A Visitor from Australia
The time was 1919. That eventful year was finally coming to a close. On December 25, a high-ranking Australian diplomat came to visit the Gaimusho 1 in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Exactly a year had passed since the World War I armistice. The Paris Peace Conference had concluded a further half year ago with the signing of the Versailles Treaty.
Edmund L. Piesse, 2 with his coat all buttoned up against the unfamiliar chill of Japan’s winter, entered the gray-faced building. A gentleman of quiet demeanor with round glasses, Piesse was the Head of the Pacific Branch, a newly created unit within Australia’s Prime Minister’s Department. 3
Japan and Australia had been allies during World War I, Great Britain being the connecting link. With her navy fully occupied in the defense of European waters, Britain decided to rely on the existing Anglo-Japan alliance by requesting Japanese assistance in defending the British territories scattered throughout the Pacific.
Japan had responded by forming a special task force consisting of more than thirty war ships. Japan’s naval force, during the war, had protected the coasts of Australia and New Zealand as well as the Indian Ocean. 4 The Japanese battle cruiser Ibuki was part of the Anglo-Australian fleet that had escorted the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) to Alexandria in Egypt. 5 The ANZACs would later gain fame in the battle of Gallipoli. The fleet had encountered the German light cruiser Emden, which had been causing havoc for the Allied ships in the Indian Ocean. In the ensuing battle, the Ibuki had supported the Australian ship Sydney in the defeat and ultimate sinking of the Emden. 6 A massive painting of this now famous Australian sea battle can be seen at the War Memorial in Canberra. In it, it is possible to spot the imposing sight of the Ibuki engaged in battle.
This close cooperation between Australia and Japan during the war, however, remained only a matter of convenience for the Australians, reflecting no deeper or long-lasting values. Japanese war efforts did little to alleviate the more ingrained fear and suspicion that had marked Australia’s reaction to the Japanese ever since Japan’s startling victory over the Russians in 1905.
Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War marked a first in modern history, an occasion when a clearly “non-white” nation convincingly defeated a white nation. This remarkable feat was achieved by a tiny island nation in the East to the astonishment of the rest of the world. Such an outcome had a particularly severe impact on Australia’s national psychology. A British territory isolated in the Pacific, Australia began to fear the rise of Japan in the Asia-Pacific region. Australians became suspicious of every move that Japan made or was assumed to be making. Without exaggerating this preoccupation, it is safe to say that Australia formulated much of its defense strategies and diplomatic policies based on this perceived Japanese threat: “The central issue for Australian diplomacy and defense during 1901–39 was the threat of Japan and the search for security in the Pacific.” 7
Australia had become a federation at the turn of the twentieth century. By uniting separate British colonies that co-existed on the continent, a new Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed in 1901. National identity, however, remained largely British rather than that of the people of a new and independent country. Australians felt as though they were relegated to the very farthest outpost of the British Empire, alone and isolated in the vast Pacific.
When territorial security was considered, the threat emanating from Japan always loomed large in the people’s minds. The perceived threat was nurtured by a specific set of assumptions concerning Japan’s imperialistic ambitions in China, and its intention to further advance into the southern parts of the European colonial empire. For a small population of essentially white settlers, Japan became the veritable essence of what would be characterized as the “Yellow Peril”—the fear of being overrun by an alien race.
The object of Piesse’s Christmas Day visit to the Gaimusho was to meet Hanihara Masanao, 8 the then Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs. In the meeting with Hanihara, Piesse frankly admitted Australia’s less than friendly attitudes toward Japan and explained the background for them. Piesse began by first clarifying that he was voicing not an official position but only his own opinion. He described the history of Australia–Japan relations, emphasizing the sense in which Australians feared Japan and the reasons behind this almost visceral aversion.
Piesse also explained Australia’s attitudes toward immigration and the so-called “White Australia” policy then in effect. Hanihara was profoundly impressed by Piesse’s candidness. He appreciated Piesse’s plain-spoken honesty, despite the high-ranking office he held. Hanihara considered this openness as representing an agreeable, natural trait that characterized Australians.
As the last item on his agenda, Piesse referred to the Paris Peace Conference, which had concluded earlier in the year. He explained how the Japanese proposal for “racial equality” was perceived as a threat by Australia, particularly in relation to its immigration policy. He asked Hanihara for Japan’s true intentions; that is, the real motivation behind this proposal. Piesse’s unusual frankness had provided Hanihara with an opportunity to respond with equal frankness. According to the diplomatic protocol of the day, however, Hanihara avoided an immediate verbal response but promised to respond later in writing. Early in the New Year, on January 20, Piesse received Hanihara’s reply in Manila where he had stopped on his way home.
The letter opened with Hanihara sincerely expressing his gratitude for Piesse’s visit. Hanihara stated that he particularly valued Piesse’s personal and unofficial statements because they were given in “all candour and unreserve.” 9 After responding to the other points raised during the meeting, Hanihara attempted to clarify the reasons that motivated Japan to propose the “Racial Equality Bill” at the Paris Peace Conference.
. . . [T]he utterances of Japanese delegates and steps taken by them at the Conference, demonstrate that Japan’s object was not “the removal of restrictions on immigration”, but the elimination of racial discrimination—a discrimination which, for no reason but of the colour of skin deprives men of equal opportunity in life and often subjects them to an unbearable humiliation. 10
All men are created equal. This unequivocal proposal was based soundly on a universally accepted principle. What Japan wanted was to have racial equality explicitly acknowledged as a fundamental principle by the representatives at the Paris Peace Conference and to have it written into the Preamble of the forthcoming Charter of the League of Nations—the first such international body in human history. However, a further quarter century would have to pass before that principle was finally accepted and articulated by an international organization.
Thus reads the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 2, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. More than sixty-five years later, we still cannot say that men and women have achieved this goal. Few would, however, publicly express doubts about the truth of this universal principle today. Thirty years prior to the action by the United Nations, this humane ideal had been brought to the attention of a world gathering for the first time in history. It was the Japanese who found the courage then to stand up for human dignity. Very few today remember that story.Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. . . . 11
Japan’s proposal was made at the Paris Peace Conference held after the end of World War I. The destruction and slaughter, which defined that particularly lethal war, was still very vivid in the minds of the delegates from all the participating nations. Championed by US President Woodrow Wilson, the creation of a League of Nations was offered as a strategic framework that could bring permanent peace to the world. Japan participated in the conference as one of the victorious nations planning a post-war reality. As the only non-white nation among the five principal participants, it was perhaps not surprising that Japan put forward a proposal that would add a racial equality clause to the Preamble of the League of Nations Covenant.
Japan insisted that the equality principle was imperative if countries were to avoid future conflicts and pave the way for world peace. The proposal, however, was rejected by the ruling world powers. The Japanese delegates were extremely disheartened by this crushing defeat. All their earnest and tireless efforts had gone for naught. Some historians suggest that the rejection of the racial equality clause was an important factor “in turning Japan away from co-operation with the West and towards more aggressively nationalistic policies” 12 during the inter-war years.
High Hopes, Valiant Struggles, and Bitter Disappointments
On December 10, 1918, Yokohama Harbor was filled with excitement hitherto unseen in Japan. On that day, the Japanese delegation, some twenty members led by Makino Nobuaki, 13 boarded the Tenyo Maru; their destination was the Paris Peace Conference. It had been exactly sixty years since the Meiji Restoration, during which Japan was coaxed out from its isolationism, opening the country to the world. Victorious in two wars, the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese conflicts, Japan had emerged from World War I on the winning side.
Standing alongside the most powerful nations of the day, the Japanese appeared on the world stage for the first time in history. This was cause for a national celebration. To mark the importance of the occasion, the National Railway organized special railway trucks to transport the delegation and its well-wishers from Tokyo Station directly to the Yokohama piers. Outside of a rare event, such as visits by foreign royalty, that kind of logistical operation had never been undertaken. 14
On the morning of the day of their departure, Makino, the Deputy leader, 15 and the delegation received a grand send-off at Tokyo Station. Prime Minister Hara Takashi, 16 cabinet ministers, Admiral Togo, and Army and Navy generals were among the 3,000 well-wishers gathered...