War and Diplomacy in Modern Japan

Prime Minister K¿ki Hirota and His Times
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-981-965309-6
Verlag: Springer Nature Singapore

Buch, Englisch, 189 Seiten, Format (B × H): 160 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 481 g

This open access book examines the life and work of Koki Hirota, who served as Japan's foreign minister and prime minister from 1933 to 1938 - the period that saw the final Japanese diplomatic attempts at achieving a modus vivendi with China before the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. It looks at the failed attempts to prevent that war from evolving into a protracted conflict. Hirota's actions and inactions during this time resulted in a death sentence at the Tokyo Trials following the end of the Second World War, making him the only civilian official to meet such a fate. Hirota is seen as a martyr-like figure in Japan, but this book counters this public image by showing how, despite initially championing a cooperative relationship with China as foreign and prime minister, he continually acquiesced to the military's demands before being swept away by the rise of populist politics that followed early Japanese success in the Second Sino-Japanese War. As the first biography of Hirota to be published in English, this book provides an in-depth account of Sino-Japanese relations and Japanese diplomacy during this critical period and examines the ultimate failure of the civilian government to check the adventurism of the Japanese army. It is relevant to historians of Japan, and to those interested in diplomatic history, and the Second World War - as well as scholars working in various areas of contemporary East Asian politics.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hattori, Ryuji

Weitere Mitwirkende

Leonard, Graham

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Diplomatie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Asiatische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction – Two Sides.- From Fukuoka to Kasumigaseki – Hirota’s Youth.- Between China and the West – Beijing, Washington, Moscow.- Straying From the Ideals of China Policy – Foreign Minister and Harmony Diplomacy.- Ten Months as Prime Minister – Conflict with the Army.- We will not deal with the Nationalist government” – Foreign Minister during the Second Sino-Japanese War.- The Collapse of Imperial Japan – Senior Statesman.- The Tokyo Trials – An “Active Follower.- Conclusion: Departure.

Über Autor(innen)

Ryuji Hattori received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Kobe University in 1999. He also holds an M.A. in Human Security from the University of Tokyo, an M.A. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor in Law from Kyoto University. He has been an associate professor at Takushoku University and was formerly a research assistant at Chiba University. He is the recipient of three awards, including the Shigeru Yoshida Award, which is attributed to the prominent former Japanese prime minister. He has also served as a member on the governmental committee of the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, the Japan-China Joint History Research, and the Japan Center for Asian Historical Records, the National Archives of Japan. His recent published books include Japanese Diplomacy and East Asian International Politics, 1918–1931 (London: Routledge, 2024), Fighting Japan’s Cold War: Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and His Times (London: Routledge, 2023), Japan and the Origins of the Asia-Pacific Order: Masayoshi Ohira’s Diplomacy and Philosophy (Singapore: Springer, 2022), China-Japan Rapprochement and the United States: In the Wake of Nixon’s Visit to Beijing (London: Routledge, 2022), Japan at War and Peace: Shidehara Kijuro and the Making of Modern Diplomacy (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 2021), Eisaku Sato, Japanese Prime Minister, 1964-72: Okinawa, Foreign Relations, Domestic Politics and the Nobel Prize (London: Routledge, 2021), Understanding History in Asia: What Diplomatic Documents Reveal (Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture 2019), to name but a few. His forthcoming publications include After Terrorism: The U.S.-Japan Alliance in the Post-9/11 Security Dilemma (New York: State University of New York Press) and Japan's Humanitarian Aid toward Myanmar after the 2021 Coup: Exploring Four Channels amid the Weaponization of Assistance (Singapore: Springer).

Graham Leonard is a translator with a Ph.D. in International Public Policy from Osaka University in Japan and an M.A. in Japanese Studies from the University of Washington.