To what extend were Japanese (and occasionally western) claims that the expansion of Japan in the 1930s and 40s represented a pan-Asian, anti-colonial movement believed?

by Brickie78

Was it widely seen in, say, Vietnam, as a thinly-veiled excuse for aggressive expansion, or did they prefer the Japanese to their French colonial masters?

Brickie78

Extent dammit.

WereButterfly

Believed to a moderate extent in Japan itself, obviously much weaker everywhere else.

Amazingly, one of the major planners of the invasion of China in 1931 genuinely believed in the pan-Asian ideal, but grew to realize that it was a crock of BS as the war dragged on. There's actually a biography about this guy, Ishiwara Kanji, out in English.

One must also question how genuine this concept was when a huge proportion of the propaganda portrayed Japan as "big brother" to other Asian "races" that were painted as something clearly lesser.

Not really sure about Vietnam though.