Business Leaders and Nationalism in Japan’s Oil Diplomacy in the Middle East

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article examines Japan’s resource diplomacy in the Middle East by focusing on the activities and ideologies of business leaders before the First Oil Crisis in 1973. By analysing the roles played by four prominent leaders in the oil industry (Idemitsu Sazō, Yamashita Tarō, Tanaka Seigen, and Sugimoto Shigeru), the article illustrates how the beliefs of these leaders intersected with those of the political class in Japan’s oil diplomacy towards Middle East. The approach they took to oil diplomacy reflected the notion of Kōdōshugi (Imperial Way principles and ethics). This form of nationalism had some continuity with the prewar Greater Asianism insofar as it was infused with the religious ethics and doctrines of the ‘Japanese Imperial Way’ and the avoidance of dependence on the West.要旨本稿は、1973年の第一次オイルショック以前の(資源派)財界人の資源確保活動と思想に焦点を当てることで、中東における日本の資源外交を検証する。石油業界の4人の著名な財界人（出光佐三、山下太郎、田中清玄、杉本茂）が果たした役割を分析することで、これらの民間アクターの思想が、日本の対中東石油外交における政治層の思想とどのように交差していたかを明らかにする。彼らがとった石油外交へのアプローチは、「皇道主義」の概念を反映していた。このナショナリズムは、「日本的皇道」の宗教的倫理観と教義を注入し、西洋依存を排除するという点で、戦前の大アジア主義とある程度の連続性を持っていた。KEYWORDS: JapanMiddle EastKōdōshugi (Imperial Way principles and ethics)oilnationalismShigenhazaikaijin (resource-oriented businessmen)Minzokukeishihon (national oil champions) AcknowledgementsI sincerely thank Rikkyo University and Professor Matsuura Masataka for accepting me as a postdoctoral fellow to conduct this research.Disclosure StatementThe author reports there are no competing interests to declare.Notes1. For Idemitsu’s life story, see Kikkawa (Citation2012).2. At the end of 1956, talks on oil development were already being negotiated between Ambassador Tsuchida and Saudi Arabian officials (MOFA, Citation1957).3. At the time, Kuwait was a British protectorate. They therefore negotiated with the UK and needed approval from London. Thus, acting on behalf of Yamashita’s Japan Oil Export Company, Okazaki made this agreement with the British Foreign Ministry in June 1958 (Asahi Shinbun, Citation1958, 4).4. Sugimoto wrote fiction works consisting of three volumes (Kami no Shiro) in 1975 and 1976 under the pseudonym Nachi Daisuke. He confessed to being Nachi Daisuke in an interview with Shūkan Asahi (Shimomura, Citation1975).Additional informationFundingThis research was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (Grant ID No: P17011) and the College of Law and Politics, Rikkyo University.