Asianism From Above: The Realization of ‘Asia’ in Manchuria

Abstract

In order to examine how and why Asianist rhetoric and activity became increasingly employed as propaganda for official Japanese Asia policy, this chapter focuses on the ‘hijacking’ of Asianism (Duara), mainly by and for military propaganda, to justify Japan’s actions in Manchuria, including the founding and controlling of the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932. A second focus of this chapter lies on parallel attempts among different Guomindang factions in China to claim the heritage of Sun Yat-sen’s Asianism in order to justify either anti-Japanese resistance or pro-Japanese collaboration. Interestingly, also the Japanese Greater Asia Association (founded in 1933) tried to base its legitimacy on references to Sun’s earlier proposals for a joint Asianist enterprise. As a consequence, Asianism remained an instrument in the contest for hegemony.

Presupposing the founding of the Kingly Way’s Manchuria , the opportunity for the realization of our ideal of the creation of a Greater Asia which we have been holding in our hearts for so many years has eventually been bestowed upon us. A ‘Greater Asia League’ is no longer a mere concept but a precise policy that has emerged in front of the eyes of the Japanese people. ¹

—Matsui Iwane (1933)