly, the concept of xianshi 先師 (eminent scholars of the past) changed from specialists in one classic of the Tang period to signifying those who had acquired the true way and virtue through their interpretations of the Zhou-li 周礼. Next, a new interpretation that "all shidian possess he 合" as stated in the Liji 礼記 also appeared, despite the fact that some scholars justified enshrining local venerable sages by using older interpretations. In particular, Wei Liaoweng 魏了翁 criticized the universal enshrinement of Zhou Dunyi 周敦頤, insisting on a principle of ritual for the spirits of one's ancestors. Finally, the concept of xiang-xiansheng 郷先生 (eminent local scholars) found in the Yili 儀礼 evolved during the late Southern Song period into a justification for the enshrinement of local venerable sages of the past at local schools.

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This article examines changes that occurred in the role and authority of provincial military governors (shugo 守護 appointed by the Muromachi Bakufu) and the interrelationships involving them, regionally-based warrior class land proprietors (kokujin 国人) and local society in general, taking up the case of Harima Province during the Northern and Southern Courts (Nanboku-cho 南北朝) era (1336-1392). In other words, it is an attempt to portray an overall image of social change during the period of civil unrest marking 14th century Japan by linking the evolvement of the Muromachi Bakufu's system of governance with social trend of the local society. The author begins with a discussion of changes in the role and authority of the Akamatsu Clan, shugo of Harima, and its relationship with the province's kokujin strata, informing us that: 1) Upon the outbreak of the Kanno disturbance (1350-52), the conventional practice of the Bakufu appointing both provincial governors and military commanders was done away with in favor of the assumption in Harima by the Akamatsu Clan of the military command and confirmation of bravery in the field, in addition to its civil duties. At the same time, the chain of military command involving shugo and kokujin was firmly put in place, resulting in the subordination of many of the latter to the Akamatsu Clan. 2) After the outbreak of the disturbance, tozama 外様 shugo (i.e., those who were neither kin to the Ashikaga Shogunate or their direct retainers) throughout Japan (including Harima) are seen strengthening both their actual authority and social status, as exemplified by the language used in their petitions to the Bakufu. Such a phenomenon can be interpreted as proof of a definite change in the balance of power between the Ashikaga Clan and tozama shugo that existed at the inception of the Muromachi Bakufu, and the resulting homogeneity of shugo authority regardless of affiliation indicates for the author a significant change in the position occupied by the institution of shugo within the Bakufu governance structure. Next the author turns to the influence of the above-mentioned changes on kokujin and local society using the Yano-no-Sho Conspiracy (akuto 悪党) Incident as an example,concluding: 1) From the late Kamakura period up through the Jowa era (ending 1350), the strata of locally-based land proprietors had utilized such means to legitimize and protect their fiefs as direct action based on wide ranging alliances (referred to as akuto) and mutual assistance, as well as directly petitioning the Muromachi Bakufu to recognize their allegiance with rewards and proprietary guarantees. While there were also appeals to the authority of shugo, taking into consideration the type of intervention that would result, attempts by local proprietors to protect their holdings by sole reliance upon such authority can only be observed beginning in the Bunna era (1352-56). 2) The so-called "vassalization of akuto alliance members under shugo" was proceeding within the post-Kanno disturbance transition to a Bakufu system of governance aiming at control over regions and local land proprietors centered around shugo. This phenomenon observed in the case of Yano Estate was caused by the changes that had occurred in Bakufu governance due to the strengthening of the authority of shugo during the disturbance.

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