The Japanese Informal Empire in China, 1895-1937

Volume two of the acclaimed three-volume series on modern Japanese colonialism and imperialism

This book brings together essays by leading experts on the history of Japan to examine the period from 1895 to 1937 when Japan’s economic, social, political, and military influence in China expanded so rapidly that it supplanted the influence of competing Western powers. They discuss how Japan’s informal empire emerged in China after Japan entered the Treaty Port system in 1895 and how it shaped Japan’s own internal development. How did Japan’s informal empire expand in size and importance so that Japanese economic and security interests became heavily dependent on China? What influence did Japanese business groups, China experts, and military have on their government’s China policy? How did the Japanese in China deal with the threatening rise of Chinese nationalism? Exploring these and other questions, these essays show how the pursuit of an informal empire in China played a profound role in the emergence of modern Japan. The contributors are Banno Junji, Barbara J. Brooks, Alvin D. Coox, Peter Duus, Albert Feuerwerker, Kitaoka Shin’ichi, Sophia Lee, Mizoguchi Toshiyuki, Ramon H. Myers, Nakagane Katsuji, Mark R. Peattie, Douglas R. Reynolds, and William D. Wray.

This is the second volume of a series on modern Japanese colonialism and imperialism. Volume one is The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1895-1945. Volume three is The Japanese Wartime Empire, 1931-1945.

Peter Duus (1933-2022) was the William H. Bonsall Professor of History Emeritus at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Ramon H. Myers (1929-2015) was a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. Mark R. Peattie (1930-2014) was professor emeritus of history at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.