Despite the quite number of writings on Yoshida Shigeru, his relationship with Asia has not been treated from a broad perspective. The omission is regrettable, for Yoshida had deep involvement and concern with Asia, China in particular both in his prewar diplomat years and in his postwar statesman years. In addition, Yoshida's record of struggle and lack of substantial fruit in his Asia diplomacy is suggestive of the weakness of Japanese modern diplomacy towards Asia from the Meiji period down to the current era. So long as the so-called Yoshida doctrine is said to be the orthodox policy line for postwar Japan, any of the three elements of the said doctrine, light armament for self-defense, Japan-US alliance, and economy-oriented diplomacy, does not give direct clue in terms of Japanese policy towards Asia.
By examining Yoshida's involvement with Asia, Korean peninsular and China among others, this paper delineates the continuity of Yoshida's attitude and perspective on Asia from his early diplomat days to the final years of his life. Following his natural father's concern with Korean railway, Yoshida was groomed among the diplomats and soldiers who saw the “Continental Governance” (
Tairiku Keiei) holding the vital significance for Japanese security and economic interest. This policy line was thought to be compatible with European and American great powers in the sense that the imperialism was conducted primarily by economic, cultural, and scientific means. At the same time, the policy was seen as spearheading the modernization process in Asia. In the postwar period, Yoshida adjusted his policy towards Asia to the reality of dissolution of Japanese Empire and chose to follow the path of “Maritime State” (
Kaiyo Kokka). Despite this shift, Yoshida had to deal with Korean issues such as Korean inhabitants in Japan or normalization with South Korea, while assisting the US for the latter's commitment to the Peninsula. Yoshida also took pains to lull both the US and Great Britain to his cherished idea of detaching Communist China from the Soviet Russia by penetrating into Chinese society via non-military means such as commerce and propaganda. It was his belief that the Chinese culture and tradition would ultimately lead to the conflict with Russia. But Yoshida's main concern was to form the concerted policy among Japan, the US and Great Britain. His policy towards China lacked concreteness and was subject to his higher consideration over Japanese relations with the US and other Western powers.
All in all, throughout the prewar and postwar periods, Yoshida's policy toward Asia was quite consistent. He saw the Korean peninsular from Japanese security perspective and almost ignored Korea as a nation. When it comes to China, Yoshida had ambivalent view on Chinese culture and his policy towards China oscillated. These characteristics of Yoshida's Asia involvement was typical for the modern Japanese diplomatic tradition, taking Fukuzawa Yukichi's civilizational perspective and seeing Japan as naturally most advanced in Asia. This conviction no doubt helped Japan to be proud of its rapid modernization, but posed difficulty in handling with neighboring Asia, especially when Asia showed its own way of modernization and demonstrated its own relationship with the West.
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