This paper examines the Japanese historians’ studies of Manchurian history in the first half of the 20th century with a focus Inaba Iwakichi’s (稻葉岩吉, 1876- 1940), The Developmental History of Manchuria (滿洲發達史, 1915) and his last work, The History of Manchukuo (滿洲國史通論, 1940).
Inaba conceived the history of Manchuria premise on the view that Manchuria and Mongolia were closely connected (滿蒙不可分). This signified two assumptions: first, that both Manchuria and Mongolia had fundamental connections leading to integration; and second, that to understand the history of Manchuria, consideration of the inter-relations between Manchuria, Mongolia and China was essential and closely intertwined. In The developmental history of Manchuria, in particular, Inaba suggested that Manchurian history resulted from the dynamics interaction of forces of Manchuria, Mongolia and China. As such, frontier tribes were viewed as separate from Chinese dynasty. In other words, in his early work, Manchuria’s history was one of the region’s history.
In contrast, in the The History of Manchukuo, written after the founding of Manchukuo, Inaba suggested a “Manchurian people” to unite the people of Manchuria and Mongol and organized Manchurian history in like with an ethnic conceptualization “Manchurian people.” In other words, he converted Manchurian history from a regional to ethnic-centered national one to this end, Inaba not only took note of the political unity of Manchuria and Mongolia, but also emphasized the unique language and culture of the “Manchurian people.” This new emphasis, apart from Japanese historian’s intentions, exposed the historical legitimacy of the founding of the Manchukuo—one that emphasized national and political unity of Manchuria and Mongolia that highlighted the cultural uniqueness of the “Manchurian people.” It additionally served as a response to Japanese imperialism, which had propagandized the “Concordia of Five Races” and was in the midst of fighting on the border with Mongolia at the time.