Description

The Dominion and the Rising Sun

Canada Encounters Japan, 1929-41

John D. Meehan

  • Published: 2004
  • Subject Listing: Asian Studies, History
  • Bibliographic information: 288 pp0., 6" x 9"
  • Territorial rights: U.S. rights only
  • Distributed for: UBC Press
  • Contents

The Dominion and the Rising Sun is the first major study of Canada's diplomatic arrival in Japan and, by extension, East Asia. It examines the political, economic, and cultural relations forged during this seminal period between the foremost power in Asia and the young dominion tentatively establishing itself in world affairs.

An overview of Canada's initial foray into Pacific affairs, it begins with the opening in 1929 of the Canadian legation in Tokyo - Canada's third such office overseas - and concludes with the outbreak of hostilities in 1941. Primarily a diplomatic history, the book also explores the impact of traders, interest groups, and missionaries on Canadian attitudes toward Japan during the interwar years. More fundamentally, it examines Canada's diplomatic coming of age closely, revealing its important Pacific dimension - a fact overlooked by historians until now - as well as the disjunct between Canada's commitment to peace and its trade with an aggressor. Meehan suggests that Canada's initially benign view of Japan, its reluctance to adopt positions in advance of its Anglo-American allies, and its lucrative Pacific trade led to a credibility gap in its policies towards East Asia.

The Dominion and the Rising Sun charts Canada's relationship with Japan, and is essential reading for those interested in Canadian history, international relations, and Asia-Pacific studies.

John D. Meehan is assistant professor of history at Campion College, University of Regina.

"This book makes a significant original contribution as the only detailed treatment of Canada's relations with Japan during this period. The subject is important, providing balance as it does to the usual concentration on the North Atlantic as the focus of Canada's external relations." - John Hilliker, author of Canada's Department of External Affairs

"Canadian work in regards to Japan has mostly centred on missionary activity, with little recently on diplomatic and trade issues. It is certainly an excellent time, then, to have Meehan's well-written book on Canadian-Japanese relations appear." - A. Hamish Ion, author of The Cross in the Dark Valley: The Canadian Protestant Missionary Movement in the Japanese Empire, 1931-1945
Contents
Maps, Tables, and Photographs
Acknowledgments
Notes on Names
Abbreviations
Prologue: Raising the Flag
1. A Window on the Orient
2. From Grand Beginnings to Depression Diplomacy
3. Manchuria Erupts
4. Failure at Geneva
5. The Calm before the Storm
6. A Bitter National Spirit
7. A Rude Awakening
8. The Road to War
9. Pacific Promise
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
Reviews