Asia Association - Asia Association

…In the Meiji period, the word “Asia” was mainstream, not “Asia”, but when we look at its meaning, “Asia” was used not just as a term indicating a geographical area, but as something that had a very political meaning. Examples include the Shin-Asia Society (founded in 1877 by Okubo Toshimichi and others, renamed the “Koa-kai” in 1880, its members included Nakamura Masanao, Sone Tosutora, and Miyazaki Seiichiro), the Asia Association (founded in 1883, its members included Nagaoka Morimi and Tei Yong-nyeong), and the East Asia Common Culture Society (founded in 1898 by merging the East Asia Society and the Common Culture Society with Konoe Atsumaro as chairman). The “Koa” movement, which opposed the advance of the West into Asia, and the “Datsu-A” movement, which wished for the Westernization of Japan, were two opposing ideological currents, but both used the Chinese characters “Asia” (including its abbreviation), which was eventually inherited as the terms “East Asia” and “Greater East Asia”. …

*Some of the terminology used in reference to the "Asia Association" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…明治期には，アジアではなく〈亜細亜〉が主流だが，その意味内容を見ると，亜細亜はたんなる地理的範囲を示す用語ではなく，きわめて政治的な意味をこめたものとして用いられた。振亜社(1877年，大久保利通らによって結成，80年に興亜会と改名，同人には中村正直，曾根俊虎，宮崎誠一郎など)，亜細亜協会(1883年結成，同人に長岡護美，鄭永寧ら)，東亜同文会(1898年，東亜会と同文会を合併して近衛篤麿を会長に結成)などがその例である。　欧米によるアジア進出に対抗した〈興亜〉の流れと，日本の欧米化を願う〈脱亜〉の流れは，対立する二つの思想潮流であったが，両者とも〈亜細亜〉という漢字表記(その省略形も含む)を用い，これはやがて〈東亜〉〈大東亜〉という用語として継承された。…

※「亜細亜協会」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報