Discipline: Asian Studies
In discussions of Japanese involvement in' Southeast Asian history near the turn of the century, one can point out that there were two levels of interaction on the part of the people of Japan. One level consisted of those Japanese who saw the South Seas as a potential market for business or as an area for agricultural development. The countries were regarded as vital to Japan's economic progress and expansion. Some scholars, journalists and officials who held this line of thinking went to Southeast Asia to investigate the situation at the time.