The Abacus and the Sword: The Japanese Penetration of Korea, 1895-1910 (Twentieth Century Japan: The Emergence of a World Power)

What forces were behind Japan's emergence as the first non-Western colonial power at the turn of the twentieth century? Peter Duus brings a new perspective to Meiji expansionism in this pathbreaking study of Japan's acquisition of Korea, the largest of its colonial possessions. He shows how Japan's drive for empire was part of a larger goal to become the economic, diplomatic, and strategic equal of the Western countries who had imposed a humiliating treaty settlement on the country in the 1850s. Duus maintains that two separate but interlinked processes, one political/military and the other economic, propelled Japan's imperialism. Every attempt at increasing Japanese political influence licensed new opportunities for trade, and each new push for Japanese economic interests buttressed, and sometimes justified, further political advances. The sword was the servant of the abacus, the abacus the agent of the sword. While suggesting that Meiji imperialism shared much with the Western colonial expansion that provided both model and context, Duus also argues that it was "backward imperialism" shaped by a sense of inferiority vis-à-vis the West. Along with his detailed diplomatic and economic history, Duus offers a unique social history that illuminates the motivations and lifestyles of the overseas Japanese of the time, as well as the views that contemporary Japanese had of themselves and their fellow Asians. Duus analyzes Japan's acquisition of Korea, the largest and most populous of its colonial possessions, as the result of two separate but interlinked processes, one political/military and the other economic: every attempt at increasing Japanese political influence licensed new opportunities for trade, and every new push for Japanese economic interest buttressed, and sometimes justified, further political advances. The sword was the servant of the abacus; the abacus, the handmaiden of the sword. The political process was driven by the attempt of the Meiji leaders, backed and prodded by politicians and military men at home, to create a stable cadre of Korean collaborators committed to self-strengthening; when this attempt failed, the Japanese leaders finally decided to extend full political control over the peninsula. The economic process, propelled by industrial change, involved penetration of the Korean market by an anonymous army of Japanese traders, sojourners, and settlers in search of new economic opportunities. While suggesting that Meiji imperialism shared much with Western colonial expansion that provided both its model and its context, Duus also argues that it was "backward imperialism," shaped by Japan's sense of inferiority to the West, as well as its relatively undeveloped economy, limited history of foreign contacts, economic dependency on the advanced economies, and intense desire to catch up. Drawing on a diverse range of new source material, this careful and informed study casts light on a wide array of topics in social, economic, and diplomatic history and contributes to a better understanding of modern Japanese imperialism. Contents Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: The Origins of Meiji Imperialism Part One 1. The Korean Question, 1876-1894 2. The Failed Protectorate, 1894-1895 3. Japanese Power in Limbo, 1895-1898 4. The Race for Concessions, 1895-1901 5. Toward the Protectorate, 1901-1905 6. The Politics of the Protectorate, 1905-1910 Part Two 7. Capturing the Market: Japanese Trade in Korea 8. Dreams of Brocade: Migration to Korea 9. Strangers in a Strange Land: The Settler Community 10. The Korean Land Grab: Agriculture and Land Aquisition 11. Defining the Koreans: Images of Domination Conclusion: Mimesis and Dependence Bibliography Index