Four phases of mediatization and the significance of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of Information: 1905–1922

Abstract

In August 1921, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially created the ‘Department of Information’ (Gaimushō Jōhōbu, DOI), to better perform MOFA’s propaganda and information management going forward. This was deemed necessary because the Ministry since the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) had failed to create comprehensive and coherent propaganda strategies. This article argues that the DOI was a significant addition to the structure of MOFA, by examining the period from the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) until the Washington Naval Conference (1921–1922) via the research concept of ‘mediatization’. The department allowed MOFA’s propaganda-making capabilities to reach a higher plateau going forward, and for the first time gave it a tool to perform propaganda in a centralized and professionalized way.

Keywords:

• interwar
• diplomacy
• propaganda
• mediatization
• Department of Information
• Gaimushō Jōhōbu
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The Department of Information had already been unofficially active from April 1920. Though it officially existed until 1945, in practice it became a subsidiary to Cabinet-level successors (respectively the Naikaku Jо̄hо̄ Iinkai [1936], Naikaku Jо̄hо̄bu [1937], and Jо̄hо̄kyoku [1940]).

2 Akami Tomoko (Tomoko 2012) focuses her attention on the news agencies rather than on the inner working of the MOFA. Peter O’Connor (O’Connor 2010) touches on the DOI in relation to his research on the English-language press network in East Asia. Matsumura Masayoshi’s (Matsumura 1971) research on the creation of the DOI is foundational to this paper, but offers a limited view that does not touch upon the significance of the department. Ariyama Teruo (2013) has done a deep dive on many primary materials related to Japan’s information network in the Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa periods, but after touching on the DOI’s inception does not go into the 1920s at all. Finally, Kumamoto Fumio (Fumio 1998) does a deep dive on three books edited by the DOI, but does not adequately characterize the DOI and its position within the MOFA.

3 This article restricts itself to discussing the lead-up to the Department’s creation because it was during this time specifically that a growing awareness of the importance of the media can be seen among Ministry officials. When the DOI became active, the fourth phase was entered, which will be further examined in following articles. The Washington Naval Conference is only briefly covered in order to demonstrate the immediate impact the DOI had on MOFA’s information management.

4 For instance, in the 1890s the Hong Kong Daily Press and the China Mail newspapers were given money by the MOFA to depict Japan in a positive light, and the Ministry also had Munakata Kotarō (1864–1923) buy the Chinese newspapers Hanbao and Minbao on its behalf.

5 Examples are: Britain (War Propaganda Bureau; Press Office), Germany (Central Office for Propaganda Abroad), France (Press Office), Austria-Hungary (Department Five of the Austrian MOFA), Russia (the press bureaus of three ministries – War, Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs), and the United States (Committee on Public Information).

6 The inclusion of Pamment’s dimensions helps to examine the fourth phase more deeply, and adds to the argument that the DOI was a significant addition to MOFA’s institutional make-up.

7 The term 'national news agency' (kokka [teki] daihyō tsūshinsha) refers to a non-state news agency with great resources that would be trusted by outside parties as a legitimate source of news, but still represented the ideas of the state and could aid the Japanese empire in achieving its goals (Akami 2012, 78–79, 82–83).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Research Foundation Flanders under [Grant 11G7819N].

Notes on contributors

Lieven Sommen

Lieven Sommen is a doctoral student in Japanese Studies. He is at KU Leuven Faculty of Arts, Department of Japanese Studies, Leuven, Belgium. Email: [email protected]