Victim of Colonialism Or Model of Colonial Rule? Changing Japanese Perceptions of Egypt, Ca. 1860-1930 (Essay‪)‬

The Japanese displayed an extraordinary interest in Egypt in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but their perception of Egypt changed radically during that period. From the 1860s to the 1890s, many Japanese thought Egypt's situation was similar to Japan's. When Egypt's growing debt led to increasing intervention by European powers, Japanese officials regarded Egypt's eventual loss of sovereignty as a cautionary tale and minimized Japan's dependence on European loans. But after Japan's 1895 victory in the Sino-Japanese War, Japanese officials used European colonial administration as a model and justification for their own colonial rule in Korea and Taiwan. When Japan's alliance with Britain destabilized after World War I, the Japanese contrasted their enlightened colonial policies with those of Britain, with Egypt then perceived as an example of British misrule. The ways Japan viewed Egypt between the 1860s and 1930s were strongly influenced by Japan's changing relationship with Britain and its evolving status in the world community. Accommodation or Confrontation