Episode 473 - Southward, Ho! Part 2

History of Japan

Isaac Meyer

History

4.8 • 744 Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2023

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When World War I began, many among the Japanese leadership were hesistant to take advantage of the opportunity to move into Micronesia. What changed their minds, and how were they able to square a colonial government with the idealistic language of the postwar League of Nations?

Show notes here.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the history of Japan podcast, episode 473, Southward Ho, Part 2.
0:24.5	The Japanese takeover of Micronesia during World War II is often treated as inevitable,
0:30.5	given the newfound power position of the empire by the dawn of the 20th century.
0:35.8	But in reality, the decision to extend Japan's empire into that region was the result of a great deal of wrangling back in Tokyo during the early days of World War I in the late summer and early fall of 1914.
0:50.3	On the one side were those, primarily members of the Navy and their supporters, who saw the
0:55.1	islands as a valuable strategic resource. They could serve as bases for the Navy to project
1:00.7	its power throughout the Western Pacific, in essence serving as a sort of fortification to
1:05.8	protect Japan from the South. Proponents of this strategy in the Navy were supported by an array of nationalistic
1:12.9	journalists, like Takatoshi Sabro, who himself would eventually be elected to the diet. In one of his
1:20.4	many public speeches, Takatoshi called for the Western Pacific to become, quote, a Japanese
1:25.7	lake, unquote, in which the interests of the empire
1:29.0	reigns supreme, making the homeland more secure and, of course, providing a valuable
1:33.6	captive market for Japanese goods, as well as allowing for the extraction of natural
1:38.2	resources from the islands. However, not everyone was as bullish on the plan to build an empire to the south.
1:46.5	Members of the foreign ministry, as well as some members of the Navy, were deeply concerned
1:51.2	about such overt territorial aggrandismate, serving to alienate Japan's primary ally at
1:56.7	the time, the British.
1:59.0	They were concerned about potentially angering the United States as well.
2:02.6	Micronesia lies between Hawaii, by this point, a territory of the U.S. and the Philippines,
2:08.6	also a U.S. territory at this time. A Japanese occupation of Micronesia, particularly if it was
2:15.6	followed by the fortification of the islands could become a major diplomatic issue.
2:20.2	In other words, this more cautious crowd objected to a takeover, not out of humanitarian grounds or anything
	...

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