The Indonesian Eurasian Community and Japan

Abstract

This article deals with connections between the rise of Japan, Indonesian nationalism and the Eurasian community between 1900 and 1942. It shows how Dutch official and public assessments of Japan as an external threat differed over time. The same was true of Indonesian views of Japan. Eurasians were caught in the middle between Dutch conservatism on the one hand and Indonesian nationalism on the other. Different choices on this domestic issue also resulted in different positions towards Japanese expansionism. Therefore, in this period Indonesian and Japanese historical dynamics became entangled.