Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang and the 1911 Revolution

4. Sun Yat-sen and Japanese Pan-Asianists

61 4 SUN YAT-SEN AND JAPANESE PAN-ASIANISTS Yoko Miyakawa In฀his฀pioneering฀post-war฀work฀on฀Pan-Asianism,฀Takeuchi฀Yoshimi,฀an฀ expert฀on฀modern฀Chinese฀literature,฀noted฀in฀the฀1960s฀that฀what฀was฀known฀ in฀Japan฀as฀ajiashugi฀or฀Pan-Asianism฀was฀too฀variegated฀a฀concept฀to฀have฀ any฀clear฀definition฀(2006,฀p.฀255).฀“There฀are฀as฀many฀interpretations฀as฀ there฀are฀books฀written฀about฀it”,฀as฀he฀put฀it.฀Indeed฀there฀are฀many฀different฀ types฀of฀Pan-Asianists,฀but฀as฀Eri฀Hotta฀has฀recently฀observed,฀Pan-Asianists฀ “were฀of฀one฀mind฀on฀the฀question฀of฀why฀they฀were฀Pan-Asianists,฀which฀ was฀that฀‘Asia฀was฀one’฀and฀‘Asia฀was฀weak’,฀and฀utterly฀and฀unconditionally฀ at฀that”฀(2007,฀p.฀49).฀Pan-Asianism,฀briefly฀defined,฀is฀an฀idea฀that฀called฀for฀ the฀unity฀of฀Asian฀people฀in฀order฀to฀resist฀the฀plundering฀of฀Asia฀by฀western฀ imperialists,฀an฀idea฀widely฀shared฀among฀nationalists฀and฀revolutionaries฀ throughout฀Asia฀in฀the฀late฀nineteenth฀and฀early฀twentieth฀centuries.1 ฀ Pan-Asian฀sentiments฀emerged฀in฀Japan฀in฀the฀nineteenth฀century,฀but฀ it฀was฀in฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀that฀the฀Japanese฀Pan-Asianists฀found฀inspiration฀for฀ and฀a฀means฀with฀which฀to฀pursue฀their฀idea฀of฀Pan-Asian฀solidarity,฀or฀ more฀specifically,฀close฀cooperation฀between฀Japan฀and฀China฀for฀the฀sake฀ of฀Asian฀liberation.฀This฀chapter฀examines฀the฀Pan-Asianism฀of฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀ by฀analysing฀his฀last฀major฀speech฀in฀Japan,฀and฀the฀Pan-Asianism฀of฀his฀ Japanese฀supporters.฀It฀also฀discusses฀the฀success฀and฀failure฀of฀their฀PanAsian ฀ideals.฀ 04฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀61 8/24/11฀฀฀2:23:41฀PM 62 Yoko Miyakawa Japan’s Pan-Asianists in Meiji Japan Japan’s฀Pan-Asianism฀is฀often฀equated฀with฀imperialism฀and฀colonialism.฀ However,฀in฀the฀late฀nineteenth฀century,฀Japanese฀Pan-Asianists฀regarded฀ themselves฀as฀playing฀the฀role฀of฀promoting฀Asian฀solidarity฀for฀the฀sake฀ of฀reviving฀Asia,฀and฀not฀for฀the฀sake฀of฀expanding฀Japan’s฀own฀interests฀in฀ Asia.฀“Asia฀is฀One”,฀the฀famous฀opening฀line฀of฀Okakura฀Tenshin’s฀book,฀ The฀Ideals฀of฀the฀East฀(1904),฀was฀an฀expression฀of฀this฀ideal฀that฀Asia฀is฀one฀ and฀that฀Asia฀must฀be฀one฀in฀order฀to฀liberate฀itself฀from฀the฀subjugation฀ by฀the฀West฀(Matsumoto฀2000,฀pp.฀54–57).฀The฀Japanese฀Pan-Asianists฀ who฀came฀to฀develop฀close฀friendships฀with฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀shared฀Okakura’s฀ diagnosis฀of฀an฀ailing฀Asia;฀but฀unlike฀Okakura,฀whose฀Asia฀extended฀far฀ beyond฀East฀Asia,฀Sun’s฀Japanese฀supporters฀focused฀on฀the฀historical฀and฀ cultural฀ties฀between฀Japan฀and฀China฀and฀on฀the฀role฀that฀China฀could฀ play฀in฀the฀Asian฀struggle฀against฀western฀powers.2 ฀They฀believed฀that฀the฀ revival฀of฀China฀was฀the฀key฀to฀the฀revival฀of฀Asia฀as฀a฀whole.฀And฀the฀revival฀ of฀China฀would฀require฀the฀revitalization฀of฀Chinese฀society,฀the฀first฀step฀ of฀which฀was฀to฀overthrow฀the฀Manchu฀Government฀and฀regain฀Chinese฀ sovereignty.฀Many฀Japanese฀activists฀travelled฀to฀China฀in฀search฀of฀a฀Chinese฀ hero฀who฀could฀carry฀out฀the฀revolution.฀Their฀search฀finally฀led฀them฀to฀ Sun฀Yat-sen฀(Jansen฀1954,฀p.฀59).฀ Sun’s฀first฀visit฀to฀Japan฀was฀in฀1895฀and฀his฀last฀was฀in฀1924.฀The฀ Japanese฀people฀he฀came฀to฀know฀and฀develop฀close฀ties฀with฀during฀these฀ years฀were฀numerous:฀some฀were฀reformers,฀nationalists฀and฀revolutionaries,฀ while฀others฀were฀government฀officials,฀diplomats฀and฀politicians,฀and฀still฀ others฀were฀scholars฀and฀businessmen.฀Among฀those฀Japanese฀supporters฀ with฀whom฀Sun฀formed฀and฀maintained฀life-long฀relationships,฀a฀few฀names฀ stand฀out.฀Let฀us฀first฀look฀at฀a฀few฀of฀these฀Japanese฀collaborators฀and฀their฀ relationships฀with฀Sun. Japanese Collaborators of Sun Yat-sen Miyazaki฀Tōten฀[1871–1922]’s฀close฀friendship฀and฀collaboration฀with฀Sun฀ Yat-sen฀was฀legendary.฀Strongly฀influenced฀by฀his฀politically฀active฀elder฀ brothers,฀Tōten฀came฀to฀embrace฀early฀the฀idea฀that฀the฀liberalization฀and฀ democratization฀of฀China฀would฀be฀the฀prerequisite฀to฀the฀liberalization฀not฀ only฀of฀Japan,฀but฀also฀of฀other฀Asian฀countries฀and฀even฀Africa฀from฀Western฀ imperialists,฀leading฀eventually฀to฀the฀end฀of฀world฀poverty.3 ฀Tōten฀shared฀ with฀Sun฀not฀only฀a฀vision฀of฀Asian฀solidarity฀and฀republican฀idealism,฀but฀ also฀“fears฀of฀Western฀domination฀of฀the฀Orient” ฀(Jansen฀1954,฀p.฀58).฀Tōten’s฀ 04฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀62 8/24/11฀฀฀2:23:41฀PM Sun Yat-sen and Japanese Pan-Asianists 63 autobiography,฀The...