Fukuzawa Yukichi's "Leaving Asia"

[Angela Chong]

Fukuzawa Yukichi's "Leaving Asia," made it very clear that he felt Japan was superior to Korea and China. He mentions the ancient "old" ways that Korea and China held onto, instead of beinga advanced and scientific. Fukuzawa associated Japan with western countries and felt that "Leaving Asia" explained departing from the old ways. As explained in the intro above it, it is further justification for colonization. Viewing the people inhabiting land and resources that you want to take as your own is easier if you think of those people as lower than you. He describes them as cruel, uneducated, and ignorant. Prior to beginning this seminar I didn't fully understand the conflict and hierarchy that people in East Asian countries can currently have and previously had for one another. The more I learn, the more I can see why and that unfortunately race supremacy exhists in places other than the United States.