“Taking all these things into account, it is not too much to say that the future situation of Japan will be that of a central station of various water passages—a situation most conducive to the good of our country; and that, numerous as the attractive places of historical interest and natural beauty are, it is chiefly from our excellently advantageous position—a connecting link common to the three chains of water passage to and from Europe, America, and Asia—that we shall be able to obtain the largest share of the riches of the nations of the world.”
In the story of Japan’s interests and influence in Asia, in which are involved the events that led to the war with Russia, we will first explain the relationship of Japan to Asia from the Japanese viewpoint. The substance of the Japanese idea at this time was that the Japanese people regarded themselves as the natural leaders in all Asiatic countries in the introduction of modern civilization. The Japanese agreed that the Chinese and Coreans, for example, could learn about civilization much faster and easier from Japan than from the countries in Europe and America, for they had a common system of letters, and to a certain extent common ideas. A Japanese professor is reported as saying: “It is the mission of Japan to set up an example of a civilized and independent national state for her Asiatic neighbors, and then to make a confederation of all the Asiatic nations on the basis of international law; just as it is the mission of the United States of America to form one vast pan-American Union of all the republics of the new hemisphere, and thus to hasten on the progress toward the organization of the whole world.”
Supplementing which a Japanese editor is quoted as follows: “It is our duty to transmit the essence of Occidental civilization to our neighbors, as better success may be realized by so doing than by introducing there the new institutions directly from the West. The present state of things in China does not allow her to appreciate fully the ideas of Westerners, more so because their fundamental conception of morals is at variance with that of Occidentals. But Japan has every facility to win the confidence of China, in consideration of its geographical situation and of its literary affinity. The valor, discipline, and order of our army have already gained the confidence and respect of the Chinese, and it now remains for us to guide them to higher possibilities with enlightened thoughts and ideas. Such a work can not be accomplished in a day; it will require years of perseverance and toil.”
After this citation of what the Japanese deemed to be their mission and duty in Asia, let us see what Japan has accomplished in Asiatic territory already acquired. Formosa, as stated in the foregoing chapter, was ceded to Japan by China after the Chino-Japanese War. In the first eight years under Japanese rule, the revenue of the new territory increased many hundred per cent—from $1,500,000 in 1896 to $12,000,000 in 1903. In 1897, Japan took a complete census of the population, built 800 miles of roads and constructed a tramway line from Takow to Sintek. This was followed by the construction of a main line of railway between principal cities, which now, in 1904, is open to passenger and freight traffic. Japan also laid down three cables connecting Formosa with Japan, Foo Chow, and the Pesadores. In the interior of Formosa, Japan has since established a complete system of intercommunication by means of 1,500 miles of telegraph and telephone wires. She has opened over a hundred post-offices in Formosa, and letters can now be sent to any part of the Empire for two cents each. She has established nearly one hundred and fifty Government educational institutions in Formosa, only a few of these being for Japanese, leaving the majority for natives. Japan has now twelve great Government hospitals on the island, at which more than 70,000 patients are treated without charge every year. Japan has also given considerable attention to Formosa in the matter of free vaccination and general sanitary precautions, and has consequently greatly reduced the danger from the frequent outbreaks of smallpox and the plague. When the Japanese first took possession of Formosa in 1895, the people rose in rebellion against their new rulers. By 1904, however, Japan had restored peace throughout the island, a settled government had assumed full control and the island’s resources were being developed to their fullest extent.
Now to glance at Japan’s influence in Asiatic countries not under Japanese rule. First of all, Siam. The Siamese Crown Prince, for example, after a visit to Japan, caused a Japanese building to be constructed for himself, while the King ordered a Japanese house and garden to be added to his palace grounds. Japan is in many ways, indeed, the teacher and leader of the Siamese. She sends teachers to Siam, and many Siamese boys and girls, on the other hand, are enrolled in schools in Japan. Japan also sends seeds of raw materials to be grown in Siam, for to Japan Siam has ever represented a source of food supply which would remain neutral in war-time. In 1904, Japan reaped the benefit from all such influence and teaching and seed supply; for in that year, with the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, Japan was able to depend upon Siam for vast reserves in food supplies.
In China, the interest of the Japanese, after the Chino-Japanese War, multiplied year by year. In 1897, a Japanese consulate was established at Foo Chow. In that year there were only eight Japanese residents in Foo Chow; in 1904, the number has increased to three hundred, including natives of Formosa who have become naturalized Japanese. In Amoy, because of its position directly opposite northern Formosa, the Japanese have large interests. Further, on the Yangtse River, there are Japanese lines of passenger steamers, Japanese steamers for the iron and coal trade, and other Japanese enterprises.
“Side by side with this development of carrying facilities,” says a traveler, “many Japanese, in the capacity of merchants, Government employees or projectors, may be seen traveling in the Yangtse Valley; and further the number of persons engaged in the translation of Japanese books into Chinese has increased in an extraordinary degree.... Nothing is more remarkable than the popularity enjoyed by Japanese things and Japanese subjects in China.”
The facts just mentioned typify the growing influence of Japan in China at the time of the outbreak of the Boxer Insurrection in 1900. It should first be mentioned that in 1900 a General Missionary Conference, attended by delegates from many branches of the Protestant and Catholic Churches, was held in Tokio. In that same year, when Christianity was still sending missionaries to Japan to convert the Buddhists, behold the “heathen” nation allied with the armies of Christendom in a suppression of the Boxer Movement in the Chinese Empire. During that troublous year, the Japanese not only helped to rescue Christian missionaries and Chinese converts from the fury of mobs and an uncontrolled soldiery, but those whom they had thus saved were transported free of charge to Japan and there given comfortable refuge until it was safe to return to China. The principal distinct events of historical interest marking Japan’s connection with the suppression of the Boxer uprising were as follows: On June 11, the Chancellor of the Japanese Legation at Pekin was murdered by a Chinese mob. On June 17, the Japanese troops, with the allied armies, captured the forts at Taku. On July 13-14, the Japanese, again with the allies, took Tien-tsin by storm. On August 14, the Japanese, this time with the divisions of the allied armies destined for the relief of Legations and foreign residents, entered Pekin. September found the Japanese doing their full share in policing the disturbed districts. The Boxer Movement soon after came to an end, and the Chinese Imperial Court—which fled from Pekin at the beginning of the trouble—now returned to the capital. Altogether, in quelling the disturbances which had shocked the world, and particularly in raising the siege of Pekin, the Japanese played a brave and conspicuous part which, more than any of their previous military triumphs, helped to establish their right to a place on an equal footing among the world-powers.
In 1901, only twelve months after the events just narrated, Japan’s trade in North China, especially in Manchuria, had increased more than in the twelve years previous to the Boxer uprising. In 1903, Japanese trade with Newchwang alone amounted to $8,000,000 and her trade with all Manchuria to $12,000,000. And, from a commercial viewpoint, other parts of China as well as Manchuria had become of great importance to Japan. A partial summary of her achievements in the Chinese Empire at the beginning of 1904, by peaceable invasion, by the introduction of modern ideas and educational institutions, as given in the “Chinese Recorder,” includes the following:
“1. The Agricultural College, established some years ago at Wuchang by the Viceroy Chang Chih-tung, and managed for some time by an expert American, has now been given over to Japanese management.