Border historicity and ethnographic rupture: Pirates,Korean Kings and borderlanders in transnational Tsushima Island,Japan

Tsushima’s community festival commemorates Tsushima’s admirable borderland diplomacy in the pre-modern East Asian politics. This indigenous historicization in performance, nevertheless, fails to resonate with ethnographic reality: anthropological fieldwork revealed that local culture differs considerably from postcolonial ritual imaginings and historicity, illuminating a discontinuity between the past performed and the present observed. A rupture exists between borderland imagery as a coherent Japanese state boundary and the ethnographic reality of an uneven liminal frontier between Korea and Japan. In order to make sense of the ethnographic ruptures, this article constructs the border-centric ethnohistory through the lens of and experiences of the border, defying a state-centric past. I de-essentialize border-state relationship, accentuating border spontaneity and contingency between and beyond the power of sovereignty – a paradoxical Janus-faced process of contradiction and negotiation. I argue that it is Tsushima’s historical metamorphosis that stands out in history, not its subjugation to the power of either state.     

‘Forewarned Is Forearmed’: Intelligence,Japan's Siberian Intervention,and the Washington Conference

This article details the intelligence-gathering role of US railroad experts stationed in Siberia and Manchuria from 1917 to 1922. Beginning in April 1920, US railway officials began receiving intercepted correspondence between Japanese officials, passed to them from Japan's military headquarters in Harbin via a former Czechoslovak soldier. The intelligence shows that US officials were aware of highly detailed planning by Japanese expansionists. Whether or not US officials were completely cognisant of the intelligence's significance, these sources provide insight into why US diplomacy helped provide leverage to the moderates within Japan's government. In particular, the intercepted correspondence allows for a reinterpretation of Japanese Foreign Minister Uchida Yasuya's role during the Siberian expedition. This paper provides evidence that Uchida was not a moderate ally as scholars have traditionally claimed, but a key facilitator of Japan's military expansionists. It argues that the success of the Washington Conference, combined with the military's repeated failures to produce a victory in the Russian Far East, pressured Uchida into withdrawing his support for the expansionist programme. In addition to demonstrating the impact of the Washington Conference and the Siberian intervention on US–Japanese relations, this article helps explain Uchida's later re-emergence in the 1930s as a militarist sympathiser.     

从唐日外交态势看天宝争长之可能性

唐代正值中国封建社会发展的鼎盛时期,也是日本向封建社会迈进一步加强的日本,为了不使自己在当时以中国为中心的东亚国际秩序中的地位低于新罗,就与其位次孰高孰低的问题向唐提出了异议.这个事件既反映出了唐、日、新三国之间微妙的外交关系,也反映出了日本的民族性.     

Shells vs Armour: Material Factors of the Battle of Tsushima in the works of Russian Memoirists and Historians

The article contains a comparative analysis of Russian memoirists and historians` points of view on the material factors, including the so-called ‘shell-problem’, of the Battle of Tsushima. Pre-revolutionary and Soviet authors were inclined to exaggerate the role of technical deficiencies of Russian warships. Under the influence of new evidence, contemporary Russian historians reconsidered most of the traditional conceptions.     

The Tenpō-Era (1830–1844) Map of Matsumae-no-shima and the Institutionalization of Tokugawa Cartography

Japan’s early modern Tokugawa government (1603?1868) sponsored a series of projects of national mapping. The Matsumae family, ruling what is now Hokkaido, were loosely incorporated into these projects. It was only during the last of these, in the Tenpō era (1830?1848), that their lands were represented in the same manner as the rest of Japan because the central government made the final Matsumae-no-shima map. This article examines the production of this final official map of Japan’s north to argue that the Tokugawa’s institutional mapping made this region part of the nation through its own mapping framework, distinct from the cartographic forms with which national or imperial states are usually associated.     

The basic structure of Chiang Kai-shek's diplomatic strategy

As a leader of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek carried on Sun Yat-sen's legacy of using diplomacy as a force in the modern era and planned to rely on diplomacy to revise China's unequal treaties with foreign powers. Chiang elaborated on Sun's ideas and maintained that diplomacy as a war without battles worked more effectively than wars with battles. Faced with the threat of Japanese invasion, he upheld the strategy of using one foreign country to control another. He expected the outbreak of a war between Japan and the Soviet Union or between Japan and the United States so that a war between Japan and China could be avoided. Chiang engaged in active diplomacy aimed at turning these expectations into reality. His diplomatic strategy had an impact during the Anti-Japanese War.     

Tokugawa Confucian Sermons as Popular Emotional Education: The Moral and Pedagogical Philosophy of Hosoi Heishū*

This article contributes to the growing literature on the nexus of religion and emotion, thinking through the ways in which historians of Japan can make interventions in the field, and exploring research methodologies that speak to a pre‐modern and non‐Christian milieu. In looking to the moral and pedagogical philosophy of Hosoi Heishū (1728–1801), a Tokugawa Confucian teacher and itinerant preacher, this article places an emphasis on the use of contextualised and historically‐specific emic categories of belief and feeling. To do so, it explores the popularising movement of Japanese Confucianism in the late eighteenth century, tracing Hosoi's development of vernacular sermonising and his identification of emotion as both a subject and object of instruction. His rhetorical style and pedagogy is unpacked, followed by an analysis of his popular reception, before turning to a sermon case study to observe these ideas in action. This article offers new insights into the viewing habits and emotional expectations of Tokugawa audiences, underscoring the ways in which emotion terms and concepts can change meaning in how they are defined, embodied, expressed, and valued as part of a broader habitus.     

Russian nuclear energy diplomacy in Finland and Hungary

We compare Russian nuclear energy diplomacy toward Finland and Hungary, where the Russian state corporation Rosatom intends to build nuclear power plants by the 2020s. Russian nuclear energy diplomacy features Rosatom working with other state institutions, its own subsidiaries, and an extensive network of companies and R&D actors to support Russian nuclear power projects abroad. Using the structuration approach, we find three interests driving such diplomacy: energy business and associated profits; modernization of the Russian economy, including the diversification of its export structure; while foreign policy interests are also involved, considering the constraints emerging in EU–Russia energy diplomacy in the oil and gas sectors, including the sanctions since 2014. Some domestic actors in Finland and Hungary make the linkage between nuclear energy and foreign policy as explicit as do some Western commentators. Seeking to pursue these interests, Russian actors must accommodate their considerable assets to the structural constraints they encounter in the target countries. We identify four structural dimensions: the Russian actors are well endowed as regards the resources, technology, and infrastructure dimension; and the dimension of finance, business models, and markets. However, on the institutional dimension, they face a less controllable environment. Regarding the ecological dimension, they must conform to local safety requirements. In both cases, Russian actors were able to strengthen perceptions of joint interests with actors in the target country facilitating the nuclear power plant projects, thereby paving the way for the use of soft power.     

步入近代的中日文学交流——以19世纪七、八十年代为中心

19世纪七、八十年代,参与中日文学交流的主要是中国驻日使馆官员以及旅日文人。他们多为饱学之士,且好交友喜翰墨,常与东瀛的一流文人宴饮赋诗、笔谈雅会,创作了许多脍炙人口的诗赋篇章。这种面对面的交流,极大地刺激了日本诗人的创作欲望,有力地促进了日本汉文学的复兴与发展。同时,他们还以游记、随笔等形式,把自己在日本的所见、所闻以及亲身体验等介绍给国人,为国内同胞了解日本的文学艺术、世俗人情、自然风物等提供了生动、翔实的资料。     

Pop-culture diplomacy in Japan: soft power,nation branding and the question of ‘international cultural exchange’

This paper critically examines the development of what is known as ‘pop-culture diplomacy’ in Japan. In the postwar era, the country’s cultural diplomacy was propelled by the necessity to soften anti-Japan perceptions, notably in Southeast Asia. In the late 1980s, the popularity of Japanese media culture in Asia began to attract the attention of policy makers, while subsequent globalized practices of soft power and nation branding gave greater emphasis to the use of media culture to internationally enhance the image of the nation, which has meant the promotion of ‘pop-culture diplomacy’ and, more broadly, ‘Cool Japan’. It is argued that pop-culture diplomacy goes no further than a one-way projection and does not seriously engage with cross-border dialogue. The Japanese case also shows that pop-culture diplomacy hinders meaningful engagement with internal cultural diversity and suggests the necessity of taking domestic implications of cultural diplomacy seriously.     

The China of Tomorrow: Japan and the Limits of Victorian Expansion

ABSTRACT

This article contributes to the literature on the mechanisms, rhetoric, and limits of mid-Victorian expansion by asking how far late Tokugawa Japan was subject to forms of British imperialism. In September 1862 a British merchant was murdered on the high road between Edo and Kyoto; a year later, a British fleet bombarded Kagoshima in retaliation. By engaging with John Darwin’s concept of the ‘bridgehead’, this article examines the circumstances in which a lonely death on the frontiers of British commerce could be transformed into a Victorian ‘outrage’. It considers what we stand to gain by bringing an imperial history perspective to bear on what remains, for most imperial historians, a largely forgotten conflict. In positing Yokohama as a bridgehead that could gain only fitful purchase in London, it asks new questions about the conduct of ‘gunboat diplomacy’ and the fault lines of mid-Victorian expansion; the place of Japan in British political imaginaries; the nature of informal empire; and the discourses buffeting British expansion in the turbulent 1860s.     

Japan's Sporting Diplomacy: The 1964 Tokyo Olympiad

At a time when Japanese foreign policy was constrained by the legacies of war and the exigencies of the Cold War, hosting the 1964 Tokyo Olympics was conceived as an alternative means of engagement with the international community. The sporting diplomacy of the Tokyo Olympics centered around elevating Japan’s international position by engaging the people of the world on a grassroots level. The pervasive notion that sports are separate from politics helped smooth Japan’s return to the international community, while concerns about the image presented to foreign audiences motivated efforts to internationalize Japan, in terms of both the physical infrastructure of the capital and attitudes of the people. The development of infrastructure for the Games—including new buildings, roads, and trains, and even a satellite to facilitate live international broadcast—all contributed to making Japan more “international.” The event was a great success for Japan, both athletically and diplomatically, and sports diplomacy became a lasting component of Japan’s foreign policy, still used today to promote international connections and develop greater knowledge and understanding of Japan. At the same time, this build-up of soft power also cleared the way for the development of greater hard power by Japan.     

日蒙环境政策对话与前景展望

近年来日本抓住地球环境保护与国际合作这个国际政治的“第三重要课题”,欲从环境外交入手拓展自己的外交空间,提升自己的国际地位。日蒙环境对话与合作正是从这个意义上被重新认识,成为日本对中亚和蒙古实施环境外交的重要一环。日蒙环境政策对话已经连续进行了三次,是日本通过推进环境合作和交流,进而强化日蒙关系,提高日本国际地位和影响力的重要方式之一。     

强制性制度变迁与明治维新的二元效应

日本19世纪进行的明治维新是一场自上而下的强制性制度变迁,这场深刻的社会变革使日本经济、社会面貌发生了翻天覆地的变化。从幕府末期发展的实际情况来看,日本社会产生了一种强烈的制度需求,这种需求使日本社会处于一种制度不均衡的状态,而明治维新提供了所需要的制度,实现了新的制度均衡,使日本走上富国强兵的资本主义发展道路。但是,政府主导的强制性制度变迁虽然使日本经济实现了跳跃式的发展,挤进了西方列强的行列,同时也在政治、经济制度中留下了不少封建因素,成为日后日本经济体制发展中的先天性缺陷。     

从日本外务省解密档案看中日关系发展中的“求同存异”

新中国成立后,中国政府制定了民间先行,以民促官的对日政策,旨在通过发展中日民间外交促使日本政府改变敌视中国的态度,建立两国正常的外交关系。中日民间外交在20世纪70年代初达到了准官方水平,为两国关系实现正常化打下了坚实的基础。在中日邦交正常化谈判的过程中,中国政府无论是与日本在野党党首的会谈中,还是与田中首相等日本政府官员的正式谈判中,始终坚持求大同、存小异,坚持原则性与灵活性的统一,不拘泥于一般的惯例,在领土主权、国家利益、战争认识等大是大非问题上不妥协,对于一些具体问题又尽可能照顾日本的国情、体谅日本政府的困难,实现了亚洲两个不同社会制度国家的和平友好。     

近世领主的城下町经营与领国经济统治

近世初,丰臣政权和德川幕府及其下属各领国的封建大名在全国范围内较集中地进行了各自领国都城城下町的建设,并展开一系列经营活动促选其繁荣发展,努力将其经营成为领国经济的中心。在当时的时代背景下,城下町的经营可以说既是一种领国都城的建设经营举措．同时也是各封建领主促进商农分离积极对领国内的商业和手工业进行统制利用的行为。通过城下町的经营,领主较全面彻底地掌握了领国内物资的生产和流通,确立并维持了领国独立的经济圈,加强了对领国经济的统治。     

幕末与明治时期日本人的上海认识——从高杉晋作的《游清五录》到远山景直的《上海》

对于幕末与明治时期的日本人而言,上海首先是中国的上海;同时上海也是世界、尤其是西洋的上海,租界区域出现了与此前的中国本土迥然相异的新的样态;再次是与日本紧密相关的上海,19世纪末期以后,在虹口一带形成了以日本居留民为主体的日本人社会。这样一个多元组合、多重叠加、既相对分离又互相交融、同时其经济政治文化的影响力日益凸显的都市,对于正在走向东亚乃至世界舞台的近代日本而言,无疑是一个巨大的存在,因此,这一时期日本人对于上海的认识,首先是对于以上海为媒介的中国的认识,其次是对于与上海相关的世界的认识,同时也是对于通过上海所体现出来的中日关系的认识因此,近代上海对于这一时期的日本人,实际上具有三层意义：观察中国的现场;透视世界的窗口;反观日本本身的泰照系,     

叶炜《扶桑骊唱集》钞本的文献价值

晚清诗人叶炜,是日本明治时代最早赴日本从事汉语教学和文化交流的学者。在日本期间交游很广,诗文唱和频繁,是清政府正式向日本派驻使节之前中日诗文交流的先驱者,其诗文交流活动为晚清驻日外交官何如璋、黄遵宪、黎庶昌等人的中日诗文外交导夫先路,回国后编辑《扶桑骊唱集》收入日本明治时代前期日本许多著名诗人的诗作,是研究甲午战争前后中日复杂微妙的外交关系的重要参考资料。《扶桑骊唱集》钞本是叶炜先生去世后,近人根据光绪辛卯（一八九一）南京刻本所钞,时间当在一九零三年叶氏辞世之后。钞本文字简古流关,篇末附俞樾撰《吴县主薄叶君墓志铭》,学界悬而未决的叶炜生平当从此可得稽考,钞本为研究叶炜提供了一样不可或缺的证据。     

Information and Confusion: Russian Resident Diplomacy and Peter A. Tolstoi’s Arrival in the Ottoman Empire (1702–1703)

Abstract

This article explores the arrival of the first Russian resident ambassador to the Ottoman Empire in a period when Russian diplomacy underwent major transformations. It focuses on Peter A. Tolstoi’s network and the management of information gathered during the first year of his appointment in Adrianople (1702–03). The article revisits the notion of resident ambassador, not as a hallmark of ‘modern European diplomacy’ with an overemphasis on the diplomat as a state-representative and office-holder, on the states system, or on institutional reform, but to suggest that a resident embassy in the early modern period was more than a formal, self-contained, and sovereign institution located in a particular place. The transformation from ad-hoc to resident diplomacy in Russian–Ottoman relations did not originate from the adoption of European diplomatic norms alone: it created new or relied on the existing trans-imperial networks of the ambassador rather than on bilateral inter-state relations. The example of Russian–Ottoman relations demonstrates that while the new diplomacy introduced by Peter I was driven by Europeanization and reform, the transformations emerged from the adaptation to circumstances in different locations and depended on the development of contacts embedded in the geo-cultural and religious entanglements of the region.