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JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC
[Illustration]
[Illustration:
JAPAN & THE NORTH PACIFIC.]
JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC,
And a Japanese View Of The Eastern Question.
by
MANJIRO INAGAKI, B.A.
(_Cantab_)
With Maps
London
T Fisher Unwin
Paternoster Square
MDCCCXC
TO
JOHN ROBERT SEELEY M.A. HON. LL.D.
_Regius Professor of Modern History Fellow of Gonville and Caius College
Cambridge_
THIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY
DEDICATED
IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF HIS KINDNESS AND IN ADMIRATION OF HIS
QUALITIES AS A HISTORIAN
BY THE AUTHOR
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE.
I feel that some explanation is due when a Japanese ventures to address
himself to English readers; my plea is that the matters on which I write
are of vital importance to England as well as to Japan. Though I feel
that my knowledge of English is so imperfect that many errors of idiom
and style and even of grammar must appear in my pages, yet I hope that
the courtesy which I have ever experienced in this country will be
extended also to my book.
My aim has been twofold: on the one hand, to arouse my own countrymen to
a sense of the great part Japan has to play in the coming century; on
the other, to call the attention of Englishmen to the important position
my country occupies with regard to British interests in the far East.
The first part deals with Japan and the Pacific Question: but so closely
is the latter bound up with the so-called Eastern Question that in the
second part I have traced the history of the latter from its genesis to
its present development. Commencing with a historical retrospect of
Russian and English policy in Eastern Europe, I have marked the
appearance of a rivalry between these two Powers which has extended from
Eastern Europe to Central Asia, and is extending thence to Eastern Asia
and the Pacific. This I have done because any movement in Eastern Europe
or Central Asia will henceforth infallibly spread northwards to the
Baltic and eastwards to the Pacific. An acquaintance with the Eastern
Question in all its phases will thus be necessary for the statesmen of
Japan in the immediate future. I have confined my view to England and
Russia because their interests in Asia and the North Pacific are so
direct and so important that they must enter into close relations with
my own country in the next century.
I cannot claim an extensive knowledge of the problems I have sought to
investigate, but it is my intention to continue that investigation in
the several countries under consideration. By personal inquiries and
observations in Eastern Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia,
China, and the Malay Archipelago, I hope to correct some and confirm
others of my conclusions.
I have to thank many members of the University of Cambridge for their
help during the writing and publication of my book. To Professor Seeley
especially, whose hints and suggestions with regard to the history of
the eighteenth century in particular have been so valuable to me, I
desire to tender my most hearty and grateful thanks. To Dr. Donald
Macalister (Fellow and Lecturer of St. John’s College) and Mr. Oscar
Browning, M.A. (Fellow and Lecturer of King’s College) I owe much for
kindly encouragement and advice and assistance in many ways, while I am
indebted to Mr. G. E. Green, M.A. (St. John’s College), for his labour
in revising proofs and the ready help he has given me through the many
years in which he has acted as my private tutor.
The chief works which I have used are Professor Seeley’s “Expansion of
England,” Hon. Evelyn Ashley’s “Life of Lord Palmerston,” and Professor
Holland’s “European Concert in the Eastern Question.” The latter I have
consulted specially for the history of treaties.
M. INAGAKI.
CAIUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE,
_April, 1890_.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
PAGE
_JAPAN AND THE PACIFIC_ 21
England and Asia—The Persian war—The Chinese war—Russian
diplomacy in China—Singapore and Hong Kong—Labuan and Port
Hamilton—Position of Japan; its resources—Importance of
Chinese alliance to England—Strength of English position in
the Pacific at present—Possible danger from Russia through
Mongolia and Manchooria—Japan the key of the Pacific; her area
and people; her rapid development; her favourable position;
effect of Panama Canal on her commerce—England’s route to the
East by the Canadian Pacific Railway—Japanese
manufactures—Rivalry of Germany and England in the South
Pacific—Imperial Federation for England and her
colonies—Importance of island of Formosa—Comparative progress
of Russia and England—The coming struggle.