佐藤春夫長年熱愛中國文化，也因此創造了諸多有關中國議題的作品，然而30年代起，對中國的觀點卻起了極大的變化。尤其從1935年起對日本在中國進行的軍事行動提出了肯定的論調；1938年更提出了「近代支那無文化論」的觀點；甚至支持了「大東亞共榮圈」的理念，也發表了諸多有關「日中文化融合」的文章。當戰後日本諸多戰時支持日本軍事行動的作家紛紛表達自省時，佐藤春夫依然故我。何以佐藤春夫的中國觀有如此大的轉變？雖然有研究提出跟1927年的中國之旅因目擊中國的腐敗有關，但除此之外是否還有其他的因素？包括佐藤春夫、芥川龍之介等人在內的這一群長年憧憬「中國情趣」而書寫中國的日本作家，後期對中國都出現了極大的批判聲音，在探討日本的近代性這個主題時，這一類作家的中國觀的探究，或許也是一個有效的線索。本研究即是在如此的問題意識之下，針對佐藤春夫的中國觀點，特別鎖定在1930年代的中日戰爭時期的思維進行研究。

Sato Haruo had a passion for Chinese culture for many years. Much of his work centered on the topic of China. From the 1930s onward, however, his views on China changed dramatically. In particular, in 1935 he began to advocate Japanese military operations in China. In 1938, he expounded his "Theory of a modern China without culture". In addition, he supported the philosophy of The Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere. He also published many articles relating to Sino-Japanese cultural integration. During the post-war period, many writers in Japan became more introspective after having supported Japanese military operations during the war. Sato Haruo, however, remained unchanged and persisted in his own beliefs. Why did Sato Haruo’s perspective on China change so dramatically? Some literature has proposed that it could be related to his trip to China in 1927, in which he witnessed corruption. Aside from this, were there other factors? For many years, writers including Sato Haruo and Akutagawa Ryunosuke held a favorable impression of the "Chinese appeal", and wrote about China. Later they emerged as a unified voice criticizing China. When we discuss the topic of modernity in Japan, investigations on these writers and their views of China can provide effective clues as to the reasons for their drastic collective shift in opinion. With such an awareness of the issue, our study focuses on Sato Haruo’s perspective on China, and examines his mindset during the 1930 Sino-Japanese War.