著者

髙橋 亮一

出版者

東洋文庫

雑誌

東洋学報 = Toyo Gakuho (ISSN:03869067)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.104, no.4, pp.1-26, 2023-03-17

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This paper analyzes how the events of the Russo-Japanese War affected the international relations between Japan, Russia, Britain, and the United States, in the context of the fur seal industry in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea. In the 1890s, Great Britain, the United States, and Russia established a protection zone for sea mammals in these regions. On the other hand, Japan actively encouraged the hunting of sea mammals through the promulgation of the Pelagic Fisheries Encouragement Law of 1897. Thereafter, the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War brought into sharp focus the opposition between these sea mammal protection provisions and Japan’s policy of promoting pelagic sealing activities. During the war, Japanese fishermen jumped on the opportunity provided by the war to fish in Russian territory.The Japanese government initially called for restraint in this regard from its fishermen. However, when in the spring of 1905 a plan was formed by Japan to occupy Sakhalin, it saw in sea mammal protection activities by Russia and Britain a possibility of expanding the war zone. During the invasion of Sakhalin, in July 1905 the Japanese military successfully advanced into the Sea of Okhotsk by conducting warship patrols under the guise of protecting sea mammals. When the southern half of Sakhalin was acquired by Japan via the Treaty of Portsmouth, Tyuleny Island was also incorporated into Japanese territory, and this meant that Japan would therefore take over from Russia the international responsibility of protecting sea mammals. The possession of Tyuleny Island was a factor in the Japanese government’s change of direction toward contributing to sea mammal protection and hunting industry control. Japanese diplomatic policy on sea mammal protection was crafted while taking into account the international relations and treaties in this context, and this created a chance for the nation to become embedded in the international regime of sea mammal protection.