The first war between China and Japan in 1894/95 was one of the most fateful events, not only in modern Japanese and Chinese history, but in international history as well. The war and subsequent events catapulted Japan on its trajectory toward temporary hegemony in East Asia, whereas China entered a long period of domestic unrest and foreign intervention. Repercussions of these developments can be still felt, especially in the mutual perceptions of Chinese and Japanese people today. However, despite considerable scholarship on Sino-Japanese relations, the perplexing question remains how the Japanese attitude exactly changed after the triumphant victory in 1895 over its former role model and competitor. This book examines the transformation of Japan’s attitude toward China up to the time of the Russo-Japanese War (1904/5), when the psychological framework within which future Chinese-Japanese relations worked reached its erstwhile completion. It shows the transformation process through a close reading of sources, a large number of which is introduced to the scholarly discussion for the first time. Zachmann demonstrates how modern Sino-Japanese attitudes were shaped by a multitude of factors, domestic and international, and, in turn, informed Japan’s course in international politics. Winner of the JaDe Prize 2010 awarded by the German Foundation for the Promotion of Japanese-German Culture and Science Relations

This paperback edition brings together chapters from volume 5 of The Cambridge History of Japan. Japan underwent momentous changes during the middle decades of the nineteenth century. This book chronicles the hardships of the Tempo era in the 1830s, the crisis of values and confidence during the last half century of Tokugawa rule, and the political process that finally brought down the Tokugawa regime and ended centuries of warrior rule. It goes on to discuss the samurai rebellions against the Meiji Restoration, and national movements for constitutional government which indirectly resulted in the Meiji Constitution of 1889. The significance of Japan's Meiji transformation for the rest of the world is the subject of the final chapter, in which Professor Akira Iriye discusses Japan's drive to Great Power status. 'Constitutional rule at home, imperialism abroad', became new goals for early twentieth-century Japan.

These essays on Meiji Japan, written by scholars from nine nations, reflect a determination to destabilize existing paradigms in the social sciences and humanities, in favor of a multiplicity of perspectives that privilege subjectivity and the inclusion of non-elite groups.

This book looks at the confluence between Chinese and Japanese history. Focusing on the cultural and political spheres, this volume places those relationships at center stage and presents a distinct new field of Sino-Japanese interactions that, while related to Chinese and Japanese history, has an integrity of its own.

The description for this book, The Culture of the Meiji Period, will be forthcoming.

This set provides a comprehensive introduction and contains the most important critical literature on the history and historiography of nineteenth-and early twentieth-century Japan.

Demonstrates the close relation between Japan’s changing international status and the thought process behind this by focusing on the public discussion on China and China politics during the interwar years 1895-1904. Winner of the JaDe Prize 2010 awarded by the German Foundation for the Promotion of Japanese-German Culture and Science Relations