In many regards, the First Sino-Japanese War and the actions and situations that immediately preceded the outbreak of full-on warfare can be seen as an extension of the exact policy debate that made up the Seikanron, with the need for either control or liberation (from China) of Korea having become even more pressing in the twenty years since the Seikanron inflamed Japanese politics (Paine 2003). Seen in this context, it is actually surprising that the First Sino-Japanese War took as long to come about as it did.

Japanese War Propaganda

The First Sino-Japanese War was recorded not simply by reports from the battlefield, but also by artists back home in Japan, making detailed woodblock prints from these battlefield reports. In keeping with many of the cultural and psychological motivations and justifications for the war, these prints reinforced concepts of Japanese superiority while at the same time evoking the sense that...
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