Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

History

Supervisor

Schumacher, Frank

Abstract

‘The Opium Question’ was not a question, but rather it framed the issue of the under-regulated production, trade and consumption of opium in Asia throughout the nineteenth century. How did opium contribute to Japan’s imperial expansion? Furthermore, how did Japan learn from other imperial powers and use non-state epistemic knowledge to learn to expand its empire? Historians of drugs often use the term prohibition in relation to illicit drugs, when I argue that we should be discussing their regulation. Meiji Japan was faced with the issue of Chinese imperial subjects who were also dependent on opium. As part of the transimperial discourse on ‘The Opium Question’, Japan learned from other imperial powers like China, the United States and Britain, and learned from other powers how to modernize and expand its empire into the twentieth century.

Summary for Lay Audience

‘The Opium Question’ was a way for nations to address the problem of opium and its use around the world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Much like ‘the opioid crisis’ today, ‘The Opium Question’ was meant to provide a reference for those nations and groups who were discussing the problem. Japan followed both sides of the debate, and in their home islands of Japan proper, they did not allow any recreational use of the drug. As it conquered imperial territories however, they found that many new Chinese subjects were using opium recreationally. The Japanese imperial government did not know how to regulate opium in a way that would not cause tens of thousands on people in their territories of Formosa (Taiwan), the Kwantung Leased Territory in China and imperial Korea from being denied opium and entering sudden withdrawal. Drawing on the experiences of other imperial states like Britain, China and the United States, Japan participated in international conferences of experts who gathered to discuss ‘The Opium Question’ and work to resolve the issue of the drug.

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