The colonized peoples of Burma and elsewhere, inspired by the Russo-Japanese War, came to believe that “even Asians could defeat white powers” and rose in revolt.
But reality was harsh, and within a structure in which imperial powers extracted resources to the last drop, independence was not easily granted.
Through the Saya San uprising, U Saw, and the actual workings of British colonial rule, this essay portrays the tragedy of Asian nations that could not become “Japan.”

2019-07-01
There is a remark by the British historian Louis Allen, who said, “If such colonies ever have a chance for independence, it will be when not a single drop of oil and not a single grain of rice can be taken from them.”

They Could Not Become “Japan”
Britain brought in large numbers of Indians to govern this country and put them in charge of finance, while assigning the Chinese overseas community to manage the economy and tax collection.
It brought down mountain peoples such as the Mon, the Karen, and the Chin from the hills, converted them to Christianity, and then put them in charge of the military and the police.
The Burmese, who were the main people of this country, eventually had even their farmland taken away and were reduced to the lowest class of tenant farmers.
At such a time, Saya San appeared.
Claiming to be the legendary king of Burma, he led the peasants in resistance against the colonial government.
Troops of the Mon people moved in to suppress them, but the peasants came advancing backward with white circles painted on their buttocks.
It was believed that if they painted them, bullets would not hit them.
The disturbance spread throughout the country, and Britain dispatched Sikh Punjab Rifle units, finally suppressing it only after a year.
Saya San was captured and executed.
Why did the colonized peoples rise up during this period.
There is a view that, as symbolized by the Viet Nam Restoration League, the colonized peoples learned of the Russo-Japanese War and came to believe that “even Asians can defeat whites,” that this stirred up nationalism, and that it was released as energy during this period.
But the result was a crushing defeat.
No country could become “Japan.”
There is a remark by the British historian Louis Allen, who said, “If such colonies ever have a chance for independence, it will be when not a single drop of oil and not a single grain of rice can be taken from them.”
He also added, “Though it is hardly possible,” and gave another case: “when some great upheaval occurs so that the colonial master flees barefoot.”
U Saw, who served as defense counsel in the Saya San trial, was not enough of a dreamer to believe in that “other possibility.”
He turned to politics, crushed his political enemies by methods that were not exactly admirable, and at last became prime minister of the colonial government.
In November 1941 (Showa 16), he visited London.
He would send many Burmese soldiers to the battlefield for Britain.
Therefore, after the war, he wanted Burma to be granted independence.
While staying in Britain, he expressed that thought in a contribution to The Times.
“What Burma wishes to know is this: we are fighting together with many nations for the freedom of the world, but is that also for the freedom of Burma?”
U Saw met the British Secretary of State for the Colonies, Amery, and then also met Prime Minister Churchill.
To be continued.