Ken’ichi Goto, Tensions of Empire, Ohio UP, 2003 part2

Ken'ichi Goto, Japan and Southeast Asia in the Colonial and Postcolonial World, Ohio UP, 2003, Chps1, "Changing Japanese Perceptions of South East Asia," pp.3-103

As Goto argued, it was no doubt that Japan’s intention to advance southward wasn’t liberation of Asian but securing natural resources for the total war. However we need to evaluate Japan’s southern advance in consideration of change of world economy since 1930’s. The world economy system changed from free trade to block trade after the world crisis in 1929. For example, The Commonwealth of nations formed preferential tariff area in Ottawa Conference in 1934, and they excluded Japanese commodities through raising the tariff. Therefore Japan that lost market headed for seeking own economic sphere in Southeast Asia. Then “Greater East Asia Co-prosperity” can be interpreted Japan’s attempt to form the variant of block economy.

In addition, I agree with Goto that Japanese justice to liberate Asia wasn’t accepted by Southeast Asian leaders because of its fallacy, but I think such slogan was more meaningful for domestic propaganda. During the greater East Asia war, many Japanese young men including college students were drafted and sent to the Southern front, and many of them wanted to know what for they gave their blood for their country. The slogan of “liberation of Asian from the Western colonialism” gave them ground to fight for the nation. In fact, during the war, the Imperial Navy mobilized philosophers in Kyoto University in order to justify the war, because philosophers were very popular among young intellectual college students in those days. It means that justifying the war was important not only to get support from Southeast Asian people but also to invigorate Japanese young soldiers.