“Federal preservation”: The Strategy of Tōa Dōbunkai, a Quasi-Nongovernmental Organization in Japan during the Eight-Nation Alliance’s Invasion of China

Abstract The Eight-Nation Alliance War against China, which occurred during the Boxer Rebellion in the early twentieth century, represented both Japan’s earliest joint military operation with Western powers against China and the first involvement of a Japanese quasi-nongovernmental organization (QNGO) in an international issue. A prominent Japanese QNGO, Tōa Dōbunkai, intervened in the incident with the aim of ensuring “federal preservation.” This organization attempted to establish a so-called federal state that was independent of the Qing government yet subject to Japanese influence, primarily by persuading and assisting senior officials in southern China who exhibited a certain “independent” tendency, as well as anti-establishment forces during the incident. However, owing to the refusal of independence by senior officials in southern China and the defeat of the anti-establishment forces by the Qing army, this policy was eventually replaced by the more urgent Hokushin-ron policy, which focused on countering the Russian occupation of Northeast China. By reconstructing this historical process on the basis of primary sources, this study analyses the similarities and differences between the ideas and actions of Japanese QNGOs and the policy of the Japanese government towards China. On this basis, the research seeks to reveal the distinctive role of Japanese QNGOs in Japan’s early expansion into China.