Democratization, Imperialism, and the World through Japanese Perspectives, Part II (Takeda Tomoki)

[cgao]

Professor Takeda Tomoki 武田知己 teaches Japanese history and political science at the Daito Bunka University in Japan. His focus is on Japan’s international relations and he has edited seven books, including ones on foreign relations and the history of Japan’s political parties.

 

 

[Aaron Rabena]

This was an amazing lecture. It was fascinating to understand the factors that led to Japan's industrial sucess and failure (because of WWII or the rise of militarism).  

[Lumi Chan]

I did not know that Japanese tried to use the Anglo-Japanese Alliances to take over German interests in Qingdao and Shandon Peninsula at all. I actually did not know that the Japanese took action to go against the Russians (not a history teacher and instead an English teacher) so this is great information to learn. I do know that Japanese wanted to spread their influences over China historically but didn’t know they used the alliances to its advantage.

I found your explanation Pan-Asian attitude through the POV of the Japanese very interesting. It was very thorough in such that the Americans and their push against the Japanese very much lead to their reaction and violence from Japan

[Ryan Carothers]

This was a fascinating lecture, spanning the foundations of constitutional government, to the end of World War II. Hirobumi Ito (1841-1909) proved to be a pivtol figure. Here, we see the "blending" of "realism, and idealism" as our professor has stated. Professor Takeda Tomoki noted the emperor was a pillar for thsi entire structure. Here, I see that there was a need to capture the spirit of Japan, in order to give life to the new machinery of government. But, this also happened to be like putting a genie in the bottle, since the Prime Minister wanted to ensure the government remained constituitional. I thought it was fascinating to hear how Germany broke an anti-communism treaty with Japan. Later, with the United States embargo, Japan might have felt betryed by all western nations (that their politicians could not be trusted). It is unfortunate cultural misunderstandings would lead to a series of miscalculations, ending in an unimaginable number of deaths. The conclusion at the end of this video reminded us of this complicated, difficult, and sad history. Nevertheless, it is important to remember. As the professor noted, the world must have hope. Miltilateral alliances have the potential to ensure stability, and buy-in, a true win-win for everyone that is involved. Let us hope the world heeds this lesson. 

[Erin Williams]

I was very interested in Professor Takeda's comments about the (racist) treatment of Japanese immigrants in North America, and how that may have shaped the Japanese government's thinking about its quest to gain equal status with Western powers. I've read recently that in the case of Japanese emigrants in British Columbia (Canada), specifically those trying to achieve equal voting rights and freedom from discimination, the Japnaese government's response was rather muted because it didn't want that issue to interfere too much with its relationship with Great Britain. Similarly, I've read that the Japanese public, which learned about these anti-Japanese/anti-Asian attitudes and acts in North America admonished the Japanese overseas communities not to do anything to create problems, and that they were viewed as 'low-class' and not reflecting well on Japan's international image.

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