7. Chaos Versus Cruelty: Sakhalin As A Secondary Theater Of Operations

Abstract

This chapter uses data on prices and yields of Japanese sovereign bonds traded in London between 1870 and 1914 to establish the importance of Japan's victory over Russia in this respect, both in absolute terms, and relative to other events of the Meiji period. The data on the prices and yields of Japanese government bonds traded in London are calculated from The Times , and include both the coupon interest rate and the actual closing price on the London market at the end of each month. The main conclusion of the chapter is that, of all the political events of the Meiji period, the political event that had the strongest impact on Japan's cost of raising capital in the London bond market was the Russo-Japanese War. This is why, during the entire Meiji period, British investors did not upgrade their perception of Japan in response to most of the institutional reforms. Keywords: British investors; London market; Meiji period; Russo-Japanese War; The Times