6) How did two major conflicts, the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the Russo-Japanese War a decade later, influence Western perceptions of Japan and Asia?
The Sino-Japanese War from 1894-1895 and the Russo-Japanese War a decade later were monumental events in the history of Asia and its ripples were felt in the Western world. In the Sino-Japanese War, the Western world witnessed the fruits of Meiji Japan’s modernization program, its modern military, routed the Chinese hitherto the dominant Asian power. Japan’s victory defeat of Russia became a significant milestone in modern history, marking the first major modern conflict where an Asian nation had defeated an European power. As such, this study seeks to present in detail the changes in Western perception towards Japan, as it became a modern military power and its image of the Asian people in the aftermath of both events.

Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895)
The outcome of the Sino-Japanese War meant that Japan had successfully displaced Qing China as the dominant power in East Asia, marking a remarkable shift from millennia old power arrangements in the region centered on China. This turn of events did not escape Western observations and led to Japan being recognized as the dominant Asian power. According to the historian Sarah Paine, ‘Before the war, the most widespread Western image of Japan was undoubtedly provided by William S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan, the famous operetta duo. The year 1885 marked the premiere of what became their most popular operetta, The Mikado or "The Emperor of Japan." The Mikado portrayed the Japanese as having attitudes that were “queer and quaint” and a preoccupation with court etiquette.’ As Paine adds ‘this (the operetta) was the European view: A quaint Japan preoccupied with stultifying rules of etiquette instead of the serious pursuits of European powers’. China on the other