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Urs Matthias Zachmann's work provides a systematic overview and assessment of changing attitudes in the discourse of Japanese newspapers toward China between 1895 and 1904, a tumultuous decade bookended by significant wars (the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5). The structure of this book is clear and straightforward--Zachmann takes landmark events during this period and devotes a chapter to each event to gauge the transformation of Japanese newspapers' coverage and representation of political events in China. Of course, Japanese representations of China reflect much about Japan as well, in terms of its self-perception and rise in power. At the same time, changing depictions of China demonstrate Japan's changing relationship with the Western powers.
In the introduction, Zachmann sets up the overall framework, which is founded on the notion of "the Japanese public's attitude" (p. 3) or "public opinion" (p. 7) toward China. The author knows that these terms are problematic, and he is careful in providing sufficient qualification to consolidate a meaningful definition. According to the introduction, "the Japanese public" (p. 3) and other related terms are based on his central sources, six major Tokyo newspapers. Other newspapers and magazines in Japan, China,...