紀要論文

特集「日本研究とトランスナショナリズム」（第4回アルザス・ワークショップ/2021年度国際新世代ワークショップ） : 縁取られる日本 : 近代日本史の周縁から

Feature Articles “Japanese Studies and Transnationalism” (The 4th EU-Japan Young Scholars Workshop /2021 International New Generation Workshop) : Demarcating Japan : A view from the margins of modern Japanese history

jpn

18838596

https://doi.org/10.15002/00026768

法政大学国際日本学研究所

20

187

206

2023-02-10

Version of Record

This article discusses the process of territorial demarcation around Japan in the late nineteenth century from the perspective of multilateral relations. First it argues for a multilateral framework to investigate the process in which the territorial status of remote islands around the Japanese archipelago was determined in the late nineteenth century. The point is that these remote islands were often treated as having only marginal value, and its possession was seen not as an asset but rather as a nuisance. Japan's expansion into these places with hitherto ambiguous territorial borders needs to be examined in this light. Japanese political leadership was partly aware of such attitudes taken by imperial powers, though they found it unable to forgo even the valueless islets for fear of triggering a territorial scramble against Japan. The second half of the article uses two examples of border agents who crisscrossed in and out of the Japanese archipelago to argue that these individuals, with their own personal ambitions and motivations, impacted the process of territorial demarcation. Finally, the article offers some reflections on the challenges of engaging Japanese studies while utilising the framework of transnationalism.

Article

AA11914954