Japan's Central Eurasian Policy: A Focus on Turkic Muslim Minorities

This article examines the contacts and plans made by Japanese military authorities with Turkic Muslim leaders from Central Eurasia, as well as the Japan-Germany collaboration against the White Russians prior to Japan's defeat in World War II. With international issues taking on increasing importance following the Paris Conference of 1919, Japanese policy makers attempted to make Tokyo an emigre spot, much like Berlin, Paris, and Istanbul. Following the Manchurian Invasion in 1931 and Japan's secession from the League of Nations in 1933, Japanese military authorities and civilian Pan-Asianists began to consider their policies toward Turkic Muslim minorities in Central Eurasia within the context of Japan's alliance with Germany and tried to form a Japan-backed Muslim puppet state in the region, which would also join Tokyo to Berlin.