2000 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Rethinking of "MUTSU Diplomacy" in Modern Japan
Project/Area Number |
11620084
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Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
Section | 一般 |
Research Field |
Politics
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Research Institution | KUMAMOTO UNIVERSITY |
Principal Investigator |
OHSAWA Hiroaki Kumamoto University, Law, Professor, 法学部, 教授 (70213684)
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Project Period (FY) |
1999 – 2000
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Keywords | Tientsin Treaty / Modernization / Sino-Japanese Concord |
Research Abstract |
The following insights can be gained from a critical examination of the references to the Tientsin Convention in Kenkenroku, Mutsu Munemitsu's personal account of the diplomacy of the Sino-Japanese War. 1. The four perspectives on the Tientsin Convention in prior research lack proof, contain excessive value judgments, and are narrow in viewpoint. 2. The perspectives on the Tientsin Convention in prior research can be found in contemporary evaluations and existed as marginal critiques. This means that the prior research completely ignores the core assessments of the period on the Tientsin Convention. 3. The very framework of modern Japanese diplomacy is rooted in the problems in these assessments of the Tientsin Convention in prior research. 4. The image of Mutsu's diplomacy presented under this framework was formed without critical examination of the references in Kenkenroku. In Kenkenroku, Mutsu intentionally downplays the political significance of the Tientsin Convention by focusing on the issue of legal interpretation. It could be thought that Mutsu did this out of a need to conceal his own diplomatic failure. From items 1 through 4 above, it is clear that the image of Mutsu's diplomacy created based on understanding Kenkenroku as unquestioned truth is very problematic in terms of proof.
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