Political Culture in the "Advocacy of an Expedition to Korea" in the 1870S: An Aspect of Japanese Imperialism

Abstract

Japan launched her modernization in reaction to the foreign crisis after the Meiji

Restoration in 1868. The Meiji government sought to construct "rich nation and

strong military." For these goals, Japan became an agent of Western imperialism

showing aggression against neighboring countries in East Asia. However, the nature of Japanese imperialism was different from that of European imperialism. It was influenced by the historical foundation of the East Asian political order, ideology, and culture. This paper studies the cultural foundation of Japanese imperialism by examining the "advocacy of an expedition to Korea" (Seikan-ron) in the early Meiji period. The main purpose of this study is to examine the conflict in the theme of rationality appearing in the advocacy using a Weberian framework.