Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

INTRODUCTION • 13
their hypothetical enemies. Roosevelt, too, was concerned that victory
in the Russo–Japanese War might propel Japan onto a course frankly
adverse to American interests in the Philippines and Hawaii. In the immediate
aftermath of the war, Japanese policymakers revealed themselves
no less distrustful of American designs on their newly gained
sphere of influence. When the great railway builder Edward H. Harriman
in October 1905 offered to purchase what was to become the South
Manchurian Railway, Foreign Minister Jūtarō Komura argued successfully
that Japan raise its own money so as to strengthen its hard-earned
foothold in southern Manchuria.
Harriman—and his financial partners on Wall Street—may have been
impressed, but Roosevelt was not unduly perturbed. In his estimation,
Manchuria was of peripheral interest to the United States. Although not
blind to the potential presented by Chinese markets, Roosevelt rather
welcomed Japan’s preoccupation with the continent because, in his calculations,
it served to lessen the possibility of a U.S.–Japanese clash in
the Pacific. In other words, he hoped that by engaging their respective
interests in areas separate from each other, U.S.–Japanese relations
might remain on a harmonious footing.
This was the basic framework in which Japanese and American policymakers
worked throughout the remainder of this period. Roosevelt
was no less infuriated than was the Japanese government when in 1906
the San Francisco School Board segregated Japanese school children.
His response was twofold. On the one hand, he managed to convince
Californian authorities to rescind the offensive segregation order. On
the other, he finalized with Ambassador Keikichi Aoki a deal known as
the Gentlemen’s Agreement, according to whose terms the Japanese
government agreed to curb immigration to the United States.
In the meantime, Roosevelt resigned himself to the fact that the United
States did not possess the wherewithal to defend the Philippines. In
1908, he moved the Pacific base from Manila to Hawaii. Having conceded
by this act that the Philippines were militarily indefensible, Roosevelt
sought to protect them by other means. It was fitting that the end
of this period should be marked by the so-called Root–Takahira Agreement
of November 1908. By this agreement, both nations agreed to respect
China’s independence and integrity—the Open Door—while at the
same time respecting each other’s possessions in the region. This meant
that the United States recognized Japan’s possessions in Korea and