Japan's Geopolitical Thoughts And Geostrategic Choice Since Modern Times

Geopolitics is the research for political behaviour in a natural space. As a discipline, it was born in the late 19th century, the point of focus is to explain the relationship of nation's power in geospatial. As a thought for consideration on nation's space condition and space needs, is closely related with the nation's foreign strategy, and is produced and developed along with the development and changes of nation's strategy. Because of different nation's desire, the nation is not the same on understanding and awareness of the space, as well as applied to the thoughts of geopolitics. Therefore, to accurately apprehend foreign behavior and development trend of a nation, the study on nations'geopolitical thoughts and geostrategy is particularly important.Japan is an important behaviour actor in geopolitics of East Asia. Since modern times, Japan's foreign behavior brought grave disaster and a huge affects to its neighbors, to China's influence is extremely prominent. Japan's foreign behavior is largely based on the result of geopolitical thinking, therefore, for grasping Japan's foreign behavior, we should have a comprehensive understanding on its geopolitical thoughts. Meanwhile, with the geopolitics point of view to study Japan's evolution of overall national strategic thoughts and strategic choice, also will be a new entry point.The paper is in clues of time, strives to combine the evolution of thoughts and strategy with the analysis of geopolitics, in the reviews of history origin, dialysis the characteristics on the evolution of Japan's geopolitcal thoughts, and its implementation of geostrategy influencing on East Asia and on Neighbors China, on this basistry to predict and analyze the future direction of Japan's geostrategic.The paper includes three main parts: introduction, major part and conclusions, the major part is composed by five chapters, basic content as follows: The paper on the first chapter is the basic issue of geopolitical research and introduction of Japan's geographic environment. Concerning the basic issue of geopolitical research, the paper mainly selected three issues including the relationship between geograghy and human life, the cognition of space, and the comparison with continental and marine nations for outlining. These three basic issues is the main thinking orientation in Japan's geopolitical thoughts. Concerning Japan's geographic environment, this paper starts from the introduction of Japan's natural geography , and is transmission out the vulnerability and sensitivity of its geopolitical environment. Understanding of Japan's geo-environmental characteristics is the preconditions for analyzing Japan's geopolitical thoughts and geostrategy.The paper on the second chapter is the introduction and analysis of modern Japan's geopolitical thoughts and geopolitical strategy. The time begins before and after the Meiji Restoration to the eve of world war II. This chapter mainly discusses from three aspects: the first aspect is from the ocean awareness to explore Japan's sea right thoughts; the second is from the consciousness of extension soil to explore Japan's Terrestrial power thoughts; the third is from conceiving Japan as the center of the "Chinese tribes order" view to explore Japan's regional consciousness and thoughts of obtaining dominant right. The paper believes that the three geopotical thoughts is unified in Japan's national goals and under the operation of its strategy,which is making the nation rich, its military force efficient and even being powerful overseas. The thoughts were deeply influencing on the Japan's right-wing movement, and eventually developed into theoretical tool for supporting Japan launched full-scale war.The paper on the third chapter is the introduction and analysis of Japan's geopolitical thoughts and geostrategy in the world war II. During this period, Japan was mainly affected by the geopolitical doctrine of German scholar Howe khodorkovsky eph, formed two special geopolitical research genre: the Kyoto School and Geopolitical Association. These two schools of scholars'thoughts were serviced for Japan's foreign wars of aggression, and the publicity of their thoughts played an important spiritual bewitch role to Japan's military and people. Meanwhile, Japan's geostrategy mainly showed"north into and south into"of a developing two-way, in order to give it theoretical support of foreign behavior, Japan's academia put forward respectively the three geopolitical propositions:"Special Rights and Interests of Manchuria Theory","Collaborative Actors of East Asia Theory"and"Co-Prosperity Sphere of Great East Asia Theory". The paper believes that these propositions is the specific performance of typical colonialism geopolitical view. These self-deceiving theory not only made Japan's scholars into the fantasy of"admit posthumously facts", more let Japan's fascist aggression be increasingly madness. Finally, Japan was in the fallacious view of territory expansion, and overturned the whole nation. Various theories for supporting the Japan's aggression war were also buried into the collapse of Japan militarism.The paper on the fourth chapter is the introduction and analysis of Japan's geopolitical thoughts and geopolitical strategy after the world war II. The time inludes two periods in the cold war and the post-cold war. After the war, according to the changing of international situation and the characteristics of new era, Japan readjusted the direction of geostrategic, established the ocean development strategy based on the identity of"Marine nation", and regional leading strategy in East Asia as its foothold. In these two strategies it was contained the new marine geo-political thought and the Asianism thinking. The paper believes that under the guidance of Marine geopolitical thought,the current Japan's ocean strategies with no longer simply postwar trading trade for pointing,but more joined ensure and dominate the sea route safe defense issue ,enlarge maritime rights and interests, and the maximum owned and utilize Marine resources as its focus; Under the action of the consciousness Return to Asia, on the one hand Japan hand strengthened economic cooperation with the east Asian countries, proposed "the idea of an east Asian community" ; On the other hand Japan expand regional cooperation range, Strengthen national alliance with the ocean, Attempt to weaken from geopolitical on Chinese influence, then in east Asia regional integration process gain advantage position.The paper on the fifth chapter analyzed and summarized the the characteristics and effects of geopolitical thoughts and geopolitical strategy in the evolution overall. The paper believes that Japan always adheres to the respective sea-land geopolitical concept; Japan's scope in understanding and control of geopolitical boundary of region has expanded from the traditional East Asia to the Asian-Pacific region,its the kernel of dominating approach is alliance strategy, and has steered the power dominant to the economic leading; Japan's geopolitical aim has steered territorial geopolitics to marine geopolitics. Based on the analysis of the features, the paper further pionted out, Japan's geopolitical strategy is under the guidance of offensive geopolitical thinking, once to its neighbors ---- had brought devastating impact to China's development and the security and stability of the East Asia, the current thinking still affects Japan's formulation of national strategy, and leads Japan always to be a hidden danger for the security and stability of East Asia. Based on the analysis in the feature, Further analysis of the Japanese paper geopolitical and geo-strategic thinking on the East Asian region and the impact of China's neighbors, and try to predict the future of Japan's geo-strategic direction.Based on introduction and analysis of the above chapters, the conclusion of the paper points out, learning Japan's geopolitical thought is the premise for analyzing Japan's geopolitical strategy correctly, is also the premise for summarizing historical experience in depth and formulating foreign strategy of development correctly. For the research on this issue we need to keep on doing long-term exploreration in depth, this is also the study meaning of reality and future in the paper.