The role of geographers in strategy research in the Asia-Pacific war: the Sogo Chiri Kenkyukai and the general staff office of the imperial Japanese army

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  • アジア・太平洋戦争期の戦略研究における地理学者の役割 : 綜合地理研究会と陸軍参謀本部
  • アジア タイヘイヨウ センソウキ ノ センリャク ケンキュウ ニ オケル チリガクシャ ノ ヤクワリ ソウゴウ チリ ケンキュウカイ ト リクグン サンボウ ホンブ

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Abstract

This paper examines the role geographers played in the strategy research of the Imperial Japanese Army, focusing on the connection between the General Geographical Study Group (GGSG), or Sogo Chiri Kenkyukai, and the General Staff Office. Recently, much research has been done on the Japanese geopolitical discourses and the involvement of geographers in the Asia-Pacific War. One of the most important subjects in this issue is the GGSG, which was composed of servicemen in the General Staff Office and the geography researchers working at the Department of Geography at Kyoto Imperial University, as well as graduates of that university. However, a close look at previous studies reveals that basic facts about the GGSG were not interpreted correctly because of insufficient analysis of the original sources. Therefore, using original documents, in particular the diary of Colonel Tatsuhiko Takashima who worked in the General Staff Office as well as reports written by the geographers who took part in the GGSG, I have studied a) the group's establishment and background, b) its activities' and the changes in its membership, c) the results of GGSG research on geopolitical area studies and its involvement in Army strategy, and d) the breakup of the group at the end of war. The findings of the present studies suggest that the GGSG played a limited role in the war overall, although it did have the ability to perform tasks requested by the General Staff Office.

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