The Opium Empire: Japanese Imperialism and Drug Trafficking in Asia, 1895-1945

(Hardback)

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The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE) found Japan guilty of deliberately promoting drug abuse as a weapon to further its imperialistic aims in Asia. This study provides the historical context behind the IMTFE's findings from the annexation of Taiwan in 1895 to the end of World War II. Given the extent to which drug use permeated the politics, economy, and culture of Asia, it was inevitable that Japan's rise as an imperial power would lead to contact with, and increasing involvement in, the opium and narcotics trade. This study argues that the nature of that involvement should be understood not simply in terms of a conspiracy to drug the people of Asia into submission, but rather as indicative of the general twists and turns of Japanese imperialism. Thus, opium and narcotics emerge not so much as a weapon of, but rather as a metaphor for, Japanese imperialism in Asia.

Reviews

"This book is a welcome addition to a small but growing body of literature on Japan's imperial relations with its Asian neighbors....[S]heds much light on a neglected aspect of imperial Japan's oversea's endeavors."-American Historical Review
Jenning's book is a study of opium, its derivatives, and cocaine as part of Japan's career as an imperial power in Asia.... Based primarily on Japanese-language sources, many of them unpublished government documents, this book is a product of impressively diligent scholarship. It is well organized, succinct, and soundly reasoned...-Choice
This book is a welcome addition to a small but growing body of literature on Japan's imperial relations with its Asian neighbors....[S]heds much light on a neglected aspect of imperial Japan's oversea's endeavors.-American Historical Review
This book should be in research libraries for masters and doctoral level students researching Japanese imperialism.-Journal of Third World Studies
This is a book which deals with a fascinating subject and it includes a wealth of interesting material....This is a useful study which comes as a welcome addition to the rather scanty literature on the subject.-Asian Affairs
"This book should be in research libraries for masters and doctoral level students researching Japanese imperialism."-Journal of Third World Studies
"This is a book which deals with a fascinating subject and it includes a wealth of interesting material....This is a useful study which comes as a welcome addition to the rather scanty literature on the subject."-Asian Affairs
"Jenning's book is a study of opium, its derivatives, and cocaine as part of Japan's career as an imperial power in Asia.... Based primarily on Japanese-language sources, many of them unpublished government documents, this book is a product of impressively diligent scholarship. It is well organized, succinct, and soundly reasoned..."-Choice

Author Bio

JOHN M. JENNINGS is Visiting Assistant Professor at Old Dominion University.