Pan-Asianism

Logo for Cambridge Core from Cambridge University Press. Click to return to homepage. Logo for Cambridge Core from Cambridge University Press. Click to return to homepage. Pan-Asianism as a concept is conventionally associated with Japan's imperialism during the Second World War. This paper, in contrast, argues that far from being merely a language of hegemony, Pan-Asianism had a far more complex role to play in the early twentieth century. As an anti-imperial ideology, Pan-Asianism advanced a normative argument for the emancipation of Asia from Western imperialism and provided an alternative vision of civilization. As an anti-imperial strategy, Pan-Asianism offered Indian nationalist leaders in exile a necessary language to gain international support in favour of their nationalist movement. The paper explains how the ideological and strategic aspects of Pan-Asianism then affected and informed the development of contemporary international law with specific reference to the law of neutrality, the right to self-determination, racial equality, and the Monroe Doctrine. By doing so, it sheds light on an important yet ignored episode of the historical development of international law. In simple terms, Pan-Asianism represents a regional alliance of Asian nations based on historical ties, common heritage, and a sense of solidarity. The inner meaning of the term is, however, far from simple. As a concept, Pan-Asianism is conventionally associated with Japan's imperialism vis-à-vis its Asian neighbours during the Second World War. The “Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere”, which Japan propagated in 1940, epitomized the height of the country's expansionist campaign in the region in the name of Asian unity and revival. In contrast, this paper explains how Pan-Asianism was used as an anti-imperial ideology and strategy against the West in the early twentieth century. As an anti-imperial ideology, Pan-Asianism put forward a normative argument for Asia's emancipation from Western imperialism and provided an alternative to the dominant Eurocentric discourse on civilization, a vision premised upon a shared Asian spirituality, heritage, culture, and glorious past. As an anti-imperial strategy, Pan-Asianism offered Indian nationalist leaders in exile the language they needed to gain the support of the Japanese and the Chinese in favour of their nationalist movement against British rule in India. In this regard, the paper also demonstrates how the ideological and strategic aspects of Pan-Asianism then affected and informed the development of contemporary international law. One of the most prominent Pan-Asianist ideologues in Japan was Shumei Okawa, who was a Class A defendant at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (the Tokyo Tribunal). The International Prosecution Section of the Tribunal formulated the conspiracy charge almost entirely on the basis of Okawa's writings advocating the unity of coloured peoples and calling for resistance against the West.Footnote 1 As the Prosecution Section chose defendants who would be a “representative group” of Japanese war criminals,Footnote 2 Okawa became the face of Japan's ideological and propaganda campaign against the West. He was ultimately excused from the trials due to his mental illness because he started behaving strangely during the proceedings; he even slapped the bald pate of General Tojo – the ex-Prime Minister and a convict at the Tokyo Tribunal – who was sitting in front of Okawa in the dock.Footnote 3 Due to this allegedly close association between Okawa's work and Japanese imperialism, “there was a tacit yet determined endeavour” by post-war Asian studies scholars in Japan and beyond to dissociate themselves from his work, and Pan-Asianist discourse in general.Footnote 4 Given that Japanese international law during the Second World War was shaped by the hegemonic notion of the “Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere” under Japan's control, in the aftermath of the war t