Positioning Korean History Within Tōyō - Special Focus on Inaba Iwakichi’s Studies -

The expansion of the Japanese empire since the late nineteenth century paralleled the nation’s modernization. In this context, the historical research on Korea conducted by Japanese historians since the late nineteenth century until 1945 served a dual purpose: on the one hand, it supported Japan’s colonial expansion; on the other, it established historical studies as a modern discipline, which entailed the creation of Tōyō (Japan’s Orient).<br/> While previous studies on Japanese historiography during that period tended to focus on its function as a tool for supporting Japanese colonialism, they have not paid due attention to its formation as a part of Tōyō (東洋). This paper examines how the Japanese historians conceptualized the notion of Tōyō and the position of Korea within this historical space, through focusing on Inaba Iwakichi(稻葉岩吉)’s work on Korean political history. His study was based on the explanations of Chinese history by his teacher Naitō Konan (內藤湖南). Naitō, a professor of history at Kyōtō Imperial University, explained the Tang-Song transition (唐宋變革) as the evolution from medieval aristocracy to early modern monarchy. Building on this argument, Inaba interpreted that the political system of the Joseon dynasty remained at the stage of aristocracy, emphasizing the familialism that Koreans clung to throughout the Joseon dynasty. Inaba’s research suggests that the theory of stagnation extended beyond the studies on Korean economic history. Moreover, it also shows that Japanese historians positioned Korea as the most backward entity within Tōyō, which mainly consists of Korea, China, and Japan.