Public health, agricultural administration, and colonial policy studies in pre-war Japan: a comparison with imperial and Commonwealth studies in Britain

ABSTRACT Tadao Yanaihara was the most prominent intellectual in pre-war Japan who worked on the study of empire and colonial policy and he seems increasingly to attract a large part of the scholarly attention in English and Japanese literatures on pre-war colonial policy studies in Japan. However, more attention should be paid to figures who belonged to preceding generations such as Shimpei Goto and Inazo Nitobe, because they played significant roles in the early establishment of colonial policy studies in Japan, to which public health and agricultural administration could be considered as central. The interactions between these figures, especially between Goto and Nitobe and between Nitobe and Yanaihara, are important factors in understanding pre-war Japanese colonial policy studies. In addition, a comparison with Britain and an examination of inter-imperial relations between Britain and Japan (particularly the influence of the former on the latter) will help enhance our understanding about characteristics of colonial policy studies in pre-war Japan. This article attempts to advance such understanding.