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Hokushin-ron vs. Nanshin-ron

1/13/2022

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Sofia Woo
Picture
This propaganda poster was produced by the Japanese-sponsored government in China during the Sino-Japanese War. The poster promoted cooperation between the Chinese and the Japanese. The English translation is "Please see how kind and affable the Japanese Army is."
Although most people's knowledge of Japanese imperialism is related to World War Two, Japan's mission to conquer Asia goes back decades before the attack on Pearl Harbor. 
While the Pacific Theater often comes to mind when we recall battles against the Japanese during World War Two, a closer look reveals that the war in Asia began with the invasion of Manchuria. In the first half of the twentieth century, the Japanese military was divided into two rival factions: the Army and the Navy. Traditionally, the Army was dominant. Their power, however, would drastically decline with the rise of the Navy and the advent of the foreign policy doctrine known as Nanshin-ron. 
To understand Japanese imperialism, let's look at the country's foreign policies at the time. Before the Second World War, there were two competing doctrines: Hokushin-ron and Nanshin-ron. The Army pushed the former, while the Navy promoted the latter. Hokushin-ron (which translates to "Northern Expansion Doctrine") focused on Manchuria and Siberia as Japan's main spheres of influence. Nanshin-ron (which translates to "Southern Expansion Doctrine") viewed the Pacific and Southeast Asia as the economic potential for the Empire of Japan. 
After Japan's victory in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895 and the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, Japan was confident in its ability to enforce influence in northern Asia. Hokushin-ron enjoyed support from the Imperial Army and led to Japan's occupation of Korea in 1910. However, although they were able to capture valuable territories in the early twentieth century and make their mark as a military force on par with the West, Hokushin-ron was abandoned by the cusp of World War Two. 
So what had happened? Why was a foreign policy doctrine that achieved widespread support during the interwar periods suddenly dropped in favor of Nanshin-ron? 
A pivotal turning point for the Japanese in terms of northern expansion was the Battle of Khalkin Gol (or the Nomonhan Incident) in 1939. After four months of skirmishes along the Soviet and Mongolian borders, the Japanese Sixth Army was defeated. This loss eventually led to the signing of the Soviet-Japanese neutrality pact in 1941. The decrease in military action in the north, as well as assisting with British holdings in the Pacific in World War One, fueled Japan's growing interest in the Southeast. The focus on this area became known as Nanshin-ron. 
Plagued by a history of factionalism, the Imperial Navy disagreed with the Army-backed Hokushin-ron. Seeing an opportunity to supersede the Army's power, the Navy began promoting Nanshin-ron as the more beneficial doctrine. After realizing the potential economic advantages, the military abandoned Hokushin-ron in favor of southern expansion. 
Despite becoming the dominant foreign policy in World War Two, Nanshin-ron's roots can be traced back to the Meiji period. Seeking to find greater resources and develop a more capitalist economy, Japan saw controlling Southeast Asia and the Pacific as a way to achieve this. It was not until the interwar period, however, that Nanshin-ron's expansionist tone became prominent. By this time, Japan borrowed the same language as Western imperialist countries to justify their own colonial aspirations in the Pacific. Similar to the West, Tokyo insisted on "civilizing" other Asian ethnic groups. They pushed for a racial hierarchy narrative in which Japan (labeled at the top of the caste) would help uplift their "Asian brothers." Perhaps most sinister about Nanshin-ron was that Japan illustrated themselves as saviors liberating Southeast Asians from Western imperialists. They could play different countries against each other and install puppet governments who were loyal to the Japanese. This, however, was simply a way to cover up the fact that Japan exploited and destroyed millions of people's livelihoods without remorse. 


Works Cited:
Dollery, Brian, Zane Spindler, and Craig Parsons. "Nanshin: Budget-Maximising Behavior, The 
Imperial Japanese Navy And The Origins Of The Pacific War." in Working Paper Series in Economics (2004): 1-37. Accessed July 3, 2021. 
https://www.une.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/67850/econ-2003-8.pdf. 

Goldman, Stuart D. Nomonhan, 1939: The Red Army's Victory That Shaped World War II. 
Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2013.
Schencking, J. Charles. "The Imperial Japanese Navy and the Constructed Consciousness of a 
South Seas Destiny, 1872-1921." Modern Asian Studies 33, no. 4 (1999): 769-796. Accessed July 1, 2021. http://www.jstor.org/stable/313099.

Shimizu, Hajime. "NANSHIN-RON: ITS TURNING POINT IN WORLD WAR I." The 
Developing Economies 25, no. 2 (1987): 386-402. 10.1111/j.1746-1049.1987.
Tb00117.x.


Image:

"Japanese Propaganda Poster 01." Chapman University Digital Commons.
https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/japanese_propaganda_posters/1/. ​
​
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  • Home
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        • Background of Biochemical Warfare Development
        • Imperial Japan's Chemical Warfare Development Program
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        • Duties of Unit 731
        • Human Experimentation
        • [GRAPHIC] Germ Warfare Attacks
        • Cover Ups After the War
        • [OLD] Cover Ups After the War
      • Philippines' Resistance - Guide >
        • Philippines World War II Timeline
        • The Japanese Invasion & Conquest of the Philippines
        • Bataan Death March
        • Formation of Underground Philippines Resistance
        • Supplies of the Guerrilla Fighters
        • The Hukbalahap
        • Hunter's ROTC
        • Marking's Guerrillas
        • United States Army Forces in the Philippines of Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL)
        • The Aetas
        • Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Nationalist Guerrilla Units
        • The Female Faces of the Philippine Guerrillas
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        • Japanese Occupation of the Philippine Islands: Pinays Answering the Call to Arms
        • The Fierce Heneralas and Kumanders of the Hukbalahap Guerrillas
        • Amazons of the Pacific Theater
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      • Fall of Singapore - Guide >
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        • Japan's Conquest in Asia
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        • Sook Ching Massacre
        • Double Tenth Incident
        • Social Changes and Challenges in Singapore
        • Voices from Syonan
        • Return to British Rule
      • Three Years and Eight Months - Guide >
        • Hong Kong before WW2
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        • East River Column Guerrilla Fighters
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      • The Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial - Guide >
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        • The Japanese Empire and USSR in WW2
        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
      • Unit 731 Cover-up : The Operation Paperclip of the East - Guide >
        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
        • Plan Kantokuen and Bacteriological Warfare
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        • Three Stages of Interrogations
        • Lasting Impacts
      • Marutas of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
        • A Beta Testing Site
        • Establishing Pingfan
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        • Overall Advance from the Laboratory Creations
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        • The Second Sino Japanese War
        • Japan in the South
        • Operation U-Go
      • Battle of Shanghai - Guide >
        • The Battle of Shanghai. Background
        • Shanghai Before War
        • The First Battle of Shanghai 1932
        • Battle of Shanghai 1937
        • Aftermath of Battle for Shanghai
      • Ishi Shiro - Guide >
        • History of Biological Weapons and The Young Ishii Shiro
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        • Pingfang District - Harbin
        • Failures and Corruption
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      • Taiwan The Israel of the East - Guide >
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        • Taiwan under Kuomintang
        • New Taiwanese National Identity
      • Seeking Justice for Biological Warfare Victims of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Introduction of Wang Xuan
        • Colonel Memorandum
        • The Beginning of Biological Warfare
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        • Victims in Zhejiang’s Testimonies
        • After the War
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        • The French Colonial Period
        • Anti-Colonial Resistance
        • The Rise of the Communist Movement
        • Imperial Japan’s Entry into Indochina
        • The Portents of Famine
        • The Famine (1944-45)
        • Legacy of the 1944-45 Vietnam Famine
      • Clash of Empires - Guide >
        • Japan’s Imperialist Origins
        • Japan’s Competition against the West: Nanshin-ron and Hokushin-ron
        • Japanese Imperialism Through the Lens of French Indochina
        • The U.S.-Japan Relations and the Pearl Harbor Attack
    • Lesson Plans >
      • Reparations
      • Ethics in Science
      • Writing the Narrative of a Pinay Fighter
      • Privilege Journal
      • Environmental Injustices
      • Female Guerrillas
      • Hunter's ROTC
      • Scientific Advancements
      • Seeking Justice: A Humanities Lesson Plan
      • The Hukbalahap
      • Trading Immunity
      • Bataan Death March
      • Biochemical Warfare Development
Contribute