Continental rōnin (, also translated continental adventurers) were

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

adventurers who roamed a region centred on

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

from the beginning of the

Meiji era The was an Japanese era name, era of History of Japan, Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feu ...

to the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, engaging in various political, paramilitary and criminal activities such as

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

banditry Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and murder, ...

, and

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

. The range of their activities was not limited to

China proper China proper, also called Inner China, are terms used primarily in the West in reference to the traditional "core" regions of China centered in the southeast. The term was first used by Westerners during the Manchu people, Manchu-led Qing dyn ...

, but also included

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

, the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

, and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, largely overlapping with areas that were later invaded by the

Japanese Army The , , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches. New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct t ...

. Continental rōnin played a large role in East Asia as agents of

Japanese imperialism The territorial conquests of the Empire of Japan in the Western Pacific Ocean and East Asia began in 1895 with its victory over Qing China in the First Sino-Japanese War. Subsequent victories over the Russian Empire (Russo-Japanese War) and the ...

, causing incidents like the assassination of Queen Min, participating in conflicts such as the Siberian intervention and China's

Warlord era The Warlord Era was the period in the history of the Republic of China between 1916 and 1928, when control of the country was divided between rival Warlord, military cliques of the Beiyang Army and other regional factions. It began after the de ...

, and laying the groundwork for the puppet state

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

. Their motives and backgrounds varied, with some being ultranationalists who sought to extend Japanese influence in Asia, and others being

mercenaries A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...

, ex-samurai, ideologues, opportunists, seekers of adventure or fortune, or (like Kohinata Hakurō) simply victims of circumstance. They were called ''rōnin'' because they were not part of an overarching organisation, but likened themselves to the historical ''

rōnin In feudal Japan to early modern Japan (1185–1868), a ''rōnin'' ( ; , , 'drifter' or 'wandering man', ) was a samurai who had no lord or master and in some cases, had also severed all links with his family or clan. A samurai became a ''rō ...

'' and '' shishi''.

History

The first continental rōnin were Japanese merchants and disaffected ex-samurai who moved to Korea and China soon after the ''

Seikanron The ''Seikanron'' (; ; or 'Proposal to Punish Korea' or 'Argument for a Conquest of Korea') was a major political debate in Japan during 1873 regarding a punitive expedition against Korea. The ''Seikanron'' split the Meiji government and the res ...

'' theory first proposed a military invasion of mainland Asia. They quickly gained attention for their involvement in the political turmoil that marked the final years of

Joseon Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

, such as the

Kapsin Coup The Kapsin Coup, also known as the Kapsin Revolution, was a failed three-day coup d'état that occurred in Korea during 1884. Korean reformers in the Enlightenment Party sought to initiate rapid changes within the country, including eliminating ...

. This group was then followed by young men who had been children or unborn during the

Bakumatsu were the final years of the Edo period when the Tokugawa shogunate Meiji Restoration, ended. Between 1853 and 1867, under foreign diplomatic and military pressure, Japan ended its isolationist foreign policy known as and changed from a Feudali ...

and

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, and thus missed the opportunity to take part in founding modern Japan. Some of them were former samurai who felt alienated after the

Freedom and People's Rights Movement The Freedom and People's Rights Movement (自由民権運動, ''Jiyū Minken Undō'') was a Japanese political and social movement for democracy during the Meiji era, Meiji period. It pursued the formation of an elected legislature, revision of the ...

, the failure of the Shizoku rebellions, and the establishment of the new Meiji government led to the privileges of the samurai class being abolished. Resenting the

Westernization Westernization (or Westernisation, see spelling differences), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt what is considered to be Western culture, in areas such as industr ...

of Japan, they embraced

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

and

Pan-Asianism file:Asia satellite orthographic.jpg , Satellite photograph of Asia in orthographic projection. Pan-Asianism (also known as Asianism or Greater Asianism) is an ideology aimed at creating a political and economic unity among Asian people, Asian peo ...

and rushed into China and Korea, hoping to participate in the expansion of Japanese power into the mainland. Using Japanese businesses in port cities as a base, these men gathered information on the local customs, politics and economy, while collaborating with nationalist secret societies in Japan like the

Gen'yōsha The was an influential Pan-Asianist group and secret society active in the Empire of Japan. Foundation as the Koyōsha Founded as the ''Koyōsha'' by Hiraoka Kotarō (1851–1906), a wealthy ex-samurai and mine-owner, with mining interests in Ma ...

and

Black Dragon Society The , or the Amur River Society, was a prominent paramilitary, ultranationalist group in Japan. History The ''Kokuryūkai'' was founded in 1901 by martial artist Uchida Ryohei as a successor to his mentor Mitsuru Tōyama's '' Gen'yōsha''. ...

. In particular, Gen'yōsha founder

Tōyama Mitsuru was a Japanese far right and ultra nationalist politician who founded secret societies called Genyosha ('' Black Ocean Society'') and Kokuryukai (''Black Dragon Society''). Tōyama was an Anti Communist and a strong proponent of Pan Asianism ...

was known as one of the "two great leaders of continental rōnin" (alongside future prime minister

Inukai Tsuyoshi Inukai Tsuyoshi (, 4 June 1855 – 15 May 1932) was a Japanese statesman who was Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1931 to his assassination in 1932. At the age of 76, Inukai was Japan's second oldest serving prime minister, ...

) for his support towards them. The Japanese government, military, and businesses aligned with them like the

South Manchuria Railway The South Manchuria Railway (; ), officially , Mantetsu () or Mantie () for short, was a large of the Empire of Japan whose primary function was the operation of railways on the Dalian– Fengtian (Mukden)–Changchun (called Xinjing from ...

also began supporting a growing number of people they considered '' shinatsū'': Japanese people with valuable expertise on the Chinese language, culture and local complexities. This financial support shaped the allegiances of later continental rōnin. During wars like the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...

and

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

, these ''shinatsū'' actively collaborated with the Imperial Japanese Army as interpreters, spies, saboteurs, and in

special operations Special operations or special ops are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment." Special operations ma ...

. As Japan's Continental Policy solidified through these wars, continental rōnin gradually became restricted to these roles. Rather than resisting this trend, they actively took part in it, seeking to assert their own relevance by steering the government, military, and public opinion towards a more hardline foreign policy. China's divided state following the

1911 Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...

gave a new purpose to continental rōnin in Japan's Continental Policy, and led to a revival of the phenomenon. However, as China's military cliques collapsed or united and the ROC consolidated its power, the continental rōnin were unable to stand against it. The Mukden incident and

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

once again revived the phenomenon, but following Japan's defeat in World War II and the end of its foreign expansion policy, the continental rōnin essentially went extinct.

People considered continental rōnin

* Oka Rokumon *

Konoe Atsumaro Prince was a Japanese politician and journalist of the Meiji era. He served as the 3rd President of the House of Peers and 7th President of the Gakushūin Peer's School in Meiji period Japan. He was the father of Prime Minister Fumimaro Kono ...

Futabatei Shimei was a Japanese writer, translator, and literary critic. His writings are in the realist style popular in the mid to late 19th century. His work '' The Drifting Cloud'' (''Ukigumo'', 1887) is widely regarded as Japan's first modern novel. Bi ...

Adachi Kenzō was a Japanese politician active during the Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He participated in the 1895 assassination of the Korean queen. Biography Adachi was the son of a samurai in the service of the Hosokawa clan of Kumamoto Domain. Af ...

Kawashima Naniwa Kawashima Naniwa (Japanese: 川島浪速; ''Kawashima Naniwa''; 1865–1949) was a Japanese adventurer in China, known for his activities supporting the Qing dynasty. He was the foster father of the Japanese spy Kawashima Yoshiko, who was the biol ...

* Tōten Miyazaki *

Ryōhei Uchida was a Japanese ultranationalist political activist, martial artist, and "continental adventurer" ('' tairiku rōnin'') active in the pre-war Empire of Japan. Biography Uchida was born in Fukuoka prefecture. He was the son of '' Shinto Muso-ry ...

Chū Kudō , real name , was a Japanese adventurer, Manchukuo politician and Lieutenant General in the Manchukuo Imperial Army. Background Kudō was born in Itayanagi, Aomori, Itayanagi, Kitatsugaru District, Aomori, Kitatsugaru, Aomori Prefecture, Aomor ...

Masahiko Amakasu was an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army who was imprisoned for his involvement in the Amakasu Incident, the extrajudicial execution of anarchists after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. He later became head of the Manchukuo Film Associati ...

Date Junnosuke (), known as Zhang Zongyuan ( in Chinese after changing his name and nationality, was a Japanese mounted bandit and continental rōnin active in early 20th century China. He was a part of the Manchu-Mongol Independence Movement and the Shandong ...

* Kohinata Hakurō *

Yoshio Kodama was a Japanese right-wing Ultranationalism (Japan), ultranationalist and a prominent figure in the rise of organized crime in Japan. The most famous ''Fixer (person), kuromaku'', or behind-the-scenes power broker, of the 20th century, he was act ...

* Ujitoshi Konomi

Gallery

File:Ginko Kishida.JPG, File:Sone Toshitora.jpg, File:Okamoto ryunosuke.gif, File:Sei Arao.JPG, File:Touten Miyazaki.jpg, Miyazaki Tōten File:Ryohei Uchida Close-up.jpg,

Uchida Ryōhei Uchida (written: 内田 lit. "within ricefield") is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Aguri Uchida (born 1949), a Japanese watercolour painter *Akiko Uchida (born 1985), a Japanese volleyball player *Asahi Uchida (born 1 ...

File:Date Junnosuke.gif,

File:Seikyo Gondo.JPG, File:Y.Kawashima wN.K2.jpg,

File:Syôzô Yokokawa.jpg, File:山田良政.JPG,

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Continental ronin Continental rōnin China–Japan relations History of Japan–Russia relations Japan–Korea relations Japan–Philippines relations Pan-Asianism