Agony of Choice: Matsuoka Yosuke and the Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1880-1946 0739104586, 9780739104583

Citation preview

Agony of Choice

S t u d ie s

of

M o d ern J apan

Series Editor: Edward R . Beauchamp, University of Hawaii Studies o f Modem Japan is a multidisciplinary series drat will consist primarily of original studies on a broad spectrum o f topics dealing with Japan since the M eiji restoration o f 1868. Additionally, die series aims to bring back into print classic works that died new light on contemporary Japan. In all cases, the goal is to pub­ lish the best scholarship available, by both established and rising scholars in the held, in order to better understand Japan and the Japanese during the modem pe­ riod and into the future.

Editorial Advisory Board W illiam K. Cummings, American University Sin’ichi Kitaoka, Tokyo University Sharon M inichiello, University o f Hawaii M asato Miyachi, Tokyo University T. J. Pempel, University o f California, Berkeley Merry W hite, Boston University

Titles in the Series Jews in the Japanese Mind: The History and Uses o f a Cultural Stereotype, by David G . Goodman and Masanori Miyazawa The Japanese Economy Since die End o f the M irade: Trouble, Bubble, and Muddle, by Arthur J. Alexander Chßshüm the Meiji Restoration, by Albert M. Craig Japan and die Security o f A sia, by Louis D. Hayes The Web o f Power: Japanese and German Development Cooperation Policy, by KozoKato Unhappy Soldier: Hino Ashihei and Japanese World War II Literature, by David M. Rosenfeld Spanning Japan’s Modem Century: The Memoirs of Hugh Borton, by Hugh Borton A Yankee m Hokkaido: The Life of William Smith Clark, by John M. Maki Agony o f Choice: Matsuoka Yösuke and die Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1880-1946, by David J. Lu

Agony of Choice M atsuoka Yösuke and the Rise and Fall o f the Japanese Em pire, 1880-1946

David J. Lu

IÆXINGTON BOOKS Lanham • Boulder • New York • Oxford

LEXINGTON BOOKS Published in the United States of America by Lexington Books A Member o f the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group 4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706 PO Box 317 Oxford OX2 9R U .U K Copyright C 2002 by David J. Lu

All rights reserved. N o part o f this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission o f the publisher. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library o f C ongress C ataloging-in-Publkation D ata Lu, David John, 1928Agony o f choice : Matsuoka Yfisuke and the rise and fall o f the Japanese Empire, 1880-1946 / David J. Yu. p. cm. — (Studies o f modem Japan) Rev. and abridged ed. oft Matsuoka Yfisuke and his times, 1880-1946. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7391-0458-6 1. Matsuoka, Yfisuke, 1880-1946. 2. Statesman—Japan—Biography. 3. Japan—Foreign relations— 1912-1945. 4. Japan—Politics and government— 1912-1945. I. Lu, David John, 1928- Matsuoka Yfisuke and his times, 1880-1946. II. 11116. III. Series. DS890 .M46 L8 2002 327.52'0092—dc21 2002010670 Printed in the United States of America 0 ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence o f Paper for Printed Library Materials, AN SI/N ISO Z39.48-1992.

In your hearts, vow before God that you will not let the Pacific Ocean be a wide expan se that separates you from the East, but let it be a waterway that unites you with us, and in this way let die coining Pacific civilization be, in fact, what th e nam e o f the ocean indicates. Matsuoka Yfisuke, University o f Oregon, April 1933

M atsuoka Yösuke relaxing at hom e, 1

In Memory o f Matsuoka Ryüko, Matsuoka Kenichirö, and Tajima Kaneko

Contents

Preface

xi

Acknowledgments

xv

Notes on Japanese and Chinese Names

xvii

Early Life in Yamaguchi

1

The First American Experience

6

Diplomat in China, Russia, and America

17

From Tokyo to Versailles

29

Railway Politics in Manchuria

43

Revolutionary China, SM R, and Japanese Politics

52

SeiyOkai Politics and Shanghai Assignment

66

Withdrawal horn the League o f Nations

77

Political Party Dissolution Movement

106

Manchukuo, Guandong Army, and the SM R

120

Becoming Master of Kasumigaseki

138

Alliance with Germany

154

China and Southeast Asia

173

European Tour and Neutrality Pact with U SSR

197

Approaches to the United States

213

x

^

Contents

Chapter 16

The Later Years

246

Chapter 17

Reflections and Assessment

261

Appendix: Books by Matsuoka YQsuke

275

Bibliography

277

Index

292

About die Author

308

Preface

M atsuoka Yflsuke was a major figure in world politics in the first h alf o f the twenti­ eth century. He did not participate directly in Japan's decision for war, but the policies that he pursued as Japan’s foreign minister in 1940-1941 unalterably changed the course o f history for Japan and the United States. Between 1933 and 1941. he was the best known Japanese around the world. A t five foot three, dûs diminutive man stood shoulder to shoulder with great leaders of his time. He met with Franklin Roosevelt, A dolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Pope Pius XII, and Chiang Kai-shek. He was a colleague o f Konoe Michitaka and Tbjô Hideki. The only major leader o f the World War II he foiled to meet per­ sonally was W inston Churchill. He was Japan's first and most successful media foreign minister. When Matsuoka spoke, the world listened. Matsuoka spent his formative years (between the ages of 13 through 22) in die United States, and his American experience colored his entire career. His media savvy approach to politics was direcdy inspired by his chance meeting with William Jennings Bryan in Oakland, California, in 1896. He traveled from one end o f Japan to die other, stumping for grassroots support, in obvious emulation o f the great com­ moner. In the consensus-driven Japanese society, he chose to act alone. The lure o f a lone ranger riding into the sunset was irresistible to him. He was an empire-builder in Manchuria, and freely appropriated the vocabulary o f the American frontier to defend Japan's actions. One o f his earliest diplomatic successes was the conclusion o f a truce agreement in Shanghai in 1932. It was made possible because o f his own moderate views toward China and his ability to work closely with die British. In 1933, as Japan’s chief delegate to the League of Nations, he urged his government to cooperate with the American government fully so that Japan could avoid the disaster o f withdrawing from die League. His emergence as a national hero in the drama of withdrawal was a pure accident In 1940, he concluded an alliance with Germany. It was a direct challenge to the might o f the United States. His public statements became vitriolic, as he spoke o f

xii

Preface

the victory o f totalitarianism over democracy. He left little room for compromise with the United States. In the waning days of the war, a group o f army staff officers plotted to kidnap Emperor Shöwa, incarcerate him in a cave complex in Matsushiro in Central Japan, and continue the war in his name. Matsuoka was their choice to head a cabinet of resistance, because they found in him a man who could articulate their own views and give justification for their hatred o f America. W hat became of this man who had once called America his second home? This question can be joined with the questions Americans have been asking since the terrorist attacks on September 11,2001: "Why do they hate us?” “ Why do peo­ ple who were educated in the United States, who have enjoyed the benefit o f an open and democratic society, turn against the very society that has nurtured them?” These questions deal not only with the issue o f national security but also with the ef­ ficacy o f cultural exchange, which has been one o f the key elements in postwar diplomacy. Matsuoka’s life is a case study that can provide some answers. In this work, I have described his experience in the Pacific Northwest (chapter 2), his ear­ lier moderate views (chapters 3 and 7), and his metamorphosis into a “double pa­ triot” (chapter 9). It was political exigency that led him to appeal to the fringes of the political spectrum. He had to play the tunes they wanted to hear, and in die process he himself became entrapped. W hat makes a study o f Matsuoka so fascinating is that he could not be type­ cast in one position for long. He aligned with Hitler, but helped 5,000 East European Jews in their escape from Nazi persecution. I remember the words o f German Ambassador Eugen O tt very clearly: Matsuoka was always at heart “proAm erican.” In January 1975, 1 visited Sato Eisaku to offer congratulations for receiving the N obel Peace Prize. I inquired about who was most responsible in shaping his views about world affairs. He named two—Yoshida Shigeru and Matsuoka. “U ncle YOsuke,” as he called him, “had a vision for a Pacific civiliza­ tion,” said Sato. “He taught me that Japan’s destiny was closely tied with that of the United States, and the two countries should cooperate fully.” In another day and age, M atsuoka could well have become an architect o f peace, not o f war as the previous description would indicate. This ambivalence in Matsuoka’s views was an accurate reflection o f the roads that japan had traversed, and in that sense Matsuoka represented modem Japan well. The Japanese empire prospered as long as the Anglo-J apanese alliance gave it a protective shield and declined when Japan chose to part company with the West on issues relating to China. As a diplomat, Matsuoka was caught in the maelstrom o f changes that were taking place. Decisions he had to make were often painfully difficult to reach. In St. Paul’s notion made familiar by Matthew Arnold’s words: “We do not what we ought; what we ought not, we do.” Agony of choice was ever­ present throughout his life. Matsuoka gave his own and rather convincing answers to such questions as Japan’s withdrawal from the League o f Nations (chapter 8), entering into alliance

Preface