As a line in a popular Japanese song of the 1880s put it, “There is a Law of Nations, it is true, / but when the moment comes, remember, / the Strong eat up the Weak.”1 While most of the rest of the world fell under the control of the Western powers, Japan emulated them and joined their banquet. In 1895, the imperial army and navy brought China to its knees; this decisive victory on the Asian mainland, capped by an enormous indemnity, precipitated a scramble for international concessionary areas torn from the very body of the sleeping giant. “Slicing the Chinese melon” was the pleasant way
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