Anti-Chinese sentiment has been present in Japan since ancient times. While Japan was historically influenced by China with its writing system, architecture, and religion, negative sentiment of China has persisted to modern times, due to nationalistic and historical disputes.
Beginning in the Tokugawa period (1600 to 1868), Japan left a prolonged period of civil war and began to prosper as a unified and stable state. [1] This period saw an attempt to remove foreign influences on Japanese culture, including the influence of Chinese culture. During this time, Japan maintained a policy of self-isolation, leading to the further development of its culture with little foreign influence. A rise in national self-respect at this time resulted in Japan viewing itself as the centre of a "civilised world surrounded by barbarians." [2]
A key proponent of these movements and schools of thought was the cultural movement and branch of scholarship known as kokugaku ( 国学 ), translating literally as "national studies", and translated commonly as "Japanese studies". Kokugaku aimed through its practitioners (known as kokugakushu) to distinguish between a perception of genuine Japanese culture in contrast to what was considered as foreign culture, [3] with the resulting goal being to revert Japanese culture to one devoid of foreign influence.
Practitioners of kokugaku placed particular importance on Shinto, [3] Japan's indigenous religion, [4] seen as a bulwark against foreign, and especially Confucian and Buddhist, influences. However, by the time kokugaku developed, Shinto had already been heavily influenced by both Confucianism and Buddhism; [5] due to this, the net effect of kokugaku scholarship and its achievements is debated.
Following the Meiji Restoration and the abandonment of its self isolationist policy, Japan pursued a policy of aggressive Westernisation and industrialisation in effort to match the progress of Western nations. At the same time as this, China had begun to sink into a state of deep dysfunction, and was perceived as a declining power by many, including Japan, which increasingly lost respect for China. Increasingly Sinophobic sentiment within Japan contributed to a number of atrocities committed by Imperial Japanese soldiers against the Chinese during Second Sino-Japanese War, most notably the Nanjing Massacre.
The World War II also compounded on this, resulting in the loss of life of more than 20 million mostly civilian Chinese people. The property loss suffered by the Chinese was valued at US$383 billion at the currency exchange rate in July 1937, roughly 50 times the GDP of Japan at that time (US$7.7 billion). [6]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification .(April 2019) |
| Country polled | Positive | Negative | No answer | Pos-Neg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Japan | –78 | |||
 Sweden | –62 | |||
 Australia | –57 | |||
 United States | –56 | |||
 South Korea | –55 | |||
 Canada | –50 | |||
 Germany | –50 | |||
 Netherlands | –48 | |||
 Taiwan | –42 | |||
 Belgium | –39 | |||
 France | –37 | |||
 New Zealand | –37 | |||
 United Kingdom | –36 | |||
 Italy | –22 | |||
 Spain | –18 | |||
 Greece | 10 | |||
 Singapore | 30 |
| Country polled | Positive | Negative | No answer | Pos-Neg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | –77 | |||
| Sweden | –71 | |||
| Australia | –66 | |||
 Denmark | –53 | |||
| United Kingdom | –52 | |||
| South Korea | –51 | |||
| United States | –51 | |||
| Netherlands | –50 | |||
| Canada | –50 | |||
| Belgium | –47 | |||
| Germany | –46 | |||
| France | –44 | |||
| Spain | –27 | |||
| Italy | –24 |
Following the end of the World War II, openly Sinophobic sentiments were stifled and became taboo in mainstream Japanese media, despite the opposing positions taken by Japan and the People's Republic of China in the Cold War. Use of the formerly common word Shina (支那) (lit., "China") has all but disappeared except in a handful of cases, such as the Japanese name for "South China Sea" and an alternative term for ramen.[ vague ]
Following the Cold War, there was little contact between Japan and the People's Republic of China, and little discussion of China until the relationship between the countries was normalised in 1972, following a surge of interest within Japan about its neighbour. China renounced reparations for the Second World War, partly to avoid appearing less generous than Taiwan — which had earlier done the same — and to strengthen its position against the Soviet Union. The response was of considerable gratitude and goodwill in Japan, with Sinophobia confined to anti-communism. Public animosity toward the People's Republic of China was minimal compared to the public animosity held against the Soviet Union, and a friendly mood prevailed. [9] Improvements were also seen in social attitudes toward ethnic Chinese residents of Japan, along with other minorities such as Zainichi Koreans and the Ainu people.
However, since 2000, Japan has seen a gradual resurgence of anti-Chinese sentiments, coupled with the effects of an increasingly tense political relationship between Japan and the People's Republic of China. The reason partly stems from the Japanese history textbook controversies and official visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, as well as Chinese use of anti-Japan sentiment to buttress their own domestic politics. [10] The anti-Japanese riots of 2005 are cited as raising tensions within China and fear of China within the Japanese public. Many Japanese nationalist groups, such as Ganbare Nippon and Zaitokukai , are anti-Chinese, with data from the Pew Global Attitude Project (2008) showing that 85% of Japanese people surveyed held unfavourable views of China, and that 73% held unfavourable views of Chinese people.
The Economist has written that according to a survey done in 2021, more than 40% of Japanese aged 18–29 feel an "affinity" towards China, compared to only 13% for those aged in their 60s and 70s. [11]
The Edo period, also known as the Tokugawa period, is the period between 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional daimyo. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, a stable population, overall peace, and popular enjoyment of arts and culture, colloquially referred to as Ōedo.
Bakumatsu was the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate ended. Between 1853 and 1867, under foreign diplomatic and military pressure, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as sakoku and changed from a feudal Tokugawa shogunate to the modern empire of the Meiji government. The major ideological-political divide during this period was between the pro-imperial nationalists called ishin shishi and the shogunate forces, which included the elite shinsengumi swordsmen.
Anti-Americanism is a term that can describe several sentiments and positions including opposition to, fear of, distrust of, prejudice against or hatred toward the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Anti-Americanism can be contrasted with pro-Americanism, which refers to support, love, or admiration for the United States.
Sonnō jōi was a yojijukugo phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s, during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement sought to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and restore the power of the Emperor of Japan.
Anti-Chinese sentiment is the fear or dislike of China, Chinese people and/or Chinese culture. It is a form of racism or prejudice and can manifest as subtle acts of discrimination, microaggression and stigmatization, ranging from exclusion or shunning, to outright verbal abuse, slurs and name-calling, and even violence.
Anti-Japanese sentiment, a form of racism against Asians, involves the hatred or fear of anything which is Japanese, be it its culture or its people.
Anti-Russian sentiment or Russophobia is dislike or fear or hatred of Russia, Russian people, or Russian culture. The opposite of Russophobia is Russophilia.
Kokugaku was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of research into the early Japanese classics.
Japanese philosophy has historically been a fusion of both indigenous Shinto and continental religions, such as Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. Formerly heavily influenced by both Chinese philosophy and Indian philosophy, as with Mitogaku and Zen, much modern Japanese philosophy is now also influenced by Western philosophy.
The Japanese term shinbutsu bunri (神仏分離) indicates the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the Meiji Restoration which separated Shinto kami from buddhas, and also Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, which were originally amalgamated. It is a yojijukugo phrase.
This is the glossary of Japanese history including the major terms, titles and events the casual reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject.
Hirata Atsutane was a Japanese scholar, conventionally ranked as one of the Four Great Men of Kokugaku (nativist) studies, and one of the most significant theologians of the Shintō religion. His literary name was Ibukinoya (気吹舎), and his primary assumed name was Daigaku. He also used the names Daikaku (大角), Gentaku (玄琢), and Genzui (玄瑞). His personal name was Hanbē (半兵衛).
Anti-Japanese sentiment in Korean society has its roots in historic, cultural, and nationalistic sentiments.
Kada no Azumamaro was a poet and philologist of the early Edo period. His ideas had a germinal impact on the nativist school of National Learning in Japan.
Mitogaku (水戸学) refers to a school of Japanese historical and Shinto studies that arose in the Mito Domain.
A mitamaya is an altar used in Shinto-style ancestor worship, dedicated in the memory of deceased forebears. It generally has a mirror symbolizing the spirits of the deceased or a tablet bearing their names and is used not only to enshrine blood relatives, but also to honor respected non-family members.
China–Japan relations or Sino-Japanese relations are the bilateral relations between China and Japan. The countries are geographically separated by the East China Sea. Japan has been strongly influenced throughout its history by China, especially by the East and Southeast through the gradual process of Sinicization with its language, architecture, culture, cuisine, religion, philosophy, and law. When Japan was forced to open trade relations with the West after the Perry Expedition in the mid-19th century, Japan plunged itself through an active process of Westernization during the Meiji Restoration in 1868 and began viewing China under the Qing dynasty as an antiquated civilization unable to defend itself against foreign forces—in part due to the First and Second Opium Wars along with the Eight-Nation Alliance's involvement in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion. Japan eventually took advantage of such weaknesses by invading China, including the First Sino-Japanese War and the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Edo Neo-Confucianism, known in Japanese as Shushi-Gaku, refers to the schools of Neo-Confucian philosophy that developed in Japan during the Edo period. Neo-Confucianism reached Japan during the Kamakura period. The philosophy can be characterized as humanistic and rationalistic, with the belief that the universe could be understood through human reason, and that it was up to man to create a harmonious relationship between the universe and the individual. The 17th-century Tokugawa shogunate adopted Neo-Confucianism as the principle of controlling people and Confucian philosophy took hold. Neo-Confucians such as Hayashi Razan and Arai Hakuseki were instrumental in the formulation of Japan's dominant early modern political philosophy.
Korea has had a long history of both resistance against and subordination to Imperial China. Until the onset of Western imperialism in the 19th century, Korea had been part of the sinocentric East Asian regional order.
Shinto is a religion native to Japan with a centuries'-long history tied to various influences in origin.
