This article aims at throwing into relief views of "Nanyo" (Southeast Asia) in Japan during the Taisho period (1912-1926). There has until now been a consensus among scholars that the idea of "Nanshin" (advance to the South) existed only in the Meiji and Showa periods. In this article, the author wishes to challenge this stereotype view on the "Nanshin" theory.
  It is easy to verify that "Nanyo" was discussed more often and energetically by Japanese people in the Taisho period than in the previous (Meiji) period. More importantly, the basic conditions that made possible the creation of the "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" scheme were laid during the Taisho period. Hence, the conclusion of this essay is that the discussions made in the Taisho period were vital in paving the way for Japan's advance to the South in the Showa period, and, therefore, the significance of the Taisho period should not be underestimated.

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 Christianity in Japan was accepted not only by some intellectuals but by a large number of ordinary people, who played a significant role in the life of the church. An analysis of the acceptance of the Christian faith by these people is very important in the study of the history of the Japanese church. In this thesis the author attempts such an analysis. It is a case study of Jo Miura, who, during the time of the modernization and military aggression of Japan, lived most of his life in Indonesia after moving Southward (Nanshin), cooperating with the Japanese military occupation in the Second World War, recognizing the validity of the independence movement in Indonesia and finally taking his own life immediately after the war.
  Miura was born the son of a Christian pastor. After dropping out of Meiji Gakuin, he joined Nanyo Shokai, an export firm, and traveled to the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. He eventually settled on the island of Bali, winning the trust of the local people. During the war he cooperated with the Japanese military occupation as a civilian but at the same time strongly identified himself with the independence movement in Indonesia. The day of his death, September 7, 1945, was the day scheduled for independence. The thesis follows the story of his life, focusing on his philosophy of life and the meaning of Christianity for him.

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 In the last two decades of the nineteenth century, there were several Asianists interested in Southeast Asia in Japan. They advocated the view that Asian nations needed solidarity against the European advance into Asia. Manjiro Inagaki, who was the first Japanese resident ambassador to Thailand, was an Asianist. He made every endeavour to send a Japanese advisor to the Thai government in the reign of King Chulalongkorn for Thailand's modernization and Japanese interests.
  Uzaburo Ishibashi and Chinatsu Iwamoto were also passionate Asianists. They went to Thailand to support the independence of Thailand, after hearing that relations between Thailand and France had worsened after the incident at Paknam, near Bangkok, in 1893. After arriving in Bangkok, they began to encourage Japanese immigration under the sponsorship of Phraya Surasakmontri, the Thai minister of agriculture and commerce, with the aim of helping Thailand, but they failed in their undertaking because they had no business ability.

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 The natural and war related calamities that caused the famines that forced peasants in North Vietnam to abandon their native villages from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries are analyzed through an examination of some Vietnamese chronicles and geographies.
  1) During Lê dynasty there were many droughts from spring to early summer that led to large-scale famine. This illustrates that fifth-month rice production was important in North Vietnamese agriculture, especially in the highland areas beyond the Red River Delta.
  2) One of the major causes of instability in rice production during Lê dynasty was the difficulty of maintaining stable yields in fifth-month rice cultivation which depended entirely on rain from the unpredictable Northeast Monsoon. Furthermore, the fifth-month rice cultivated in the highland areas was frequently damaged by locusts, especially in the fifteenth century.
 3) Tenth-month rice cultivated in the delta area suffered damage from inundation by the Red River. In the early years of Lê dynasty, the flooding effected mainly the Hà Nội district and later, with the agricultural development of the lower delta, the Hu'ng-Yên district too was subject to flooding. However, except in the Thanh-Hoá delta, only a few of these floods led to famine.
  4) The littoral zones of the Red River Delta were frequently damaged by high tides, mostly caused by typhoons. However, although such damage had increased with reclamation, it rarely caused large-scale famine.
  5) Civil war produced famine in certain strategic areas such as Hải-Du'o'ng, Nghẹ-An and Thanh-Hoá.
  It appears that famines occurred mostly in the highland areas, the upper part of the middle delta provinces, and the Thanh-Hoá and Nghẹ-An provinces during Lê dynasty.
  However, a geography written at the beginning of the nineteenth century, shows that most of the ghost villages have thôn or phu'ò'ng as part of their name, indicating that they were probably established in the later part of Lê dynasty. From this it appears necessary to research into the socio-economic factor linking natural or war related in calamities to the peasants, abandonment of their native villages. This will be considered in part (2).

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