The Politics of the ‘Civilized War’ in the Meiji period Japan : Ariga Nagao's Political Thought during the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars

Abstract

It is the subject which has been researched in various fields that, during the Meiji period, Japan succeeded to emerge into full membership in the international society which was controlled by western powers at the time. This paper takes the approach of the study of the history of political thought to understand the rise of Japan during the Meiji period. In order to do that, this paper will focus on Ariga Nagao who was one of the pioneers of the study of international law and history of diplomacy. Ariga argued a war, even without a declaration, is a fully legitimate act, since it is the expression of the ‘free will’ of independent states. Ariga’s pro-war theory of international law was affected by Lorenzo von Stein who was a scholar of Staatswissenschaft which means the sciences of the state in German. In Ariga’s theory, military intervention by a powerful nation to a weaker one is justified with this magic word of the ‘free will’. At the same time, Ariga strongly states that, if Japan is to become one of the ‘civilized countries’, it is required to follow the diplomatic custom of them: And there was no exception during the war time. He rather considers the war as the most effective way to prove how ‘civilized’ Japan is. During the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars, he accompanied a army for the purpose of proving that the Japanese army is conducting a war in accordance with the ‘civilized custom . In conclusion, Ariga shows two different seemingly contradictory arguments: One is the absolutization of national sovereignty, which even justifies ‘imperialism’, and the other is the observance of the ‘civilized custom’ of the international community. A ‘civilized empire’ would be an appropriate definition to describe Japan s diplomatic ideals of the time.