Paper short abstract:

The Taiwan Expedition (1874) was a turning point in mediating what Ravina has characterized as "samurai populism". Building on Eskildsen (2019) this paper further examines the domestic coverage while also exploring a comparison with British coverage of the First Ashanti Expedition (1874).

Paper long abstract:

The Taiwan Expedition of 1874 was Japan's first military foray outside of Japan since the formal opening of the country in 1854 and the subsequent signing of the 'unequal treaties' in 1858. It had enormous significance in terms of enabling Japan to stake a claim to being a 'serious player' in international relations and diplomacy in East Asia, although it certainly was not viewed warmly as such by representatives of the Powers in Japan at the time. It was also a turning point in terms of mediating what Ravina has characterized as "samurai populism", a force that had fed earlier calls for an invasion of Korea and now found a fresh avenue of expression with the ostensible encouragement of Okubo Toshimichi.

Building on the recent research of Eskildsen (2019) this paper further examines the domestic coverage of the expedition in both illustrated and textual media to consider how nascent mass circulation publications shaped public perceptions of the samurai dimension of the expedition. Some attention is also given to analyzing how the government sought to give vent to populism while simultaneously engaging in 'damage control' with the local diplomatic corps and pursuing more conventional diplomatic objectives - the punishment of Paiwan tribesmen for the 1871 murder of 54 Ryūkyū sailors and the pursuit of reparations from China.

Finally the paper also explores an avenue of comparison with a similar episode that occurred at almost the same time - the First Ashanti Expedition undertaken by the Imperial British Army in 1874. Attention is particularly given to British media coverage as presented through contemporary newspapers such as the Illustrated London News. While acknowledging that the particular circumstances of each expedition would naturally diverge, it is argued that a meaningful comparison can be made in terms of highlighting points of intersection and divergence with regard to narrative, rationale and domestic impact.