砂糖产业与近代日本的南方扩张

Granulated Sugar Industry and Southern Expansion of Modern Japan

侵吞、占领、经营本土以南广大地区的"南进"是近代日本主要扩张路线之一,围绕"南进",政、军、财各界制定了一系列政策和措施。而砂糖在日本南方扩张中一直是不可或缺的一环,在倒幕维新、殖产兴业、染指南洋和太平洋战争各阶段扮演着重要角色。早在近世时期,萨摩藩控制琉球后,其垄断控制下的砂糖贸易与经营就成为倒幕维新的重要助力。明治初年,在"殖产兴业"政策带动下日本糖业迅速发展,导致它需要更多适宜的土地以种植甘蔗,将糖业布局重心放在包括琉球在内的南方地区。甲午战争后,日本强占台湾并进行一系列的砂糖业部署,同时以台湾为基点向南洋迈进,走上了向南扩张最终发动太平洋战争之路。日本南进过程中的砂糖问题牵扯到疆域的变化、殖民地政策、国内外经济战略以及燃料国策,是影响日本向南方侵略扩张的战略变迁的重要因素之一。但由于砂糖产业与侵略战争绑定,致使其从一开始就在有违和平开放、自由竞争的贸易与产业原则下畸形生长,一旦失去了"侵略扩张"基石,砂糖产业便开始进入委靡不振的状态,被纳入殖民统治与对外战争机器的近代日本糖业最终走向没落。

The "Southern Expansion "of embezzling,occupying,and operating the vast south area of the Japanese mainland is one of the main expansion routes of modern Japan.A series of policies and measures was formulated around the "Southern Expansion"by political,military,and financial sectors.However,sugar has always been an indispensable part of Japan’s southward expansion,and it played an important role in various stages of the Meiji Restoration,the Produce and Prosper,the invasion of the South Seas and the Pacific War.In early modern period when the Satsuma Domain took control of the Ryukyu,its monopoly on the sugar trade and business was a major contributor to the Meiji Restoration.In early Meiji period,the rapid development of the sugar industry in Japan,driven by the "Produce and Prosper"policy,led to a need for more suitable lands for sugar cane cultivation and a focus on the southern part of the country,including Ryukyu.After the Sino-Japanese War( 1894-1895),Japan invaded Chinese Taiwan and deployed a series of sugar industries,meanwhile,it used Taiwan as a base to move into the South Seas,which led it to a path to expand southwards and eventually launch the Pacific War.The issue of sugar in the process of Japan ’s Southern Expansion involved changes in frontiers,colonial policy,domestic and foreign economic strategy,and national fuel policy,which became one of the key factors influencing the transition of Japan’s Southern Strategy.However,since the sugar industry was closely connected to the war of aggression,its development from the outset was contrary to the principles of peaceful,open and freely competitive trade and industry.Once losing the cornerstone of "expansion",the sugar industry began to languish,leading to the eventual decline of the modern Japanese sugar industry which was coerced into the invasion machine.