船津辰一郎在奉天総領事と榊原農場商租料事件

北海道大学大学院文学研究院北方研究教育センター

北方人文研究

This article analyzes the characteristics of the Land Lease Issue from the Consul general at Mukden perspective by specifically studying the negotiations between Funatsu Consul General and Mukden Government on Sakakibara Farm Rent Incident. Newspaper articles from both China and Japan will be analyzed to examine the characteristic of the Land Lease Issue from a private perspective. Immediately after the incident broke out, Funatsu criticized Sakakibaraʼs conduct and protested to the Office of Commissioner of Foreign Affairs for Mukden seriously, and sent the Consulate Police to stop the Chinese atrocities, but he did not plan to get tough on China. In order to maintain this already acquired the land lease right, Funatsu negotiated with the South Manchuria Railway Company and Oriental Development Company to pay Sakakibaraʼs debt to China on behalf of Sakakibara. In order to resolve the case, Funatsu focused on peaceful means and did not intend to take hard measures against China. Funatsuʼs attitude contrasts sharply with that of the Japanese newspaper community, which has been vehemently critical of the Chinese armed action and demanded that the consulate-general should resolve the incident by force. Funatsu pays close attention to The Anti-Japanese Movement in China, strives to avoid the use of force, he advocates using peaceful means to promote the extension of Japanese power and the expansion of Japanʼs special benefits in Manchuria without provoking the Chinese antipathy. But in the process of solving the case, Funatsu gradually lost the trust of Chinese. On the other hand, Funatsu not only followed “Shidehara Diplomacy” but also realized the influence of Chinaʼs rights recovery movement. Funatsu thought that Japanʼs Manchuria-Mongolia interests should be protected by maintaining Zhang Zuolinʼs position in the Three Northeast Provinces, and took concrete measures based on his own judgment and experience. The Zhang Zuolin regime while supporting the growing rights recovery movement, was forced to control the anti-Japanese articles and refrain from a blatant anti-Japanese movement in order to prevent Japanese military action and interference in domestic affairs.