Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY STUDIES, cilt.6, sa.1, ss.163-176, 2020 (Hakemli Dergi)
In this study, interaction/relationship of Japanese people with Muslims fromMeiji period to the present day will be illustrated. Japan in modern time, whichbecame a regional power, began to have direct relations with Muslims andobtained more accurate information about Islam in a way quite different fromits premodern practices. The victory in the 1904-05 the Russo-Japanese Warcaused Japan to be an imperial power and to expand its sphere of influence inEast and Southeast Asia. So, Muslims were assumed as tributary assets of thisexpansionist policy, especially those in China and Russia until 1945. It is worthnoting that a pool of knowledge blended with political arguments againstMuslims was formed in Japan before World War II. Japanese, who built thecountry from scratch after the heavy defeat in World War II, used the prewardata and human resources on Muslims in the Middle East to advance scientificstudies and to restore peaceful official diplomatic relations with them inpostwar time. However, all religious and political terms used against Muslimssuch as “Kaikyō” or “Kaikyōto” before and during the war were rejected inthis respect due to the war trauma left in state memory.