JAPAN, AMERICA, AND THE ORIENT 



By Hon. Eki Hioki 



Charge; d'affaires of Japan, i 905-1 906 



NOW that the Japanese-Russian 

 war is ended, the world seems 

 to be vigilantly watching the 

 next act which will be produced on the 

 stage of Oriental politics. Speculations 

 of various kinds are advanced by all 

 sorts of people. Some anticipate that 

 the next play that Japan will put on 

 the stage will be a peaceful comedy. 

 Some predict that it will be the repeti- 

 tion of another tragedy, while others 

 apprehend both. No doubt the power 

 that Japan developed during the last 

 war with Russia must have surprised 

 the world, but that surprise of the 

 world has surprised Japan more. 



Some preach the doctrine of the yel- 

 low peril, some question the ambition 

 of Japan, others apprehend Japan's de- 

 signs upon the Philippines. Such ques- 

 tions as these: Will Japan adopt the 

 Monroe Doctrine for Asia? Will she 

 control China? Will she not beat the 

 Americans in industrial and commer- 

 cial competition? Will she not monop- 

 olize the markets of China and crowd 

 out American goods? Will not Bud- 

 dhism come into rivalry with Christian- 

 ity? Will not the 700,000 Japanese 

 soldiers, now in Manchuria, when dis- 

 banded, flood the western coast of the 

 United States with Japanese immigra- 

 tion? are constantly asked on all sides. 



Taken altogether, it would appear 

 that the world is trying to ascribe to 

 the little island empire the position of 

 a dictatorship in the Orient. I wish 

 such was the real position of Japan, 

 but I must confess, to my regret, that 

 it is too far from fact. Seeing, how- 

 ever, that such questions as these are 

 receiving the more or less serious at- 

 tention of the thinking class of people 

 in this and other countries, it may not 

 be without value to express at this op- 

 portunity my humble views on them. 



(i) THE YELLOW PERIL 



In spite of the influence which once 

 it gained, the doctrine of the yellow 

 peril seems to have practically lost hold 

 on men's minds, at least in America. 

 Regarding this question, therefore, I 

 have simply to express my deep appre- 

 ciation of the high intelligence and the 

 fair spirit of the American people. 



(2) japan has no designs on the 

 philippines 



Frank and unreserved disavowals of 

 the alleged designs of Japan upon the 

 Philippines having frequently emanated 

 from authoritative sources, it is super- 

 fluous for me to repeat them. But the 

 fact that there is a constant recurrence 

 of the same allegation in the newspa- 

 pers of this country shows that the re- 

 peated disavowals from authoritative 

 sources have born little fruit, either be- 

 cause the general public still distrusts 

 Japan in this matter or because a cer- 

 tain section of the American people 

 want to get up some agitation for their 

 own interest. If a bona fide statement 

 of the responsible party failed to con- 

 vince them, let us try a brief argument. 

 Laying aside entirely for the moment, 

 for the sake of argument, the consid- 

 eration of the motive of Japan regard- 

 ing the present subject, let me ask you 

 a question : Can you believe that this 

 great American people who glory in 

 their national spirit, in their gigantic 

 strength, in their boundless wealth, in 

 their marvelous development, and who 

 look forward with proud and confident 

 anticipation to the time when they shall 

 be the first in the race civilization has 

 set for man to run, would allow their 

 flag to be lowered, be it in the Philip- 

 pines or in any other place which legiti- 

 mately belongs to them, by any hands 



*An address delivered to the National Geographic Society, January 19, 1906. 



