Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

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Poster of Manchukuo promoting harmony between Japanese, Han Chinese and Manchu. The caption says: "With the help of Japan, China, and Manchukuo, the world can be in peace."

The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (Kyūjitai: 大東亞共榮圈, Shinjitai: 大東亜共栄圏 Dai-tō-a Kyōeiken) concept was an attempt by Japan to create a self-sufficient "bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers". [1]

It is remembered today largely as a front for the Japanese control of occupied countries during World War II, in which puppet governments manipulated local populations and economies for the benefit of Imperial Japan. It was an Imperial Japanese Army concept which originated with General Hachiro Arita, who at the time was minister of foreign affairs and an army ideologist. "Greater East Asia" (大東亜, Dai-tō-a^?) was a Japanese term (banned during the post-war occupation) referring to East Asia, Southeast Asia and surrounding areas.

The idea of the Co-Prosperity Sphere was announced by Foreign Minister Matsuoka Yosuke on August 1, 1940 in a press interview, but went back many years. Leaders in Japan—then, as now, the richest country in the region—had long been interested in the idea, in reality to extend Japanese power and acquire an empire based on European models, though ostensibly to free Asia from imperialism.

As part of its war drive, Japanese propaganda included phrases like "Asia for Asians" and talked about the perceived need to liberate Asian countries from imperialist powers. In some cases they were welcomed when they invaded neighboring countries, driving out British, French, and American armies. In general, however, the subsequent brutality and racism of the Japanese led to them being regarded as equal to, or, more often, much worse than Western imperialists. The Co-Prosperity Sphere collapsed with Japan's surrender to the United States.