제국 일본의 대외선전활동과 식민지 조선 － 카네기재단 주최 미국 기자단 동양시찰에 초점을 맞추며 －

Abstract

Recently, the animated debate regarding Public Diplomacy has been the focus of attention among both government officials and academic scholars. Non-militaristic diplomacy has a long and ever-evolving history. In the case of Japan, it began a campaign of public diplomacy toward the United States, Europe and Asia at the end of the 19th century. In 1929, the Carnegie Endowment planned and executed an “oriental tour” for American journalists. The purpose of my study is to explore the public diplomacy of Japanese Empire vis a vis the tour and through analysis of the declassified documents at the Diplomatic Archives of Japan. The paper clarifies that the tour was part of the public diplomacy strategy of the Japanese empire in two key ways. Firstly, the tour aimed to generate Western knowledge and positive attitude regarding the “orient.” The Japanese government intended to propagate and control its image in the eyes of the American people through the reports by the journalists in the tour. It hoped to raise American awareness of Japan within the Asian situation. A second goal was to promote a shared sense of imperialistic recognition between Japan and the U.S. The American journalists grasped the “oriental” situation by accepting Japanese propaganda during the tour. They regarded Japan as Asia’s only westernized, civilized country. The goal was to distinguish Japanese from other Asian people by the standard of “civilized” versus “barbarian.” This cynical ploy helped to maintain discrimination among the Asian countries. It was a resource for Japan to maintain its imperialistic power in the world. The use of an “oriental” tour for American journalists as a public diplomacy method for Japan thus played a key role in establishing the hegemony of the Japanese empire. This study identifies the structure and meaning of Japan’s public diplomacy in depth as a valuable lesson that still resonates today.