Seikanron

The Seikanron (Japanese: 征韓論, Korean: 정한론 lit."Debate to conquer Korea") debate was a major political conflagration which occurred in Japan in 1873.

Saigō Takamori and his supporters insisted that Japan should confront Korea due to Korea's refusal to recognize the legitimacy of the Emperor Meiji as head of state of the Empire of Japan, and insulting treatment meted out to Japanese envoys attempting to establish trade and diplomatic relations. The war-party also saw the issue in Korea to be an ideal opportunity to find meaningful employment for the thousands of out-of-work "samurai", who had lost most of their income and social standing in the new Meiji social and economic order. These samurai posed a threat to the government, and (as a "samurai" himself) Saigō sympathized with their situation.

According to orthodoxy, "Saigo himself volunteered to go to Korea as a special envoy, inviting an assassination attempt that would provide justification, if any were needed, for a punitive expedition" [Hunter, P.43.] , although revisionist historians argue that Saigo's statement was an attempt to win over the support of Itagaki [ Yates, P 145.] , and that Saigo's condemnation of Meiji's provocation against Korea in 1876 suggests that Saigo had always been to "establish a firm relationship" [Inoue: "Saigo Takamori zenshu" III: 414-16.] . In any case the other Japanese leaders strongly opposed these plans, partly from budgetary considerations, and partly from realization of the weakness of Japan compared with the western countries from what they had witnessed during the Iwakura Mission.

While orthodox historians view the dispute as a matter of whether or not to invade Korea, the provocation against Korea in 1876 supports the claim that the Iwakura party never disagreed on the validity on an attack, and revisionists see the seikanron as not a dispute of whether to do it, but instead "when" and "who" to do it. The former because those returning from the Iwakura Mission believed that Japan was too weak to attract international attention and needed to focus on internal reforms, the latter because the separation of the government between the caretaker government and the Iwakura groups allowed power-stuggle between them (Okubo, for example, had no real position of power at that time, seeing as his position was taken up after his departure).

It was decided that no action was to be taken against Korea, and many of the War Party including Saigo and Itagaki resigned from their government positions in protest. Saigo returned to his hometown of Kagoshima, although Saigo was never officially resigned from his role in the palace guard. Some historians (mainly orthodox) suggests that this political split paved the way for the 1874 Saga rebellion and the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion led by Saigo Takamori. Itagaki, on the other hand, became involved with the liberal political party Aikoku Koto, and rebelled against the Iwakura clique through legal means.

ee also

* Satsuma Rebellion

Footnotes

References

* Charles L. Yates, "Saigo Takamori: The Man Behind the Myth." Kegan Paul International Limited (1995). ISBN 0-7103-0484
* Inoue Kiyoshi, "Saigo Takamori zenshu" (Japanese)
* Janet E. Hunter, "The Emergence of Modern Japan" (1989) ISBN 0582-49407-9

Further Reading

* Kenneth B. Pyle, "The Making of Modern Japan". Second Edition (1978). ISBN 0-669-20020-4
* Jansen, Marius B, "The Making of Modern Japan." Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000.