Dominion and the Rising Sun: Canada Encounters Japan, 1929-1941

The Dominion and the Rising Sun is the first major study of Canada’s diplomatic arrival in Japan and, by extension, East Asia. It examines the political, economic, and cultural relations forged during this seminal period between the foremost power in Asia and the young dominion tentatively establishing itself in world affairs.

The book begins with the opening in 1929 of the Canadian legation in Tokyo -- Canada’s third such office overseas -- and concludes with the outbreak of hostilities in 1941. Primarily a diplomatic history, the book also assesses the impact of traders, interest groups, and missionaries on Canadian attitudes toward Japan during the interwar years. More fundamentally, it examines Canada’s diplomatic coming of age closely, revealing its important Pacific dimension and the tension between Canada’s commitment to peace and its trade with an aggressor.

John D. Meehan is assistant professor of history at Campion College, University of Regina.