Canada’s Window on Asia: The Establishment of the Tokyo Legation in 1928-1931

Abstract

Canada’s decision to establish diplomatic ties with Japan in 1928 was an important foreign policy initiative. It represented a clear if reluctant recognition on the part of the Department of External Affairs of the importance of Asia-Pacific in general, and Japan in particular. It also reflected the need for Canada to have a “Far Eastern” policy. Canada and Japan had just signed an agreement on immigration, and Japan was Canada’s fourth largest trading partner. The Japanese producers demanded protective measures, and the Tokyo Legation worked hard trying to protect Canadian interests. The Depression and the collapse of international trading systems, meanwhile, rendered it doubly difficult for the Tokyo mission to maintain Canada’s favourable trading relation with Japan. Finally, the Legation provided Ottawa with vital information on Japanese internal politics and external relations, although Ottawa did not always use (his information accurately in its statements during the Manchurian Crisis: the Legation was too small to cover all of Asia-Pacific and thus could not give a “China View” when the Manchurian Crisis occurred. The attempt to gather materials essential for the formulation of Canada’s “Far Eastern” policy proved beyond the reach of a single understaffed diplomatic mission. It was, nevertheless, an important first step.