The Shinto Deity Susanowo

Susanowo, the storm god and ruler of the oceans, was a trickster figure in addition to being a demon slayer. After he was banished from heaven, Susanowo descended to earth. There he came upon an old earth spirit weeping with his wife and daughter. The storm god asked why they were grieving. The earth spirit told him that a dragon arrived yearly to devour one of his doughters. When Susanowo asked what the dragon looked like, the earth spirit said it was forked tounged with huge bloody red eyed, eight heads, eight tails, and an enourmous body with a swollen belly. Susanowo took the doughter, Kushi-inada-hime, transformed her into a comb, and put her in his hair. He instructed the earth spirit and his wife to brew some sake. He then told the earth spirit to build a fence with eight gates, and eight benches, each with a vat of sake on top. The dragon came, drank from each vat, became intoxicated, and then fell unconsious. Susanowo slew the dragon in its sleep. He then created a house in the holy city of Idzumo and married the doughter. Together they had many childeren.

Three grounds on which Kotoku Shusui opposed the Russo-Japanese War.

Kotoku Shusui (1871 – 1911)Socialist leader, one of the first proponents of radical political action in Japan. Firstly, In 1903 Kotoku Shusui resigned from his job as a journalist in Tokyo when it announced its support for the Russo-Japanese war and the occupation of Korea. He went on from there to start the anti-war Common People’s Newspaper Heimin Shinbun for which he would soon be imprisoned. He was arguing that patriotism since it had its origins in hatred of the enemy rather than love for ones country was militarism. Though he did allow that there was such thing as a just war, nominating North Americas attempt to abolish the slavery. If a war was for humanity, ethics, and freedom it was justified. The war against Russia was not such war.

Secondly, Kotoku’s had a point in that in the past and would be proven again it would be very costly for Japan to go to war, without bringing any gain at all. He said that neither the Sino-Japanese war nor the boxer rebellion had delivered any profit to Japan. None of the foot soldiers had gained any, only business, high raked officers, and bureaucrats had profited. Higher taxes and increased costs of living was the only result for the working class people. He was concerned by pointing out the link between war and capitalism. Militarism would to dominate Japan after the war. Something Kotoku opposed. Kotoku wrote before the war that chasing Russia out of Manchuria would secure Japans interest by making Korea safe from Russia – but even if the Russians did leave Manchuria it would not be enough. They would then have to be chased out of Siberia, then St Petersburg, and then Europe itself. Kotoku instead suggested peaceful, but large scale emigration to Manchuria, investing capital and settling of land.

Thirdly, Kotoku sought to undermine the official assertion that Japan had to acquire colonies in order to solve its problem with overpopulation. He instead said that colonies benefited no one but politicians and capitalists. War and colonies benefited only the ruling classes and oppressed workers and peasants. He rejected the implication that there was “one nation” or “one national interest”, or that Japan international status could adequately represent its national identity. The prime Minister expressed that this war concerned all Japanese equally as much, but this Kotoku rejected by meaning that there was a great distinction between the masters and servants, meaning that those who wanted war were not the same that had to fight the wars. The rich could easily avoid conscription whilst the majority of the soldiers were poor.

What was the charter oath and why is it significant?

The Charter Oath was promulgated at the enthronement of Emperor Meiji of Japan on 7 April 1868. The Oath outlined the main aims and the course of action to be followed during Emperor Meiji's reign, setting the legal stage for Japan's modernization. It remained influential, if less for governing than inspiring, throughout the Meiji era and into the twentieth century, and can be considered the first of modern Japan. The Charter Oath opened the way for the modernization of the country and the introduction of a Western parliamentary constitution.

The five articles of the Charter Oath were the following:

(1) “Deliberative assemblies shall be established on an extensive scale, and all governmental matters shall be determined by public discussion.”

(2) “All classes, high and low, shall unite to carry out vigorously the plan of government.”

(3) “All classes shall be permitted to fulfil their just aspirations so that there will be no discontent.”

(4) “Evil customs of the past shall be discontinued, and new customs shall be based on the just laws of nature.”

(5) “Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world in order to promote the welfare of the empire.”

Although the articles in the Oath were not laws or legally binding in any way, the promulgation of the Oath was nevertheless an epoch-making event because it implied a complete overthrow of the established social structure and promised a new path for Japan based on modernization, westernization, and democratization.

To conclude, the various Meiji reform programmes could be interpreted as the fulfilment of the promises inherent with the Charter Oath. In point of fact, the goals set out in the Charter Oath were achieved rather successfully to a great extent by the end of the Meiji era.

The emergence of the Russo – Japanese war

The Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905) was a military conflict that had its origin in Japanese and Russian competition over the Korean peninsula.

In the late 1800 hundreds many western nation competed over the wealth in Asia. At the same time as Japan made remarkable effort to become a modern state. Japan was eager to release herself from the unequal treaties imposed by the western powers in order to become an equally as strong player on the world stage. Japan had reasons to occupy Korea which led her into war and victory against China in 1885. As a result China handed over control over Korea and numerous other territories to Japan. International pressure forced Japan to give back Port Arthur to China which later fell in Russian hands. Russia had large military and political presence in Manchuria and parts of Korea, and they increased their military during the boxer rebellion much too Japanese protests. Both sides used diplomatic efforts as to reach an agreement on how to end the Korea questions and the arousing tensions. But all diplomatic relation was broken off by Japan in February 1904, shortly after the Japanese launched an attack against the Russians at Port Arthur. The Japanese forces defeated the Russian in the war, making Japan the first Asian country that had ever defeated a western nation in war.

In 1853 the Commodore Matthew Perry reached Uraga in Japan on orders by the American President to open up Japan for trade. This resulted in the end of to Tokugawa and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration in 1868. What was to follow was a rapid modernisation and industrialisation of Japan never before seen in history. Japans effort to strengthen itself was to gain international recognition in order to remain independent and to abolish the unequal treaties imposed by Commodore Perry. In doing so Japan managed to instead of being subject to colonisation to become a coloniser herself. This development is explained by Jansen that Japan was threatened on all sides by approaching colonisers and Japan had to join the colonisers to secure its own independence. In addition, social Darwinism had in the 19th century emerged as philosophy and Japans ambitions were to climb on the evolutionary ladder to secure its independence. Imperialism were to be the next natural step for Japan to gain access to the resources for the benefit of Japan and therefore begun its expansion on the Asian mainland. In 1894 the Japanese cabinet added as a policy that the acquirement of foreign territory was necessary to keep its independence, the year after Japan attacked China with the excuse to secure Korea’s independence.

The conflict between Russia and Japan can be said to have its roots in the Sino Japanese war. Civil unrest in Korea between rival parties in 1894 supporting either Japan or China forced the Chinese and Japanese authorities to send military reinforcements. Consequently the tension escalated and a declaration of war was made on August 1st. China, now a weak country after being exploited by western powers could not defend herself against the modern Japanese army and it took only until November before the Chinese was driven out of Korea. As a result of the Japanese victory and the signing of the treaty of Shimonseki Japan gained full control over Korea, the Liatong peninsula with Port Arthur, Taiwan, Pescadores islands, the opening of treaty ports, and a war indemnity of 500 million yen. Japan had now joined the ranks of imperialist countries to the fully and they began to regard themselves as belonging to the privileged, civilized nations and should from now be treated according to her newly gained status. Japanese thrill of their victory was however to be short-lived when Russia supported by France and German (the triple intervention) pressured Japan to give up Liatong peninsula which Japan did on May 5th 1895. This was a devastating blow to the Japanese pride as well as the realisation that the western camp was to stand together against any Japanese expansion, especially obvious was this when Russia was granted a 25 year lease of the Liatong peninsula in 1898 where they intended to station its pacific fleet at the ice free Port Arthur. Russia was to appear as Chinas protector against further Japanese influence and on June 3 a treaty was signed to mutually defend each other against potential Japanese aggression.

Both Japan and Russia actively worked to establish spheres of influence. In Japans case priority laid in controlling Korea and Manchuria. The Japanese leadership desire to control Korea was seen as a security measure to defend the Japanese home islands. It was thought that if a foreign power was to gain control over Korea they would gain a strategic advantage over Japan, and Russia was seen as the greatest threat. Similarity, Russia was concerned about Japans expansion on the continent which they saw a threat to the poorly populated Siberia. Russia was rapidly on the move eastwards with the construction of the trans-Siberian railway which was to shake the balance of power in the region. On the economic stage, Russia managed in 1897 to open the Russo-Korean bank which and thus gained control over Koreas domestic finances, a further blow to Japanese attempts of power.

The Boxer rebellion in China in 1900 that caused several uprisings and terror against the colonisers was the effect of the long exploitation of China. They were given the name “Boxers” due to their affiliation with secret societies. This rebellion was to grow large and in 1901 the Boxers attacked and occupied foreign embassies in Beijing. As response and attempted to bring order the so called Eight-Nation alliance which included Russia and Japan was to deploy 20,000 troops in China. Russia took the opportunity to deploy troops in Manchuria to protect its interest there. These troops had been promised to be withdrawn as long there were no disruption, which gave the Russians legality not to take this promise to seriously. This was much disturbing for the Japanese who called for the Chinese to hasten the removal of the Russians from Southern Manchuria, an act that added further tension between the two Countries.

Ito Hirobumi, former Prime minister of Japan went in November 1901 to St Petersburg to mediate a treaty together with Russia. The proposed offer was that, if Japan recognises Russia’s presence in Manchuria Russia should in turn recognise Japans sole rights in Korea. This offer was known as the “Man-Kan Kokan”, simply meaning the exchange of Manchuria for Korea, but his suggestion was however to be declined by Russia. What the Russians weren’t aware of was that the Japanese minister in London, Count Hayashi had begun to negotiate a defensive pact with the British. The alliance that was made official in 1902 meant simply that if any of the two countries got engaged in war the other would remain neutral, but if a third party interfered in any conflict they was to aid each others. Russia could therefore not rely upon any assistance from it ally France in any possible conflict. This gave Japan the power and confidence they needed in the power-struggle against Russia. The Russians must have been very surprised and concerned over the Japanese diplomatic success in Britain.

In the summer 1903 negotiations resumed about the question of Manchuria. Japan now backed by its alliance with Britain was now in a much more favourable position and this was noticeable in the Japanese demands, as they now wanted sole rights over Manchuria as well as restraint on Russian influence in Korea. The Russians ignored the Japanese demands and the Russians tsar’s response “there will be no war because I do not whish it”. Such comment clearly indicates great underestimations of the Japanese strength and determination by him.

Japan broke the diplomatic relations with Russia in February 1904, shortly after the Japanese military attacked the Russian fleet in Port Arthur. The Russians did not expect such bold move by the Japanese and were completely surprised, especially as the official declaration of war was not to be announced until February 10. The war lasted for 18 month and peace talks were held in Portsmouth, USA on July 8, 1905. Japan was represented by Foreign Minister Komura whilst Russia was represented by Sergej Witte, and the American President Theodore Roosevelt acted as mediator in the negotiations. There had been great sacrifices in human lives with some 89,000 Russian and 71,000 Japanese casualties. However, as being regarded as the victor in the war Japan had demanded rights of territory in South Manchuria, Korea, Sakhalin, and access to a number of ports; a Japanese demand for indemnity was raised as well. Most strikingly and important in this conflict was that never before in history had an Asian nation manage to defeat a western power in war and this victory was by many seen as the culmination of what had begun with the Meji restoration. The western camp could no longer ignore the strength and determination of Japan.

In conclusion, Japan was forced to rapidly modernise and develop itself in order to get rid of the unequal treaties imposed by the United States through Commodore Perry. Japan feared that if not a rapid development of the nation was done Japan would follow the same fate as so many other Asian countries, becoming a western colony. As a consequence The Meji revolution gained speed and an ever increasing demand of raw material and manpower was required to keep it up. The Japanese leadership did everything it could to gain international recognition and elevate on the world social ladder. In this era of imperialism Japan thought that the most rapid way to do so was to acquire its own colonies and turned its eyes west to Korea. Japan also feared that the increasing activity in the area and the construction of the Trans-Siberian railway would strengthen the Russians and form a great threat to Japanese interests in the area. Russia on their hand had similar fears of the Japanese activities, and tensions between the nations grew stronger. Russia saw its chance during the boxer rebellion to divert troops to Manchuria with the promise they would be removed as soon as tensions ceased. This caused much disturbance and diplomatic efforts were made in the attempt to remove the Russian troops. The Japanese failed in this attempt, but they succeeded in signing a defensive pact with Great Britain which gave the Japanese security of not having to fight against a third part in a possible war against Russia. Japan who now had built up its military strength saw as the only opportunity to defend its interest in Korea and Manchuria was by attacking the Russians militarily. 18 months later Japan was the winner of the most important war she had ever fought.

19th Century Chinese Immigration in the development of Australian Immigration Restriction Policies

This entry will point out that Chinese people and immigrants have been a predominant part of Australian history and in the formation of Australian immigration policies. They became the target of restrictions made against foreign immigration which peaked with the introduction of the Immigration Restriction Act (1901), also known as the “White Australia Policy”.

Even though immigrants came from many parts of the world it was the arrival of the Chinese and the attitude against them that was to form into this policy as will pointed out. Initially the Chinese were welcomed as servants and as a source of labour as a result of the limited supply of convicts previously used by the colony. Domestic instability and wide spread poverty in China forced many Chinese to seek fortune overseas, including Australia. They were however soon to be regarded as threat to the white Australian society. As diggers on the Australian gold field they were looked upon with suspicion due to their appearance and cultural differences. Riots directed against the Chinese were not uncommon as the competition for work and resources intensified. Public and political opinion against Chinese immigration grew so strong that during the intercolonial conferences of 1881 and 1888 the colonies of Australia passed legislations to uniform and severely restrict further Chinese immigration. In 19th century Australia Sinophobia was an ever present feature. It was widely believed that immigration would tear down the Australian society as the Chinese were seen as a sinister race. It was claimed that they brought bad habits, diseases, immoral behavior among many other preconceptions.

The British were not the first to arrive on Australian shores. The first humans to colonise this vast continent was some 40,000 years ago was the indigenous peoples of Australia, the Aborigines. And it was not until the early sixteen hundreds the Dutch as first Europeans to sight Australia. Captain Cook was to follow the Dutch in the seventeen hundreds. But long before the arrivals of the Europeans the continent had been known by Asians and being subject to international trade long before the establishment of the British penal colonies. In the northern parts of Australia Maccassan fishermen had made annual journeys to fish for trepang, often known as sea cucumber and to trade with the local Aboriginal tribes. The trepang was regarded a delicates among the Chinese, also making it a part of early international Chinese-Australian trading network. One can presume that direct contact occurred but the first reliable account of a Chinese vessel reaching Australia was made in 1751 by a Dutch resident. It may be a bit strange at first but tea and the export of tea from China was to form the first images of the Chinese in the Australian psyche. Tea drinking had risen in popularity and did arrive in wooden boxes made my Chinese labourers. Such boxes became so popular artefacts that Chinese carpenters came to work and produce them in Australia. The image of the Chinese worker was so far a positive one, but this image was however to drastically changing in the years to come.

Previously the Chinese Ch’ing leadership had banned any migration form China. Even though some immigration occurred it was not until the treaty of Nanking in 1842 and the opening of ports after the Opium war (1840-1842), that large scale emigration begun. The driving forces of this emigration were due a number of factors. Southern China had long been affected by wars and disasters leading to great hardships for the people. Ryan describes that many of the emigrants embarked on journeys, often to unknown destinations in the search of a better future. In addition and due to the abolition of the slavery among many of the colonist nations new means for finding labour prompted them to use Chinese labour.

The solution to the labour shortage was to be the so called indentured labour. In the case of Australia who had used convicts to meet the demand for labour the Chinese now became a favourable option, and the first shipment of 100 adults and 20 Chinese children set sail in 1848 with destination Australia. The Chinese that came to work in Australia were subjects to two different systems. First it was the indentured labour system that was introduced to substitute the slavery. It basically meant that a person was bound to work for a contracted period of time, usually for a low wage. The second system was the credit-ticket system where workers were given credit through a series of organisers that arranged contacts, transports, to gain overseas employments. The borrower was then obligated to repay his debt with interest over the time of employment. The average wage for a five year contract was twelve pounds a year, but good worker could earn as much as 24 pounds a year, almost as much as a white worker.

When gold was discovered in New South Wales and Victoria in 1851 an ever increasing demand for contract labourers by gold investors was created. News about the findings of gold was spread to mainland China which in turn set off large scale movement of free and credit-ticket immigrants. The number of Chinese immigrant to New South Wales peaked in 1858 when 12.396 immigrants arrived. In Victoria numbers peaked in 1855 with 11,493 immigrants. Such high numbers of immigrants made the Victorian Government in 1855 to pass an immigration restrictive act to cut short immigrants. Worth to be noted is that acts passed to stop immigration was only pointed towards Chinese immigrants and not the thousands of other European immigrants searching for gold. The Chinese workers were also to be met with hardships and discrimination from the white miners and authorities. The white miners looked at the Chinese as intruders on the fields, and they were seen as scavenger of the gold fields when draining areas previously abandoned by white diggers It was not only aggression acts against the Chinese as competitors of resources, but also against them as a specific race. It was said that the Chinese were filthy, untrustworthy, spread diseases and had unusual customs that were not desirable in Australia. Many miners actively worked to exclude all the Chinese from conducting mining, and rallies were held to agitate against the Chinese. Riots against Chinese took place and one of more infamous riot was the Lambing Flan in NSW in 1860 when a series of attacks of white miners violently drove of the Chinese workers and burned their tents. The white miners had wide support in the society and even newspapers frequently published anti Asian articles. Simultaneously, there were debates in the NSW parliament to restrict further Chinese immigration, and after further riots in 1861 a bill was passed to further limit Chinese immigration.

At the 1881 Intercolonial Conference in Sydney it was discussed how to exclude Chinese immigration in order to come to an end with the racial tensions between whites and non whites. A unified form of restrictions between the colonies was sought after. South Australia was first to pass such legislations, with New South Wales and Victoria shortly after. During the conference it was agreed on four points that Australia should;

a. Britain should follow America's example and re-negotiate its treaty with China.
b. Chinese immigration to Australia should be controlled.
c. This control should be uniform, based on a £10 poll tax plus tonnage restriction.
d. Chinese who were British subjects were to be exempt.

One significant event to shape restrictions against the Chinese was the so called Afghan incident in the same year. The Afghan was a ship carrying a load of a few hundred Chinese that was suppose to land in Melbourne, Sydney, and New Zealand. After protest from passenger with legal documents and rights to enter Australia the supreme court of New South Wales ruled to the favour of those. This incident exposed the many differences and policies among the colonies in having different laws and regulations and calls were made by South Australian Premier Thomas Playford to gather a conference to resolve the matters.

In 1888 during the inter-colonial conference of Premiers held in Sydney much attention was put on how to control the Chinese immigration. As a result a uniform resolution was passed to restrict Chinese immigration to Australia and travelling by a Chinese person already in Australia between the colonies. Worth to be noticed is that before 1888 the Northern Territory had remained the only State or Territory that had not yet introduced specific restrictions against Chinese emigration.

The resolution agreed upon was as follows:

a. The further restrictions of Chinese immigration is essential to the welfare of the people of Australia
b. The necessary restrictions can best be secured through the diplomatic action of the British government and by uniform Australian legislation
c. The conference resolves to consider joint representation to the British government for the purpose of obtaining the desired diplomatic action.
d. The desired Australian legislation should contain the following provisions
(a) That it shall apply to all Chinese, with specific exceptions.
(b) That the restriction should be by limitation of the number of Chinese which any vessel may bring into any Australian port to one passenger to every 500 tons of the ships burden
(c) That the passage of Chinese from one colony to another, without consent of the colony which they enter, be made a misdemeanor
.
Australia of the 19th century did suffer from a great deal sinophobia and Irving describes that the Australian population did find the prescience of Chinese people very strange, considering their dress, language, and social patterns. When the first colonisers reached Australia it was declared Terra Nullius, and this was to remain the official policy throughout the colonial era. As a conclusion to this there was no native population of the land to be considerate with. Australia was to become a fully British white society surrounded by its highly populated Asian neighbors.

Social Darwinism had become a popular study in the 19th century placing the white man on the top of the evolution tree with all other races being below. Contemporary debates often dealt with the question that massive Chinese immigration would become a threat the racial purity of the white population as the Chinese was said to belong to such inferior race in comparison with the white. The main argument to exclude the Chinese was claimed to be their inability to assimilate into a western society. Racial difference was not the only argument to exclude the Chinese. The Chinese were believed to completely undermine the consisting labour structures when working for less and therefore steal employment opportunities for the white workers. Such believes had strong support among politicians including those belong to what was to become the Australian Labor party. Why were the Chinese such a target of racial fear and discrimination among all the other immigrant populations? As previously mentioned they stood out from the rest in their appearance and culture. But they were also stereotyped as being immoral, drug taking, gambling, evil minded people that were there to prey, or to ruin the racial purity of the white Australians. As most of the Chinese were males their presence could have been seen as a threat or competition to white males.

The height of Australian immigrating restriction policies came with the passing of Immigration Restriction Act 1901 that was passed without delay when the Commonwealth was founded and was to remain until 1958. This act was so sly in its way to restrict against immigration when it never mentions race as a mean to exclude any unwanted persons. Instead the controversial dictation test came to be used. It simply meant that any immigration officer could demand the immigrants to write a passage of 500 in any European language, and a language not known to the immigrant would then be used to fail the immigrant. This act was to be so successful that by the 1947 census that 99.75% of the Australian population, aborigines excludes was white. Even though The IRA 1901 was to work against any non white immigration it is understood that it was pure sinophobia that made it become a reality.

In Conclusion, Australian immigration restriction laws were a direct response to the Chinese immigration. Although necessary in the positive contribution of the Australian economy they were met with fears and aggression. Precautions were made to limit their presence and rights on Australian soils with the goal of protect Australian jobs, but equally as much as safety measures to protect the racial purity of the white Australian population. There were present believes that races could not live in harmony and the riots in the gold fields were regarded as confirmation of such statements. Anti Chinese feelings were present among the white and fueled by contemporary media and politicians, resulting in severe immigration restrictions implemented primarily in the intercolonial conferences of 1881 and 1888. The legislation's passed in those two conferences helped to reduce the number of Chinese people extensively. Restrictions against not only Chinese immigration but all non white immigration were to hit the highest point with the passing of IRA 1901 which led to an ever decreasing numbers of Chinese people in Australia. In short it was the labour competition on the gold fields and labour markets that set off the aggression against the Chinese and Social Darwinist influence that had built up a strong consciousness to protect the white race from degenerating Chinese influence.