自明治时期开始，中日两国逐渐开启了近代的交流。随之而来的是大批日本人前往中国进行游历与考察。在这些人中，日本学人作为重要的群体之一，在中国进行了大量田野调查活动。整个明治时期的学人田野调查活动，以甲午战争为分界，在这之前处于出现并初步发展的阶段。这一阶段来华考察的学人人数不多、规模较小，前期主要以三位汉学家竹添进一郎、冈千仞和井上陈政为其中代表，他们的考察活动主要出于其个人兴趣，和政府关系不深；后期以井上陈政和安东不二雄二人的考察为代表，开始发展成为具备目的性的专门考察。到了甲午战争之后，伴随着日本侵华活动的进一步推进，一方面对华作战存在实际的战略情报需求；另一方面甲午战后日本在中国台湾和东北地区逐渐建立起殖民统治，为配合其殖民统治需要，也需要对相关地区开展学术性的探查工作进而迅速掌握该地区的全面情报信息。因此在甲午战争后的第二阶段，大部分的学人考察不再单纯地出于个人对于中国的兴趣，而是直接或间接地受到政府的派遣，承担着收集中国情报的重要任务。这一时期的考察活动人数更多、规模更大、活动范围更广，真正开启了近代学人来华考察的浪潮。

通过在华开展的田野调查活动，日本学人获得了历史学、建筑学、生物学、人类学、地质学等诸多学科的一手研究资料，以及交通运输、资源矿产、军事情报等战略情报信息。尤其是诸多学科研究资料直接推动了学人在相关领域内取得了具有突破性和创新性的学术成果，在一定程度上甚至带动了中国相关领域的学术研究，因此这些考察活动较大的学术性意义。然而其中的部分活动虽然以“学术调查”为旗号，但其背后存在为日本侵略国策服务的本质内核。日本政府各部门、军方以及殖民机构逐渐认识到学人在情报收集中能够发挥的重要作用，愈发关注对于学人的委派任用，最终学人所形成的众多成果在当时成为了日本掌握的对华专业情报信息，为其侵华活动提供指导与帮助。

通过对于明治时期日本学人来华开展田野调查所写成的游记、报告、专著以及官方档案的分析，可以明晰推动学人来华开展考察工作的多重力量：即个人学术追求、学术机构力量支持以及政府力量支持。并且最终揭示了学人田野调查活动所具备的学术性与侵略性的双重属性。

Since the Meiji Period, China and Japan started to communicate and exchange in the modern sense due to the signing of 1871 Sino-Japanese treaty. It was followed by a large number of Japanese people to travel and study in China. Among them, Japanese scholars, as one of the important groups, carried out a large number of fieldwork in China. During the whole Meiji period, scholars' fieldwork was divided by the Sino-Japanese War. Before that, it was in the stage of emergence and preliminary development. At this stage, the number of scholars who visited China and the scale was small. In the early stage, the scholars were mainly represented by three sinologists, Takezoe Shinichiro, Oka Senjin and Inoue Tinsei. Their research activities were mainly out of their personal interests, and they had no close relationship with the government. In the later period, the investigation of Inoue Tinsei and Andou Fujio as representatives began to develop into a special investigation with purpose. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, with the gradual formation of the policy of Japanese aggression against China, on the one hand, there were actual demands for strategic information in the war against China. On the other hand, after the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan gradually established colonial rule in Taiwan and Northeast China. In order to cooperate the demands of its colonial rule, it also needed to carry out academic exploration of relevant areas and quickly grasp the comprehensive information of the region. Therefore, in the second period after the Sino-Japanese War, most scholars were no longer simply interested in China, but were directly or indirectly sent by the government to undertake the important task of collecting Chinese intelligence. In this period, there were more people, larger scale and wider scope of activities, which really started the wave of modern scholars visiting China.

Through fieldwork in China, Japanese scholars have obtained first-hand research data in many disciplines, such as history, architecture, biology, anthropology, geology and so on. And then made breakthrough and innovative academic achievements in related disciplines, and even promoted academic research in related fields in China to a certain extent. Therefore, these fieldwork have certain academic significance. However, hidden behind its "academic investigation" is still the essence of serving the national policy of Japanese aggression. Various departments of the Japanese government, military and colonial institutions gradually realized the important role that scholars could play in intelligence collection, and paid more attention to the appointment and appointment of scholars. Finally, many achievements formed by scholars became the professional intelligence information that Japan possessed at that time, providing guidance and help for its invasion of China.

Based on the travel notes, reports, monographs and official archives written by Japanese scholars who carried out fieldwork in China during the Meiji period, this paper systematically collates the fieldwork carried out by Japanese scholars in China during the whole Meiji period, and deeply explores the driving force behind them, thus revealing the close connection between the fieldwork of Japanese scholars and the policy of Japanese aggression against China. It is hoped that this article will provide some help for understanding the communication between China and Japan in modern times as well as Japan's intelligence work and aggression against China.