AN UNWELCOME EMPIRE: JAPANESE IMPERIALISM AS THE YELLOW PERIL IN BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES IN AND AROUND THE SINO-JAPANESE AND RUSSO-JAPANESE WARS.

Abstract

This thesis is about Western perceptions of Japan’s early imperialist years and aims to address how Britain and America perceived the expansion of Meiji Japan. In doing so the period spanning from the Sino-Japanese to the Russo-Japanese War is taken as the core area of study, with the victory of Japan in both of these conflicts marking the point in time where it emerged as an imperial power. As such anti-Japanese prejudices will be examined to show how some in the West regarded this ascendency with contempt as the virtue of being an imperial state with the privileges of empire which came something which should be reserved for the white, Christian nations who possessed a history of such endeavours.

In order to establish a competent assessment of this I have structured this work in such a way which sees two intense chapters being presented focusing on the years surrounding these conflicts. In these chapters Japan’s relations with the West, primarily Britain and the United States, will be looked at focusing on the differing political and societal opinions as to whether or not Japan’s emergence as a global power constituted a legitimate threat. The former of these conflicts saw Japan’s emergence as an imperial power whilst the latter saw it burst onto the world stage. For this period of study I have used materials from the popular media as well as governmental publications so to provide an encompassing image.

Following the defeat of Russia in 1905 the idea of Japan as the epitome of the yellow peril was more engrained in western circles. In America especially this is most vociferous with ideas of exclusion and anti-Japanese prejudices not being difficult to find. Across this period however, Britain was more reserved in their attitudes towards Japan and although similar examples can be found they were always the more accepting of Japan which the signing of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance is testament to. By bringing together a number of different strands surrounding this topic a range of material is used collating a range of ideas and arguments, something where a study with greater parameters than those permitted here would be of greater use, providing a more thorough and encompassing investigation.