2006 年 1 月 22 日，星期日
婚姻聯盟：日本和衣索比亞兩個帝國的聯盟？
Marriage Alliance: The Union of Two Imperiums, Japan and Ethiopia?
向佛羅裡達州歷史學家會議年會提交的論文
佛羅裡達州邁爾斯堡
1999 年 4 月 15-17 日
傑克遜維爾大學黑田正子
20 世紀 30 年代上半葉，日本和衣索比亞兩國在所有非洲殖民列強（尤其是義大利）的強烈關注下走得更近。日本的活動，包括對東北非的經濟和政治侵犯，給羅馬帶來了很多麻煩。謠言誇大了威脅的程度。特別令人煩惱的是有關日本在埃塞俄比亞的軍事影響力不斷增強的報道。對倫敦、巴黎、莫斯科和其他地方的政治家來說，日本對衣索比亞進行政治、商業和軍事入侵的威脅似乎足以證明義大利從 1934 年起對衣索比亞進行軍事準備是合理的。佛羅裡達州邁爾斯堡
1999 年 4 月 15-17 日
傑克遜維爾大學黑田正子
本文基於英語、義大利語和日語的二手文獻以及新聞報導。它也藉鑒了羅馬、東京和大學公園市的檔案資料。
對許多人來說，有一個問題象徵日本在衣索比亞的影響力不斷擴大，那就是衣索比亞的阿拉亞·阿貝巴和日本的黑田雅子之間的聯姻。許多人錯誤地認為這是一場皇室婚禮。這樁婚事的起因在於衣索比亞希望效法日本現代化，以及日本對衣索比亞的浪漫願景。雖然這可能足以解釋荒谷和黑田東彥的動機，但其他人也參與其中。最重要的是幾位汎亞民族主義日本人，他們正在推動聯姻，以便在日本和衣索比亞之間的商業交流中發揮重要作用。有趣的是，東京政府和亞的斯亞貝巴政府都沒有提倡這種婚姻觀念。當該提案在 1934 年的某個時候被否決時，兩人都沒有感到遺憾。雙方都因此遭受了國際困擾。
加州大學聖塔芭芭拉分校的盧克羅伯茲講述了一個故事。在日本期間，一位日本老歷史學家開車送他到高知縣安藝市的一個檔案館。途中，在泰村周圍，他們看到一家商店宣傳「埃塞俄比亞饅頭」——一種閃亮的、棕色的、甜甜的、包著紅豆餡的蒸餃。當被告知美國人會認為這樣的名字帶有種族主義色彩時，歷史學家簡單地解釋道：「哦，這種本地產品最早是在1930 年代開發的，這個名字是為了表達對埃塞俄比亞人民的團結。
1935 年 10 月 2 日，貝尼托·墨索里尼及其法西斯統治下的意大利進攻埃塞俄比亞，並在七個月內征服了該國，建立了意大利帝國。義大利在襲擊前的軍事準備工作已經認真進行了一年多，類似於1991 年海灣戰爭前美國的軍事建設——特別是持續的新聞報道和旨在避免戰爭的激烈（如果不是總是認真的）多邊外交。兩個對手更認真地尋求尋找盟友並削弱敵對聯盟。
在導致義大利決定發動戰爭的眾多原因中，其中一個最突出的原因是它對同時代人的重要性，以及它被後來的評論家遺忘的原因。日本對其勢力範圍（包括衣索比亞）的實際和感知的經濟、政治甚至軍事入侵令義大利感到不安。
饒有興趣地註視著遠東的事態發展，而且由於日本最近大力入侵意大利市場，不僅在意大利本土，而且在殖民地和地中海沿岸的小國家，她的態度並不是所謂的親日。（4）
日本人做出了反應。例如，1934 年 1 月的《讀入》雜誌抱怨說，由於義大利在非洲市場上敗給了日本人，墨索里尼似乎沉迷於舊的「黃禍」理論
。看法，(6) 以及推測的埃塞俄比亞計劃數千名日本殖民者在埃塞俄比亞高原種植棉花和鴉片，令全世界的觀察者興奮不已。 1934 年 12 月，德國媒體也表示，這種經濟威脅也危及白人種族至上，象徵西方的逐步衰退。德國人感嘆，日本製造的黃色娃娃正在取代亞洲和非洲「黑人」兒童手中的白色娃娃。最終的心理影響將是巨大的
。 1935 年 1 月 11 日，《莫斯科每日新聞報》拋棄其基於階級的理性主義，轉向熱情的民族主義，描述了意大利的帝國主義，並同情地發表社論稱，意大利尋求埃塞俄比亞的和平經濟，但
義大利在阿比西尼亞的政策又回到了直接奪取的舊方法。 (8)
***
對許多義大利和其他地方的人來說，一個問題本身並不重要，但它卻象徵著日本的侵略；也就是說，埃塞俄比亞“王子”和日本“公主”之間的擬議婚姻。報紙和雜誌上的許多文章，特別是那些吸引女性的文章，顯示求婚激起了大眾的興奮。例如，我妻子的祖母出生在日本西部，聽到我的作品後非常興奮：
1930年代全國對衣索比亞的友善氣氛，當時還是女中學生的我對此也有深刻的印象。曾有埃塞俄比亞王室與日本貴族聯姻的傳聞。我想像埃塞俄比亞一定是個很棒的國家。日本戰前一代至今仍對衣索比亞抱持親近感。 1970年代，日本民眾對奧運馬拉松選手阿貝巴表示支持，因為他來自衣索比亞。 (10) 1999年
春天，日本電視上的熱門問答節目詢問了有關這樁婚姻的問題。太和瑞，日本大巡迴。這次訪問凸顯了未來埃塞俄比亞與日本在政治、外交和經濟領域合作的潛力。阿拉亞看似王子，也是海爾·塞拉西天皇的侄子，他對日本印象深刻，他表達了結婚的願望：「這是我長久以來的願望，」他在1934 年2 月向一位日本記者解釋道，「娶一位日本女士」在所有一流國家中，日本的吸引力最強。埃塞俄比亞民族主義者和潘。 1931年他到日本旅行時，和睿曾拜訪過他。住岡現在希望促進日本在衣索比亞的貿易和投資。住岡先生的家裡。前排從右到左：Lij Araya Abeba、Heruy 閣下、Lij Tafari 和翻譯 Daba Birru。後排是住岡先生和夫人。圖片取自Heruy的Dai Nihon。同時，1932 年，兩名年輕人前往亞的斯亞貝巴。人的種族團結，並讚賞地引用了一位教授的觀點，他曾寫道：顯然，一些優秀的種族很早以前就從西亞遷移到了尼羅河流域。 。 。 。毫無爭議的是，埃塞俄比亞人民在很久以前就與日本人民有某種程度的種族聯繫。 (17)返回日本後，他解釋了他與澄岡的關係：
當我離開埃塞俄比亞時，對日本十分寵愛的埃塞俄比亞天皇特別允許他會見，並賜予我一幅畫、犀牛角、麝香等。當時他將自己的近照作為禮物託付給住岡友義先生，我回來後將其交給了住岡先生，這是我與他的第一次相識。從那時起，他對種族問題和世界治國之道的卓越理解和正確信念給我留下了深刻的印象。隨著衣索比亞婚姻問題的進展，我有機會接受諮詢，因為我很幸運地與阿拉亞王子有著密切的友誼。 (18)
擬議的婚禮將於1934年4月或5月在衣索比亞首都亞的斯亞貝巴依照基督教儀式舉行。據推測，荒谷指示住岡發布招聘廣告，並從中選擇合適的候選人。阿拉亞正在尋找日本新娘的消息於 1933 年 5 月發布。因此
，“願意成為埃塞俄比亞公主的冒險女孩的核心回答了……”，顯然總共至少有二十個。他的最終決定3月，他抵達日本執行重要的經濟和政治任務。第二個選擇是門司百萬富翁田端龜太郎的三女兒，22歲的川端茂子[Chiiko]。 1月21日上午，澄岡宣布，荒谷的
第一人選是一位年輕女子，也是第一批申請者之一。23歲。黑田子爵是千葉藩主上總領主的後裔。她在父母不知情的情況下向住岡出示了自己的照片和其他證件。儘管最初反對，但很快她的父親就準備訪問埃塞俄比亞。黑田一家住在郊區的一棟小房子裡，她畢業於淀橋區的關東學院高等女子學校。她說一口流利的英語，是最早參加英語演講比賽並獲獎的日本女孩之一。她身高五英尺三英寸，比平均身高要高。在報名成為「王子新娘」候選人後，她透過書籍和與熟悉當地情況
的人交談來了解埃塞俄比亞的生活習慣和風俗習慣。喜歡游泳、籃球、排球和網球。在 1934 年 2 月的一次採訪中，她熱情地說：
我知道埃塞俄比亞人民對運動非常感興趣，相信我去那裡一定能盡情享受體育運動的樂趣。遺憾的是，當阿貝巴王子幾年前訪問日本時，我沒有機會見到他，但我已經堅定地決定去他的國家，並且願意忍受任何情況。 (22)
她認為，隨著人口的不斷增加，日本將不得不在國外建立殖民地。她希望加強日本和衣索比亞之間的友誼，並認為自己是第一個移民到衣索比亞的人。這樣的言論引起了人們的警惕，特別是在義大利，他們擔心日本在這個東非國家的競爭
。日本報紙和民族主義者進一步主張有必要聯合有色人種對抗白人。這場婚姻將體現這種團結。幾十年來，這些知識分子一直懇求埃塞俄比亞按照日本的路線進行現代化建設
。一家日本企業特別捲入國際外交，這對日本和衣索比亞都造成了傷害。長崎 Echiopia Keizai Chosa-kai Nikkei-Sha （埃塞俄比亞長崎經濟調查協會）俗稱Nikkei-Sha，於 1932 年在長崎成立，負責與衣索比亞的進出口業務。同年，其導演北川隆前往衣索比亞。 1933 年 9 月，他獲準與衣索比亞談判協議。他是個能言善道、不擇手段的中間人，他與赫魯伊談判授權：衣索比亞50萬公頃土地的使用權；種植棉花、菸草、茶葉、綠茶、稻米、小麥、果樹和蔬菜的許可證；種植藥用植物的許可證；授予每個日本移民家庭十五公頃土地；以及亞的斯亞貝巴旁的 1,000 公頃土地，供日本調查團考察衣索比亞可以種植哪些植物。北川除了引起埃塞俄比亞和日本的國際懷疑外，幾乎沒有做任何事。他的活動無疑激怒了英國、法國、蘇聯，尤其是義大利。 。標題為“對埃塞俄比亞野心的警告：訂婚花費了 50 萬日元！”，其中部分內容如下：
儘管我們在衣索比亞沒有任何野心，但義大利、法國和英國等在衣索比亞擁有密切且不可分割的利益的國家肯定會理解皇室參與是日本非洲野心（包括殖民野心）的一部分。儘管英國和法國在危機中不值得任何信任，但義大利和德國在某種程度上仍然是孤立的日本的盟友。如果日本冒險進行可能損害義大利感情的行為，那就太反覆無常了。
我們應該堅決消除對埃塞俄比亞的任何野心，警惕謠言，為了那個為了僅僅50萬日元的讓步而犧牲的日本女士的誠信。 。 。 ( 27)
日本政府同意了。東京不能讓像喜多川這樣前往埃塞俄比亞的雄心勃勃的泛亞洲冒險家放手一搏。 1934 年 2 月，日本外務省決定派遣一名高級官員前往衣索比亞調查情況，事態發展到如此地步。貿易科二處的解釋是：
據報道，衣索比亞政府擬批准向日本人提供大片土地租賃，衣索比亞王室希望與日本貴族聯姻。埃塞俄比亞最近表現出了親日態度。 。 。 。當日本人把業務擴展到衣索比亞時，我們需要了解這個國家的國內情況，並仔細考慮其非常微妙的國際地位。否則，我們的計劃就會失敗，或是不必要地招致其他大國的嫉妒和誤解。這樣的結果將對我們兩國未來的關係產生負面影響。 。 。 。 (28)
土田豐及時抵達衣索比亞。他們抱怨日本媒體對日經社事件以及荒谷和黑田東彥的婚姻報道過多。不負責任的新聞界和國際聯盟反鴉片局對待第一個事件就好像埃塞俄比亞簽署了種植鴉片的土地特許權一樣。第二個被呈現得好像是王位繼承人想要結婚。後者甚至導致了墨索里尼向海爾·
塞拉西的投訴
。
主義內務當局應該不同意我的旅行。她補充說，阿拉亞，
原定今年5月訪問日本，但行程已無限期延後。目前尚未收到埃塞俄比亞王室的直接消息，但身為律師的澄岡先生正在就此事進行談判。 (32)
美國駐東京大使館對此表示同意，並於1934 年2 月報告說，日本政府幾乎沒有提供有關這樁婚姻的任何信息，並貶低了其政治意義。館報告說，這場婚姻即將破裂，因為(34) 哈尼尤·長太郎 (
Haniyu Chotaro) 是一名來自鎌倉的商人，應外武所的要求在埃塞俄比亞呆了五個月。 1934 年 4 月回國後，他公開討論了該國的商業機會。隨後他宣稱，這樁婚姻在衣索比亞並沒有受到太多關注，而在日本卻引起了轟動。他的評論並不令人鼓舞：
從國際情勢的角度來看，這個問題非常微妙，在我向外交部提交報告之前，我不想對此發表任何評論。
阿巴巴王子（Araya）僅在日本被稱為王子。在衣索比亞，他被稱為Lij Ababa，Lij這個字在英文中的意思是「主」。衣索比亞只有三位血親王子。日本外務省與這樁婚姻無關。前段時間，義大利一家報紙諷刺稱，日本打算「讓日本貴族的女兒嫁給埃塞俄比亞人，用黑暗與黑人的親吻」入侵非洲。埃塞俄比亞媒體從一開始就對此事保持沉默。如果黑田小姐真想嫁給阿巴巴，我想她最好親自檢視一下衣索比亞的實際情況。 (35)
中肯的意見和中肯的建議。
1934 年 10 月 6 日，義大利駐東京大使館否認了義大利曾以任何方式對求婚問題感興趣的謠言。然而，許多人認為，由於義大利的外交壓力，這位「富有的」日本女孩與埃塞俄比亞「王子」之間的婚姻計劃被取消了。 1935 年7 月訪問美國時，他聲稱墨索里尼阻止了這樁婚姻。 。
日本的敵人在日本死後很久仍繼續提出求婚問題，這顯示日本在東非的競爭引起了共鳴。 1934年12月，墨索里尼在會見新任日本大使杉村陽太郎時，將這樁婚姻與一些有爭議的問題聯繫起來：「日本正在積極向埃塞俄比亞提供武器彈藥，派遣公主，東京的一家報紙正在
大力操縱日本－衣索比亞的友誼。這位大使努力消除人們對意日在亞洲和非洲利益衝突的懷疑。杉村堅決否認日本陸軍派遣教官在衣索比亞的指控。關於日本對埃塞俄比亞的經濟滲透，杉村解釋說，「某些中間商——主要是猶太人」在神戶購買了商品，這些商品「透過這些中間商而不是直接進口」進入埃塞俄比亞。杉村也否認日本公主和埃塞俄比亞王子預計結婚的傳聞沒有任何根據。關於遠東，杉村表示，他相信義大利可以在該領域追求自己的利益，而不必擔心日本的反對。日本大使指出，中國有龐大的市場可供開發。他認為日本和義大利很可能就貨物交換達成互惠協議，這對雙方都有好處。例如，他提出，為什麼日本不應該進口義大利葡萄酒？最後，在表達了對杜斯和義大利機構的欽佩之後，杉村表示，他贊成他的國家和義大利之間進行學生和教師的交流
。國之間幾乎沒有直接接觸。 1932 年，已有 15 名日本人在衣索比亞定居，1933 年又有 7 名日本人抵達。 1934年，又增加了四個。然而，大多數人並沒有停留太久，在他們的企業失敗後就離開了。土田豐指出，訪問衣索比亞的日本人不多，1934 年夏天，包括他自己在內只有四人。 1935年，衣索比亞只有三名日本人。最終，儘管日經社確實設法從埃塞俄比亞政府獲得了農業特許權，但未能找到必要的資金，但它無法利用這些特許權，並在六個月後倒閉。
1935年 8 月，沒有一家日本航運公司將吉布地列入其港口名單。1935 年 7 月 11 日，他很好地總結了當時的情況：日本在衣索比亞的經濟利益是新的，而且還很小；日本在亞的斯亞貝巴仍沒有使館，衣索比亞在東京也沒有代表；埃塞俄比亞的日本居民人數很少；有關日本資本家取得埃塞俄比亞棉花種植特許權的報告毫無根據；埃塞俄比亞王子一直在尋求與日本公主結婚
的故事毫無根據。1935 年7 月24 日晚，黑田東彥被誤認為是共產黨員，被帶到東京上野警察局。走來走去時，問題就開始了。原來，她早前曾向他報告她遺失了裝有約5元人民幣的錢包。她向他借了 20 仙，但卻用了假名——因此惹上了麻煩。即使她說出了自己的真實姓名並解釋說她
一直在等朋友，警察仍然心存疑慮並收留了她。在亞的斯亞貝巴舉行圓桌討論，並邀請了包括赫魯伊在內的埃塞俄比亞知名人士。戰爭一觸即發，阿拉亞建議日本在衣索比亞取得讓步。他說，埃塞俄比亞很樂意在工業發展上向日本讓步。皇帝準備批准此類撥款，阿拉亞提供了中間人的服務。月28日《日本廣告報》報道，住岡被海爾·塞拉西皇帝授予孟尼利克二世指揮官級勳章。住岡在感謝信中讚揚了日本人民對衣索比亞的善意，以及他自己對衣索比亞勇敢的軍隊將擊敗義大利的信念。同時，就在婚事塵埃落定兩個月後，由義大利總參謀長彼得羅·巴多格里奧元帥率領的軍事代表團訪問了厄立特里亞，開始計劃意大利征服埃塞俄比亞。
1935 年夏天，特別是在所謂的 7 月杉村事件期間，義大利與日本關係的深度受到了影響。這些意外事件的起因是外武將無能地試圖「澄清」杉村大使為安撫墨索里尼關於日本在衣索比亞的利益所做的不懈努力。為了緩和緊張情緒，羅馬和東京於8 月開始為最終於1941 年爆發戰爭的聯盟奠定基礎。進行了改造位於亞的斯亞貝巴的總領事館。作為回報，義大利外交部長加萊亞佐·齊亞諾承諾保護日本在那裡的利益。似乎是為了強調懷疑揮之不去，他同時提到了擬議的婚姻以及尼格斯想要與日本拉近關係的願望。最終，羅馬違背了諾言，但沒關係。日本已接受將其排除在衣索比亞之外的事實。日本在婚姻的祭壇上離開了埃塞俄比亞。
-- 宣傳片 --電影《藝伎回憶錄》中的一個場景。
One issue for many came to symbolize Japan's expanding influence in Ethiopia, that is, the proposed marriage between Araya Abeba of Ethiopia and Kuroda Masako of Japan. Many mistakenly believed that this was to be a royal wedding. The genesis of the proposed marriage lay in Ethiopia's desire to model its modernization after Japan, and Japan's romantic vision of Ethiopia. While this might sufficiently explain the motives of Araya and Kuroda, other individuals were also involved. Most important were several Pan-Asian, nationalist Japanese who were promoting the marriage to leverage a prominent role for themselves in commercial exchanges between Japan and Ethiopia. Interestingly, neither government in Tokyo or Addis Ababa promoted the marriage idea; neither lamented when the proposal died sometime in 1934; and both suffered international complications because of it.
Luke Roberts of the University of California at Santa Barbara tells a story. While in Japan, an old Japanese historian was driving him to an archive in Aki city in Kochi Prefecture. On the way, around Tei village, they saw a store advertising "Ethiopia Manjuu"—a shiny, brown, sweet, steamed dumpling stuffed with azuki bean paste. Told that Americans would consider such a name racist, the historian simply explained, "Oh, this local product was first developed in the 1930s, and the name was to show solidarity with the Ethiopian people."(1) How do we explain this seemingly odd connection between Japan in East Asia and Ethiopia in East Africa?
Italy, ruled by Benito Mussolini and his fascists, attacked Ethiopia on October 2, 1935, and in seven months conquered the country to create the Italian Empire. Italy's military preparations preceding the attack had gone on in earnest for more than a year and resembled America's military buildup before the Gulf War of 1991—especially for the sustained press coverage and intense, if not always earnest, multilateral diplomacy aimed at averting war. More earnestly the two antagonists sought to find allies and undermine hostile coalitions.(2)
Of the many reasons that led Italy to decide for war, one stands out for its importance to contemporaries and for the oblivion to which it has been consigned by later commentators. Japan's real and perceived economic, political, and even military intrusions into its spheres of influence, including Ethiopia, upset Italy.(3) In early 1934, the Italie Marinara, the official publication of the Italian Navy League, put the matter plainly:
Italy is watching with great interest developments in the Far East and, due to Japan's recent energetic invasion of Italian markets not only in Italy itself but in the Colonies and in the smaller countries bordering the Mediterranean, her attitude is not what might be called pro-Japanese.(4)
The Japanese reacted. The Yomuiri newspaper in January 1934, for example, complained that Mussolini seemed obsessed with the old "Yellow Peril" theory because of Italy's defeat in African markets at Japanese hands.(5)
Romantic Japanese views concerning Ethiopia,(6) and presumed plans for cotton and opium cultivation in the Ethiopian highlands by thousands of Japanese colonists excited observers the world over. Germany's press in December 1934 echoed that this economic threat also jeopardized white racial supremacy and symbolized the West's progressive decline. Yellow dolls of Japanese manufacture, Germans lamented, were replacing white dolls in the hands of "Negro" children in Asia and Africa. The ultimate psychological effect would be enormous.(7)
What we might expect from Nazi Germany, Communist Russia surprisingly underscored. Rejecting its class-based rationalism for passionate nationalism, the Moscow Daily News on January 11, 1935, described Italy's imperialism and sympathetically editorialized that Italy had sought Ethiopia's peaceful economic, but,
The reversion of Italian policy in Abyssinia to the old methods of direct seizure is bound up to a considerable degree with the intensification of Japanese economic and political influence in Abyssinia.(8)
***
One issue, minor in itself, for many in Italy and elsewhere came to symbolize Japanese encroachments; that is, the proposed marriage between an Ethiopian "prince" and a Japanese "princess." The many articles in newspapers and magazines, especially those appealing to women, showed that the proposed marriage had stirred popular excitement.(9) The emotions generated were genuine and have remained etched in memories to this day. For example, my wife's grandmother, born in western Japan, grew quite excited upon hearing about my work:
There was a nationwide atmosphere of friendship toward Ethiopia in the 1930s, and I, then a girl's middle school student, also have a strong impression on the matter. There was a rumor of a marriage between the Ethiopian royal family and the Japanese nobility. I imagined that Ethiopia must have been a wonderful country. The Japanese prewar-generation people still feel closeness to Ethiopia even today. In the 1970s, Japanese people expressed their support for Abeba, an Olympic marathon runner, because he was from Ethiopia.(10)
And in the Spring of 1999, a popular quiz show on Japanese television asked a questions about the marriage.(11)
***
One year after signing a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with Tokyo in 1930, Ethiopia's foreign minister, Blaten Geta Herui, made a grand tour of Japan. The visit dramatized the potentialities of future Ethio-Japanese cooperation in the political, diplomatic, and economic arenas.(12)
One Lij Araya Abeba had accompanied Herui's embassy. Impressed with Japan, Araya, seemingly a prince and nephew of the Emperor Haile Selassie, expressed his desire to marry: "It has been my long-cherished ambition," he explained to a Japanese reporter in February 1934, "to marry a Japanese lady. Of all first-class nations, Japan has the strongest appeal."(13) The initiative was his and a personal decision.(14)
Sumioka [Kadooka] Tomoyoshi,(15) a Tokyo lawyer, philo-Ethiopian nationalist, and Pan-Asian activist, stage-managed much of the marriage affair. Herui had visited him during his 1931 trip to Japan. Sumioka now wished to facilitate Japanese trade and investment in Ethiopia.
At the home of Mr. Sumioka. Front row, right to left: Lij Araya Abeba, His Excellency Heruy, Lij Tafari, and the interpreter, Daba Birru. On the back row are Mr. and Mrs. Sumioka. Picture taken from Heruy’s Dai Nihon.
Meanwhile, in 1932, two young men went to Addis Ababa.(16) One of them, Shoji Yunosuke, had played an important role in Herui's reception in 1931. He preached racial unity uniting Ethiopians and Japanese, and approvingly cited a professor who had written:
It is obvious that some superior races moved from West Asia to the Nile basin a long time ago. . . . [I]t is uncontroversial that the Ethiopian people a very long time ago had racial connections to some extent with the Japanese people.(17)
Upon his return to Japan he explained his relationship with Sumioka:
When I left Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Emperor, who greatly favored Japan, especially permitted his meeting and granted a picture, rhino's horn, musk, etc., to me. At that time he entrusted his recent picture as a gift to Mr. Sumioka Tomoyoshi to me, and I handed it to Mr. Sumioka after my return, which was my first acquaintance with him. Since then, I have been deeply impressed with his excellent understanding and right belief concerning racial issues and world statecraft. I gained an opportunity to be consulted about the Ethiopian marriage issue, as it has progressed, because I fortunately have a close friendship with Prince Araya.(18)
The proposed wedding was to be held according to Christian rites in April or May 1934 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. Presumably, Araya instructed Sumioka to advertise for applicants and from them select suitable candidates. The announcement that Araya was seeking a Japanese bride went out in May 1933. According to press accounts, the twenty-three-year-old Araya was reassuringly light-skinned, monogamous, and Christian. Hence, "[s]cores of adventurous girls who were willing to be a Princess of Ethiopia answered. . . ," apparently at least twenty in all.(19)
From those Araya reportedly made two preliminary choices and was to make his final decision in March upon his arrival in Japan on an important economic and political mission. The second choice was Kabata Shigeko [Chiiko], the twenty-two-year-old, third daughter of Tabata Kametaro, a millionaire businessman of Moji. On the morning of January 21, Sumioka announced as Araya's first choice, a young woman who had been among the first applicants.(20)
Kuroda Masako, the first choice, was the twenty-three-year-old, second daughter of Viscount Kuroda Hiroyuki of the forestry bureau of the Imperial Household. Viscount Kuroda was descended from the former Lord of Kazusa, a feudal lord in Chiba. She had presented her picture and other credentials to Sumioka without her parents' knowledge. Despite initial objections, soon her father prepared to visit Ethiopia. The Kuroda family lived in a tiny suburban house, and she was graduated from the Kanto Gakuin Higher Girl's School in Yodobashi-ku. She spoke English fluently, having been one of the first Japanese girls to take part in an English oratorical contest and to win a prize. At five feet, three inches, she was taller than average. After her enrollment as a candidate for the "prince's bride," she studied the habits and customs of Ethiopia through books and conversations with those familiar with conditions there.(21)
In school Kuroda had been a keen athlete who enjoyed swimming, basketball, volleyball, and tennis. In an interview in February 1934, she enthusiastically remarked:
I understand that the people of Ethiopia are extremely interested in sports, and I believe that I shall be able to indulge my taste for athletics when I go there. Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity of meeting Prince Abeba when he visited Japan a few years ago, but I have firmly decided to go to his country and I am willing to put up with whatever circumstances come along.(22)
She believed that with its ever-increasing population Japan would have to found colonies abroad. She desired to increase the ties of friendship uniting Japan and Ethiopia, and she saw herself as the first of many who would emigrate to Ethiopia. Such statements sparked alarm among those, especially in Italy, who feared Japanese competition in the East African country.(23)
In truth, many in Japan saw in the proposed marriage the opportunity to cut into interests of the colonial powers in Ethiopia. Japanese newspapers and nationalists further argued the necessity of uniting the colored races against whites. The marriage would personify this solidarity.(24) On the other side of the coin, a faction of Ethiopia's intelligentsia known as the Japanizers were advocating intermarriage between upper class Ethiopians and Japanese. These intellectuals for several decades had been imploring Ethiopia to model its modernization along Japanese lines.(25)
Commercial and economic negotiations were the tangible consequences of such talk. One Japanese business enterprise became particularly entwined in international diplomacy to the detriment of both Japan and Ethiopia. Popularly known as Nikkei-Sha, the Nagasaki Echiopia Keizai Chosa-kai Nikkei-Sha [Nagasaki Association for Economic Investigation of Ethiopia] had been founded in 1932 in Nagasaki to conduct import/export operations with Ethiopia. Its director, Kitagawa Takashi, went to Ethiopia that same year. In September 1933, he received permission to negotiate a deal with Ethiopia. A glib-talking and unscrupulous fixer, he negotiated with Herui for authorization concerning: the rights to use 500,000 hectares of land in Ethiopia; a permit to grow cotton, tobacco, tea, green tea, rice, wheat, fruit trees, and vegetables; a permit to grow medicinal plants; a grant of fifteen hectares of land for each immigrant Japanese family; and 1,000 hectares of land next to Addis Ababa for a Japanese investigation mission to examine what plants could be grown in Ethiopia. Kitagawa managed little but to earn Ethiopia and Japan international suspicion. His activities certainly provoked Great Britain, France, the USSR, and, especially, Italy.(26)
On January 18, 1934, Juo Hyoron [Free Critics] published an article tying the marriage to the international discord. Entitled, "Warning to Ambitions in Ethiopia: 500,000 Yen Spent for the Engagement!", in part it read:
Although we do not have any ambitions in Ethiopia, the countries such as Italy, France, and England which possess close and unalienable interests in Ethiopia, will most certainly understand the royal engagement as a part of Japan's African ambitions, including colonization. Though England and France are unworthy of any trust in a crisis, Italy as well as Germany are still somewhat the allies of an isolated Japan. It would be capricious of Japan to undertake an adventure that could damage Italy's feelings.
We should firmly eliminate any ambitions toward Ethiopia and warn against rumors for the sake of the integrity of the Japanese lady who is to be sacrificed for concessions worth only 500,000 yen. . . .(27)
The Japanese government agreed. Tokyo could not allow a free hand to ambitious pan-Asiatic adventurers such as Kitagawa who were going to Ethiopia. Matters reached the point when Japan's Gaimusho [foreign ministry] in February 1934 decided to send a high ranking officer to investigate conditions in Ethiopia. The Second Division of the Trade Section explained why:
It was reported that the Ethiopian government intends to approve a wide land lease to Japanese people, and that Ethiopian royal family wishes to arrange a marriage with a Japanese noble family. Ethiopia recently has shown a pro-Japanese attitude. . . . When the Japanese people extend their business to Ethiopia, we need to understand the domestic conditions of this country and carefully consider its very delicate international position. Otherwise, our plans will fail, or we will unnecessarily invite the envy and misunderstanding of other major countries. Such a result will negatively influence future relations between our two countries. . . .(28)
Tsuchida Yutaka arrived in Ethiopia just in time.(29) The Ethiopians no longer trusted the Japanese as they had before. They complained that Japan's press had written too much on the Nikkei-Sha affair and on the marriage between Araya and Kuroda. An irresponsible press and the Anti-Opium Bureau of the League of Nations had treated the first as if Ethiopia had signed a concession of land for cultivating opium. The second had been presented as if it were the heir to the throne who wanted to marry. The latter had even led to a complaint from Mussolini to Haile Selassie.(30)
Difficulties rose to the point where Kuroda at the end of February 1934 defensively asserted:
I will go to Ethiopia even in the capacity of a private citizen, if the Imperial Household authorities should disapprove of my trip.(31)
At that time, her mother acknowledged that the Imperial Household Department had not yet sanctioned her daughter's betrothal or proposed trip to Ethiopia. She added that Araya,
was scheduled to visit Japan in May of this year, but his trip has been indefinitely postponed. No direct word has been received from the Royal Family of Ethiopia, but Mr. Sumioka, a lawyer, is negotiating the matter.(32)
The American embassy in Tokyo agreed, reporting in February 1934 that the Japanese government had provided little information regarding the marriage and disparaged its political significance.(33) The next month, the embassy reported that the marriage was about to fall through because of official Japanese opposition.(34)
Haniyu Chotaro, a businessman from Kamakura, had spent five months in Ethiopia at the Gaimusho's request. Upon his return in April 1934, he publicly discussed the commercial opportunities available in that country. He then declared that the marriage was receiving little attention in Ethiopia while in Japan it had created a sensation. His comments were hardly encouraging:
This matter is very delicate from a viewpoint of the international situation, and I do not like to make any comment on it until I have submitted a report to the Foreign Office.
Prince Ababa [Araya] is called a Prince only in Japan. In Ethiopia, he is called Lij Ababa, and the word Lij means "lord" in English. There are only three Princes of the Blood in Ethiopia. The Japanese Foreign Office has nothing to do with this marriage. Some time ago, an Italian newspaper sarcastically remarked that Japan intends to invade Africa with "kisses between the dark and the black by having a daughter of a Japanese peer married to an Ethiopian." The Ethiopian press from the outset has been taciturn on the matter. If Miss Kuroda really wants to marry Ababa, she had better, I think, personally inspect the actual conditions of Ethiopia.(35)
Sound comments and sound advice.
The Italian embassy at Tokyo on October 6, 1934 denied the rumor that Italy had in any way ever been interested in the question of the proposed marriage. Yet the projected marriage between the "wealthy" Japanese girl and the Ethiopian "prince" was quashed, many thought by Italy's diplomatic pressure.(36) So charged Kato Kanju, president of the National Council of Trade Unions of Japan, the largest group of workers in the country. While visiting the United States in July 1935, he claimed that Mussolini had blocked the marriage.(37) While official quarters did not confirm that Italy had anything to do with the ultimate cancellation of the "picture bride," the New York Times did not regard the idea as illogical.(38) Some believed that Emperor Hirohito was bitter with Italians because their protests had broken off the proposed marriage between Araya and Kuroda.(39)
Demonstrating the resonance of Japanese competition in East Africa, Japan's enemies continued to raise the issue of the marriage proposal long after it was dead. In December 1934, meeting with the new Japanese ambassador, Sugimura Yotaro, Mussolini linked the marriage to a number of contentious issues: "Japan is actively supplying weapons and ammunition to Ethiopia, sending a princess, and a newspaper in Tokyo is vigorously maneuvering Japanese-Ethiopian friendship."(40)
Sugimura, who had represented his government at Geneva at the time of Japan's withdrawal from the League of Nations, soon thereafter spoke with La Tribuna of Rome. The ambassador endeavored to dispel suspicions of conflicting Italo-Japanese interests in Asia and Africa. Sugimura emphatically denied that the Japanese Army had sent instructors to Ethiopia as had been charged. Regarding economic penetration of Ethiopia by Japan, Sugimura explained that "certain middlemen--mostly Jewish" had purchased goods at Kobe which were finding their way into Ethiopia "by means of these same middlemen and not by direct importation." Sugimura also denied that there was any foundation for the rumor of a projected marriage between a Japanese princess and an Ethiopian prince. Concerning the Far East, Sugimura said that he was convinced that Italy could pursue its interests in that field without fear of Japanese opposition. There was an immense Chinese market to exploit, the Japanese ambassador pointed out. He opined that Japan and Italy might well come to a reciprocal agreement for the exchange of goods which would be advantageous to both. For instance, he suggested, why should not Japan import Italian wine? Finally, after expressing admiration for the Duce and Italian institutions, Sugimura said that he favored an exchange of students and teachers between his country and Italy.(41)
In truth, beyond Japanese exports to Ethiopia, there was little by way of direct contact between the two nations. In 1932 fifteen Japanese had settled in Ethiopia, and in 1933 seven more arrived. In 1934, four more. Most, however, did not stay long, leaving after their enterprises had failed. Tsuchida Yutaka noted that not many Japanese visited Ethiopia and that in the summer of 1934 there were only four including himself. In 1935 there were only three Japanese in Ethiopia. Ultimately, although Nikkei-Sha did manage to obtain agricultural concessions from the Ethiopian government, failing to find the necessary capital, it could not exploit them and went out of business after six months. In August 1935, no Japanese shipping company included Djibouti in its list of ports.(42)
The New York Times on July 11, 1935, summed up the situation nicely: Japan's economic interests in Ethiopia were new and still small; Japan still had no legation in Addis Ababa and Ethiopia was not represented in Tokyo; the number of Japanese residents in Ethiopia was small; reports of Japanese capitalists having obtained concessions for cotton growing in Ethiopia were unfounded; and stories that an Ethiopian prince had been seeking to marry a Japanese princess were groundless.(43)
The principals, Kuroda, Araya, Shoji, and Sumioka moved off center stage. Mistaken for a communist, Kuroda was taken to the Ueno police station in Tokyo on the night of July 24, 1935. The problem began when a policeman, Tajima Yukio, noted a suspicious-looking woman in black afternoon dress walking up and down the street near Ueno Park for two hours until about 8:00 p.m. The policeman disguised himself as a worker and arrested her. As it turned out, she had earlier reported to him that she had lost her purse containing about ¥5. She had borrowed 20 sen from him but had given a false name--therefore the trouble. Even after she had given her real name and had explained that she had been waiting for a friend, the policeman was still suspicious and took her in. She was, however, shortly released.(44)
In August, the Osaka Mainichi and Shoji sponsored a round table discussion in Addis Ababa, and invited prominent Ethiopians including Herui.(45) The next month as war was ready to break out, Araya suggested that Japan obtain concessions in Ethiopia, according to the Nichi Nichi correspondent at Addis Ababa. He said that Ethiopia would gladly grant concessions to Japan for industrial development. The Emperor was ready to approve such grants and Araya offered his services as an intermediary.(46) Later, in 1943, Araya attended a New York city meeting of the Ethiopian World Federation, and thereafter became involved in its internal politics.(47)
The Japan Advertiser of March 28, 1936, reported that Sumioka had been awarded the Commander Class of the Order of Menelik II by Emperor Haile Selassie. In his letter of thanks, Sumioka praised the good will of the Japanese people toward Ethiopia and his own conviction that Ethiopia's brave army would defeat Italy.(48) A month later, Haile Selassie fled his country.
In the meanwhile, only two months after the marriage affair had been put to bed, a military mission headed by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, chief of Italy's General Staff, visited Eritrea to begin planning for Italy's conquest of Ethiopia.(49)
The summer of 1935 had plumbed the depths of Italo-Japanese relations, especially during the so-called Sugimura Affair of July. The contretemps was born of the Gaimusho's inept attempts to "clarify" Ambassador Sugimura's assiduous efforts to reassure Mussolini regarding Japan's interests in Ethiopia. In smoothing over the ruffled feathers, Rome and Tokyo began building in August the foundation for their alliance that ultimately went to war in 1941.(50) As part of that process and to recognize Italy's control over Ethiopia, Japan's government transformed its newly created Legation in Addis Ababa into a Consulate General. In return, Italy's foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano, promised to protect Japanese interests there. As if to emphasize that suspicions lingered, he simultaneously referred to the proposed marriage and the Negus' desire to draw closer to Japan. In the end, Rome broke its promises but no matter. Japan had accepted its exclusion from Ethiopia. Japan had left Ethiopia at the marriage altar.(51)
Blogs about Ethiopia: News, History, Culture, People, Art, Travel, business Etc.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Marriage Alliance: The Union of Two Imperiums, Japan and Ethiopia?
Paper Presented to The Annual Meeting of the Florida Conference of Historians
Fort Myers, FL
April 15-17, 1999
Jacksonville University
Kuroda Masako
In the first half of the 1930s, the nations of Japan and Ethiopia drew closer together to the acute concern of all of Africa's colonial powers, most especially Italy. Much came to trouble Rome about Japanese activities including their economic and political encroachments into Northeast Africa. Rumors exaggerated the extent of the threat. Particularly vexing were reports of increasing Japanese military influence in Ethiopia. The threat of Japanese political, commercial, and military intrusions into Ethiopia to statesmen in London, Paris, Moscow, and elsewhere seemed sufficient to justify Italy's military preparations against Ethiopia from 1934 on.Fort Myers, FL
April 15-17, 1999
Jacksonville University
Kuroda Masako
This paper is based on secondary literature in English, Italian, and Japanese plus press accounts. It also draws upon archival material from Rome, Tokyo, and College Park.
One issue for many came to symbolize Japan's expanding influence in Ethiopia, that is, the proposed marriage between Araya Abeba of Ethiopia and Kuroda Masako of Japan. Many mistakenly believed that this was to be a royal wedding. The genesis of the proposed marriage lay in Ethiopia's desire to model its modernization after Japan, and Japan's romantic vision of Ethiopia. While this might sufficiently explain the motives of Araya and Kuroda, other individuals were also involved. Most important were several Pan-Asian, nationalist Japanese who were promoting the marriage to leverage a prominent role for themselves in commercial exchanges between Japan and Ethiopia. Interestingly, neither government in Tokyo or Addis Ababa promoted the marriage idea; neither lamented when the proposal died sometime in 1934; and both suffered international complications because of it.
Luke Roberts of the University of California at Santa Barbara tells a story. While in Japan, an old Japanese historian was driving him to an archive in Aki city in Kochi Prefecture. On the way, around Tei village, they saw a store advertising "Ethiopia Manjuu"—a shiny, brown, sweet, steamed dumpling stuffed with azuki bean paste. Told that Americans would consider such a name racist, the historian simply explained, "Oh, this local product was first developed in the 1930s, and the name was to show solidarity with the Ethiopian people."(1) How do we explain this seemingly odd connection between Japan in East Asia and Ethiopia in East Africa?
Italy, ruled by Benito Mussolini and his fascists, attacked Ethiopia on October 2, 1935, and in seven months conquered the country to create the Italian Empire. Italy's military preparations preceding the attack had gone on in earnest for more than a year and resembled America's military buildup before the Gulf War of 1991—especially for the sustained press coverage and intense, if not always earnest, multilateral diplomacy aimed at averting war. More earnestly the two antagonists sought to find allies and undermine hostile coalitions.(2)
Of the many reasons that led Italy to decide for war, one stands out for its importance to contemporaries and for the oblivion to which it has been consigned by later commentators. Japan's real and perceived economic, political, and even military intrusions into its spheres of influence, including Ethiopia, upset Italy.(3) In early 1934, the Italie Marinara, the official publication of the Italian Navy League, put the matter plainly:
Italy is watching with great interest developments in the Far East and, due to Japan's recent energetic invasion of Italian markets not only in Italy itself but in the Colonies and in the smaller countries bordering the Mediterranean, her attitude is not what might be called pro-Japanese.(4)
The Japanese reacted. The Yomuiri newspaper in January 1934, for example, complained that Mussolini seemed obsessed with the old "Yellow Peril" theory because of Italy's defeat in African markets at Japanese hands.(5)
Romantic Japanese views concerning Ethiopia,(6) and presumed plans for cotton and opium cultivation in the Ethiopian highlands by thousands of Japanese colonists excited observers the world over. Germany's press in December 1934 echoed that this economic threat also jeopardized white racial supremacy and symbolized the West's progressive decline. Yellow dolls of Japanese manufacture, Germans lamented, were replacing white dolls in the hands of "Negro" children in Asia and Africa. The ultimate psychological effect would be enormous.(7)
What we might expect from Nazi Germany, Communist Russia surprisingly underscored. Rejecting its class-based rationalism for passionate nationalism, the Moscow Daily News on January 11, 1935, described Italy's imperialism and sympathetically editorialized that Italy had sought Ethiopia's peaceful economic, but,
The reversion of Italian policy in Abyssinia to the old methods of direct seizure is bound up to a considerable degree with the intensification of Japanese economic and political influence in Abyssinia.(8)
***
One issue, minor in itself, for many in Italy and elsewhere came to symbolize Japanese encroachments; that is, the proposed marriage between an Ethiopian "prince" and a Japanese "princess." The many articles in newspapers and magazines, especially those appealing to women, showed that the proposed marriage had stirred popular excitement.(9) The emotions generated were genuine and have remained etched in memories to this day. For example, my wife's grandmother, born in western Japan, grew quite excited upon hearing about my work:
There was a nationwide atmosphere of friendship toward Ethiopia in the 1930s, and I, then a girl's middle school student, also have a strong impression on the matter. There was a rumor of a marriage between the Ethiopian royal family and the Japanese nobility. I imagined that Ethiopia must have been a wonderful country. The Japanese prewar-generation people still feel closeness to Ethiopia even today. In the 1970s, Japanese people expressed their support for Abeba, an Olympic marathon runner, because he was from Ethiopia.(10)
And in the Spring of 1999, a popular quiz show on Japanese television asked a questions about the marriage.(11)
***
One year after signing a Treaty of Friendship and Commerce with Tokyo in 1930, Ethiopia's foreign minister, Blaten Geta Herui, made a grand tour of Japan. The visit dramatized the potentialities of future Ethio-Japanese cooperation in the political, diplomatic, and economic arenas.(12)
One Lij Araya Abeba had accompanied Herui's embassy. Impressed with Japan, Araya, seemingly a prince and nephew of the Emperor Haile Selassie, expressed his desire to marry: "It has been my long-cherished ambition," he explained to a Japanese reporter in February 1934, "to marry a Japanese lady. Of all first-class nations, Japan has the strongest appeal."(13) The initiative was his and a personal decision.(14)
Sumioka [Kadooka] Tomoyoshi,(15) a Tokyo lawyer, philo-Ethiopian nationalist, and Pan-Asian activist, stage-managed much of the marriage affair. Herui had visited him during his 1931 trip to Japan. Sumioka now wished to facilitate Japanese trade and investment in Ethiopia.
At the home of Mr. Sumioka. Front row, right to left: Lij Araya Abeba, His Excellency Heruy, Lij Tafari, and the interpreter, Daba Birru. On the back row are Mr. and Mrs. Sumioka. Picture taken from Heruy’s Dai Nihon.
Meanwhile, in 1932, two young men went to Addis Ababa.(16) One of them, Shoji Yunosuke, had played an important role in Herui's reception in 1931. He preached racial unity uniting Ethiopians and Japanese, and approvingly cited a professor who had written:
It is obvious that some superior races moved from West Asia to the Nile basin a long time ago. . . . [I]t is uncontroversial that the Ethiopian people a very long time ago had racial connections to some extent with the Japanese people.(17)
Upon his return to Japan he explained his relationship with Sumioka:
When I left Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Emperor, who greatly favored Japan, especially permitted his meeting and granted a picture, rhino's horn, musk, etc., to me. At that time he entrusted his recent picture as a gift to Mr. Sumioka Tomoyoshi to me, and I handed it to Mr. Sumioka after my return, which was my first acquaintance with him. Since then, I have been deeply impressed with his excellent understanding and right belief concerning racial issues and world statecraft. I gained an opportunity to be consulted about the Ethiopian marriage issue, as it has progressed, because I fortunately have a close friendship with Prince Araya.(18)
The proposed wedding was to be held according to Christian rites in April or May 1934 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital. Presumably, Araya instructed Sumioka to advertise for applicants and from them select suitable candidates. The announcement that Araya was seeking a Japanese bride went out in May 1933. According to press accounts, the twenty-three-year-old Araya was reassuringly light-skinned, monogamous, and Christian. Hence, "[s]cores of adventurous girls who were willing to be a Princess of Ethiopia answered. . . ," apparently at least twenty in all.(19)
From those Araya reportedly made two preliminary choices and was to make his final decision in March upon his arrival in Japan on an important economic and political mission. The second choice was Kabata Shigeko [Chiiko], the twenty-two-year-old, third daughter of Tabata Kametaro, a millionaire businessman of Moji. On the morning of January 21, Sumioka announced as Araya's first choice, a young woman who had been among the first applicants.(20)
Kuroda Masako, the first choice, was the twenty-three-year-old, second daughter of Viscount Kuroda Hiroyuki of the forestry bureau of the Imperial Household. Viscount Kuroda was descended from the former Lord of Kazusa, a feudal lord in Chiba. She had presented her picture and other credentials to Sumioka without her parents' knowledge. Despite initial objections, soon her father prepared to visit Ethiopia. The Kuroda family lived in a tiny suburban house, and she was graduated from the Kanto Gakuin Higher Girl's School in Yodobashi-ku. She spoke English fluently, having been one of the first Japanese girls to take part in an English oratorical contest and to win a prize. At five feet, three inches, she was taller than average. After her enrollment as a candidate for the "prince's bride," she studied the habits and customs of Ethiopia through books and conversations with those familiar with conditions there.(21)
In school Kuroda had been a keen athlete who enjoyed swimming, basketball, volleyball, and tennis. In an interview in February 1934, she enthusiastically remarked:
I understand that the people of Ethiopia are extremely interested in sports, and I believe that I shall be able to indulge my taste for athletics when I go there. Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity of meeting Prince Abeba when he visited Japan a few years ago, but I have firmly decided to go to his country and I am willing to put up with whatever circumstances come along.(22)
She believed that with its ever-increasing population Japan would have to found colonies abroad. She desired to increase the ties of friendship uniting Japan and Ethiopia, and she saw herself as the first of many who would emigrate to Ethiopia. Such statements sparked alarm among those, especially in Italy, who feared Japanese competition in the East African country.(23)
In truth, many in Japan saw in the proposed marriage the opportunity to cut into interests of the colonial powers in Ethiopia. Japanese newspapers and nationalists further argued the necessity of uniting the colored races against whites. The marriage would personify this solidarity.(24) On the other side of the coin, a faction of Ethiopia's intelligentsia known as the Japanizers were advocating intermarriage between upper class Ethiopians and Japanese. These intellectuals for several decades had been imploring Ethiopia to model its modernization along Japanese lines.(25)
Commercial and economic negotiations were the tangible consequences of such talk. One Japanese business enterprise became particularly entwined in international diplomacy to the detriment of both Japan and Ethiopia. Popularly known as Nikkei-Sha, the Nagasaki Echiopia Keizai Chosa-kai Nikkei-Sha [Nagasaki Association for Economic Investigation of Ethiopia] had been founded in 1932 in Nagasaki to conduct import/export operations with Ethiopia. Its director, Kitagawa Takashi, went to Ethiopia that same year. In September 1933, he received permission to negotiate a deal with Ethiopia. A glib-talking and unscrupulous fixer, he negotiated with Herui for authorization concerning: the rights to use 500,000 hectares of land in Ethiopia; a permit to grow cotton, tobacco, tea, green tea, rice, wheat, fruit trees, and vegetables; a permit to grow medicinal plants; a grant of fifteen hectares of land for each immigrant Japanese family; and 1,000 hectares of land next to Addis Ababa for a Japanese investigation mission to examine what plants could be grown in Ethiopia. Kitagawa managed little but to earn Ethiopia and Japan international suspicion. His activities certainly provoked Great Britain, France, the USSR, and, especially, Italy.(26)
On January 18, 1934, Juo Hyoron [Free Critics] published an article tying the marriage to the international discord. Entitled, "Warning to Ambitions in Ethiopia: 500,000 Yen Spent for the Engagement!", in part it read:
Although we do not have any ambitions in Ethiopia, the countries such as Italy, France, and England which possess close and unalienable interests in Ethiopia, will most certainly understand the royal engagement as a part of Japan's African ambitions, including colonization. Though England and France are unworthy of any trust in a crisis, Italy as well as Germany are still somewhat the allies of an isolated Japan. It would be capricious of Japan to undertake an adventure that could damage Italy's feelings.
We should firmly eliminate any ambitions toward Ethiopia and warn against rumors for the sake of the integrity of the Japanese lady who is to be sacrificed for concessions worth only 500,000 yen. . . .(27)
The Japanese government agreed. Tokyo could not allow a free hand to ambitious pan-Asiatic adventurers such as Kitagawa who were going to Ethiopia. Matters reached the point when Japan's Gaimusho [foreign ministry] in February 1934 decided to send a high ranking officer to investigate conditions in Ethiopia. The Second Division of the Trade Section explained why:
It was reported that the Ethiopian government intends to approve a wide land lease to Japanese people, and that Ethiopian royal family wishes to arrange a marriage with a Japanese noble family. Ethiopia recently has shown a pro-Japanese attitude. . . . When the Japanese people extend their business to Ethiopia, we need to understand the domestic conditions of this country and carefully consider its very delicate international position. Otherwise, our plans will fail, or we will unnecessarily invite the envy and misunderstanding of other major countries. Such a result will negatively influence future relations between our two countries. . . .(28)
Tsuchida Yutaka arrived in Ethiopia just in time.(29) The Ethiopians no longer trusted the Japanese as they had before. They complained that Japan's press had written too much on the Nikkei-Sha affair and on the marriage between Araya and Kuroda. An irresponsible press and the Anti-Opium Bureau of the League of Nations had treated the first as if Ethiopia had signed a concession of land for cultivating opium. The second had been presented as if it were the heir to the throne who wanted to marry. The latter had even led to a complaint from Mussolini to Haile Selassie.(30)
Difficulties rose to the point where Kuroda at the end of February 1934 defensively asserted:
I will go to Ethiopia even in the capacity of a private citizen, if the Imperial Household authorities should disapprove of my trip.(31)
At that time, her mother acknowledged that the Imperial Household Department had not yet sanctioned her daughter's betrothal or proposed trip to Ethiopia. She added that Araya,
was scheduled to visit Japan in May of this year, but his trip has been indefinitely postponed. No direct word has been received from the Royal Family of Ethiopia, but Mr. Sumioka, a lawyer, is negotiating the matter.(32)
The American embassy in Tokyo agreed, reporting in February 1934 that the Japanese government had provided little information regarding the marriage and disparaged its political significance.(33) The next month, the embassy reported that the marriage was about to fall through because of official Japanese opposition.(34)
Haniyu Chotaro, a businessman from Kamakura, had spent five months in Ethiopia at the Gaimusho's request. Upon his return in April 1934, he publicly discussed the commercial opportunities available in that country. He then declared that the marriage was receiving little attention in Ethiopia while in Japan it had created a sensation. His comments were hardly encouraging:
This matter is very delicate from a viewpoint of the international situation, and I do not like to make any comment on it until I have submitted a report to the Foreign Office.
Prince Ababa [Araya] is called a Prince only in Japan. In Ethiopia, he is called Lij Ababa, and the word Lij means "lord" in English. There are only three Princes of the Blood in Ethiopia. The Japanese Foreign Office has nothing to do with this marriage. Some time ago, an Italian newspaper sarcastically remarked that Japan intends to invade Africa with "kisses between the dark and the black by having a daughter of a Japanese peer married to an Ethiopian." The Ethiopian press from the outset has been taciturn on the matter. If Miss Kuroda really wants to marry Ababa, she had better, I think, personally inspect the actual conditions of Ethiopia.(35)
Sound comments and sound advice.
The Italian embassy at Tokyo on October 6, 1934 denied the rumor that Italy had in any way ever been interested in the question of the proposed marriage. Yet the projected marriage between the "wealthy" Japanese girl and the Ethiopian "prince" was quashed, many thought by Italy's diplomatic pressure.(36) So charged Kato Kanju, president of the National Council of Trade Unions of Japan, the largest group of workers in the country. While visiting the United States in July 1935, he claimed that Mussolini had blocked the marriage.(37) While official quarters did not confirm that Italy had anything to do with the ultimate cancellation of the "picture bride," the New York Times did not regard the idea as illogical.(38) Some believed that Emperor Hirohito was bitter with Italians because their protests had broken off the proposed marriage between Araya and Kuroda.(39)
Demonstrating the resonance of Japanese competition in East Africa, Japan's enemies continued to raise the issue of the marriage proposal long after it was dead. In December 1934, meeting with the new Japanese ambassador, Sugimura Yotaro, Mussolini linked the marriage to a number of contentious issues: "Japan is actively supplying weapons and ammunition to Ethiopia, sending a princess, and a newspaper in Tokyo is vigorously maneuvering Japanese-Ethiopian friendship."(40)
Sugimura, who had represented his government at Geneva at the time of Japan's withdrawal from the League of Nations, soon thereafter spoke with La Tribuna of Rome. The ambassador endeavored to dispel suspicions of conflicting Italo-Japanese interests in Asia and Africa. Sugimura emphatically denied that the Japanese Army had sent instructors to Ethiopia as had been charged. Regarding economic penetration of Ethiopia by Japan, Sugimura explained that "certain middlemen--mostly Jewish" had purchased goods at Kobe which were finding their way into Ethiopia "by means of these same middlemen and not by direct importation." Sugimura also denied that there was any foundation for the rumor of a projected marriage between a Japanese princess and an Ethiopian prince. Concerning the Far East, Sugimura said that he was convinced that Italy could pursue its interests in that field without fear of Japanese opposition. There was an immense Chinese market to exploit, the Japanese ambassador pointed out. He opined that Japan and Italy might well come to a reciprocal agreement for the exchange of goods which would be advantageous to both. For instance, he suggested, why should not Japan import Italian wine? Finally, after expressing admiration for the Duce and Italian institutions, Sugimura said that he favored an exchange of students and teachers between his country and Italy.(41)
In truth, beyond Japanese exports to Ethiopia, there was little by way of direct contact between the two nations. In 1932 fifteen Japanese had settled in Ethiopia, and in 1933 seven more arrived. In 1934, four more. Most, however, did not stay long, leaving after their enterprises had failed. Tsuchida Yutaka noted that not many Japanese visited Ethiopia and that in the summer of 1934 there were only four including himself. In 1935 there were only three Japanese in Ethiopia. Ultimately, although Nikkei-Sha did manage to obtain agricultural concessions from the Ethiopian government, failing to find the necessary capital, it could not exploit them and went out of business after six months. In August 1935, no Japanese shipping company included Djibouti in its list of ports.(42)
The New York Times on July 11, 1935, summed up the situation nicely: Japan's economic interests in Ethiopia were new and still small; Japan still had no legation in Addis Ababa and Ethiopia was not represented in Tokyo; the number of Japanese residents in Ethiopia was small; reports of Japanese capitalists having obtained concessions for cotton growing in Ethiopia were unfounded; and stories that an Ethiopian prince had been seeking to marry a Japanese princess were groundless.(43)
The principals, Kuroda, Araya, Shoji, and Sumioka moved off center stage. Mistaken for a communist, Kuroda was taken to the Ueno police station in Tokyo on the night of July 24, 1935. The problem began when a policeman, Tajima Yukio, noted a suspicious-looking woman in black afternoon dress walking up and down the street near Ueno Park for two hours until about 8:00 p.m. The policeman disguised himself as a worker and arrested her. As it turned out, she had earlier reported to him that she had lost her purse containing about ¥5. She had borrowed 20 sen from him but had given a false name--therefore the trouble. Even after she had given her real name and had explained that she had been waiting for a friend, the policeman was still suspicious and took her in. She was, however, shortly released.(44)
In August, the Osaka Mainichi and Shoji sponsored a round table discussion in Addis Ababa, and invited prominent Ethiopians including Herui.(45) The next month as war was ready to break out, Araya suggested that Japan obtain concessions in Ethiopia, according to the Nichi Nichi correspondent at Addis Ababa. He said that Ethiopia would gladly grant concessions to Japan for industrial development. The Emperor was ready to approve such grants and Araya offered his services as an intermediary.(46) Later, in 1943, Araya attended a New York city meeting of the Ethiopian World Federation, and thereafter became involved in its internal politics.(47)
The Japan Advertiser of March 28, 1936, reported that Sumioka had been awarded the Commander Class of the Order of Menelik II by Emperor Haile Selassie. In his letter of thanks, Sumioka praised the good will of the Japanese people toward Ethiopia and his own conviction that Ethiopia's brave army would defeat Italy.(48) A month later, Haile Selassie fled his country.
In the meanwhile, only two months after the marriage affair had been put to bed, a military mission headed by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, chief of Italy's General Staff, visited Eritrea to begin planning for Italy's conquest of Ethiopia.(49)
The summer of 1935 had plumbed the depths of Italo-Japanese relations, especially during the so-called Sugimura Affair of July. The contretemps was born of the Gaimusho's inept attempts to "clarify" Ambassador Sugimura's assiduous efforts to reassure Mussolini regarding Japan's interests in Ethiopia. In smoothing over the ruffled feathers, Rome and Tokyo began building in August the foundation for their alliance that ultimately went to war in 1941.(50) As part of that process and to recognize Italy's control over Ethiopia, Japan's government transformed its newly created Legation in Addis Ababa into a Consulate General. In return, Italy's foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano, promised to protect Japanese interests there. As if to emphasize that suspicions lingered, he simultaneously referred to the proposed marriage and the Negus' desire to draw closer to Japan. In the end, Rome broke its promises but no matter. Japan had accepted its exclusion from Ethiopia. Japan had left Ethiopia at the marriage altar.(51)
