Abstract

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Abstract:: After the First World War, the Asianists in modern Japan were extremely disappointed in the face of the surging anti-Japanese wave in China, so that they began to make major adjustments to their thoughts and theories. Although the mainstream lied in tying up the national transformation movement with Asianism, there was no lack of other arguments that showed a unique and special principle. Of particular notice is Masataro Sawayanagi who once broke away from the previous thinking paradigm of “Eastern vs. West” and defined Asianism as a transnational and super-national idea that a unified Asia could coexist with Europe and the United States. In other words, he tried to describe Asianism as a kind of medium for cosmopolitanism so as to let it integrate into the prevailing vision of the League of Nations at that time. However, in terms of the Japanese hegemony theory contained in his theory, Sawayanagi was also unable to overcome his limitations, failing to transcend the category of expansionist ideology and take the development of Asia and the whole world as a goal. In essence, it was still confined to the level of “Asian Monroe Doctrine” that advocated the priority of Japanese interests and should thus be criticized.