Fumihiro Miyako, a history major in the Doctoral Program in the School of Humanities, has been awarded the Ishibashi Tanzan Award for New Scholars by the Ishibashi Tanzan Memorial Foundation. The awards ceremony took place on March 22.
In order to meet the conditions to receive the New Scholars' Award, the essay must be written by graduate student in the fields of Humanities and Social Sciences on any topic that relates directly or indirectly to Ishibashi Tanzan’s ideology of liberalism, democracy, and pacifism; and must be published in academic periodicals or journals in the last one year. The Award aims to encourage graduate students to probe deeper into the fields of their research interests.
The prizewinning essay, “The Process of Change in the Qing Dynasty’s Policy of Cooperation with the World Powers after the Sino-Japanese War” appeared in a journal “The Toyo Gakuho” Vol.93, No.2, 2011.
His paper threw new light upon China’s diplomatic controversy in the period following the Sino-Japanese War. In his critical essay, Mr. Miyako advanced the argument that the controversy over the foreign policy of the Qing Dynasty was in fact not sparked by the dispute between the obscurantist “who favored coalition with Russia” and the reformist “who advocated cooperation with Great Britain and Japan.” This was the belief that was commonly held. Yet, the cause for China’s diplomatic uneasiness in the years that followed the War, according to the author, was brought about by the confrontation between those supporting the coalition approach and those who were altogether skeptical about China’s cooperation with the World Powers.
Mr.Miyako, a happy winner commented, “I’m truly honored that my essay received a high evaluation as an outstanding essay on the subject of history,” and he continued, “but it’s even nicer to know that my essay can also be read for sheer pleasure. I would like to continue directing my research to the general reader, so that anyone who is new to that area may find it interesting.”
