The Conceptions of Establishing Japanese-Style Regional Order in Edo Japan: Centered on Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Satō Nobuhiro and Yoshida Shōin

Title

The Conceptions of Establishing Japanese-Style Regional Order in Edo Japan: Centered on Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Satō Nobuhiro and Yoshida Shōin

Author

DONG Haozhi

Page

45-76

DOI

10.6163/TJEAS.201906_16(1).0002

Abstract

The Imjin War (1592-1598) launched by Toyotomi Hideyoshi ended in failure. Not only did it mean the failure of Japan’s attempt in constructing regional order by force, but also it resulted in Tokugawa Ieyasu’s conservative foreign policy strategy. Although the Edo Bakufu gave up its outward expansion at the beginning of its establishment, some Edo Japanese never stopped “dreaming” of defeating China and establishing a Japan-dominated regional order. Especially when the external environment changed, Edo scholars always responded with proposals to invade neighboring countries and China. Only if China was defeated militarily, was Japanese regional order established. Even if the idea was not the mainstream of Edo thought, it indirectly affected Meiji Japan’s policy on foreign expansion. This article thus attempts to interpret the conceptions of Japan’s expansion towards China. The scope of the research is across three periods including the “Ming-Qing Change Era” in the mid-17th century, the “Western Infiltration” in the early 18th century, and the “Matthew C. Perry’s Expedition to Japan” in the mid-19th century. My discussion focuses on Chikamatsu Monzaemon’s “The Battles of Coxinga”, Satō Nobuhiro’s “Secret Strategy for Expansion”, and Yoshida Shōin’s “External Expansion Theory”. I intend to argue that research on Meiji Japan’s outward expansion and its invasion to China cannot confine its discussions to the perspective of modern Japan and should not overlook discourses in pre-modern Japan.

Keyword

Japan, Edo period, Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Satō Nobuhiro, Yoshida Shōin, Japanese-style Regional Order, Invading China, Conceptions

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