Japanese militarism: Difference between revisions
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| publisher = Donald I. Fine | year = 1985}}</ref> | | publisher = Donald I. Fine | year = 1985}}</ref> | ||
==Cultural factors== | ==Cultural factors== | ||
The [[shishi]] movement, which began with emphasis on supporting the Emperor, was based of ''[[kokutai]]'', or the Japanese national polity for which the Emperor was father figure, and sometimes a deity. As such, the shishi have been considered predecessors of the | The [[shishi]] movement, which began with emphasis on supporting the Emperor, was based of ''[[kokutai]]'', or the Japanese national polity for which the Emperor was father figure, and sometimes a deity. As such, the shishi have been considered predecessors of the militarism of the 20th century.<ref>{{citation | ||
| title = Premodern Japan: a historical survey | | title = Premodern Japan: a historical survey | ||
| author = Mikiso Hane | | author = Mikiso Hane | ||
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}}, pp. 214-217</ref> | }}, pp. 214-217</ref> | ||
[[Gekokoju]] | [[Gekokoju]] became, in the 1920s and 1930s, an insitutionalized system of insubordination by junior and mid-level officers. Its theory held that obedience to superiors was less important than obedience to principles, above all, that of national polity or ''[[kokutai]]''.<ref>{{citation | ||
| title = Modern Japanese thought | | title = Modern Japanese thought | ||
| editor = Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi | | editor = Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi | ||
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It could justify assassinations and overthrows of government. Gekokoju was practiced both by middle and senior officers against the government, as in the [[Manchurian Incident]], and by junior officers, as in the [[February 26, 1936 Incident]]. | It could justify assassinations and overthrows of government. Gekokoju was practiced both by middle and senior officers against the government, as in the [[Manchurian Incident]], and by junior officers, as in the [[February 26, 1936 Incident]]. | ||
==Historical review== | ==Historical review== | ||
===Early history=== | ===Early history=== | ||
Revision as of 22:51, 3 September 2010
While Japan has always had a strong individual warrior tradition (e.g., bushido), Japanese militarism primarily refers to the increasingly important role of the organized military in government, beginning with the Meiji Restoration of 1838. Radical military officers had a considerable role in starting World War Two in the Pacific, particularly in the 1920-1940 period. While there is much historical work on what these officers did, there has been much less analysis on why the Japanese system of government could be so affected by them. One reviewer summarizes theories that include:[1]
- "A breakdown of the decision-making processes in the civilian and military sectors;
- an internal response to external traditions
- poor leadership
- the inherent Japanese military tradition
- a reaction against urbanization
- the plot or plan thesis versus the drift-into-war thesis.
While the usual meaning of the term deals with matters prior to 1945, Edwin Hoyt and others argue that there may be a post-1945 trend toward militarism. They argue that Article 9 of the postwar Constitution, banning war as an instrument of national policy, has not been fully effective. [2]
Cultural factors
The shishi movement, which began with emphasis on supporting the Emperor, was based of kokutai, or the Japanese national polity for which the Emperor was father figure, and sometimes a deity. As such, the shishi have been considered predecessors of the militarism of the 20th century.[3]
Gekokoju became, in the 1920s and 1930s, an insitutionalized system of insubordination by junior and mid-level officers. Its theory held that obedience to superiors was less important than obedience to principles, above all, that of national polity or kokutai.[4] It can also be be translated as "insubordination", but as a means of redressing social injustice, which arose in the fifteenth century when provincial lords disobeyed the shogun and the shogun disobeyed the emperor. [5]
It could justify assassinations and overthrows of government. Gekokoju was practiced both by middle and senior officers against the government, as in the Manchurian Incident, and by junior officers, as in the February 26, 1936 Incident.
Historical review
Early history
Meiji era
Taisho era
Showa era
Post-1945
References
- ↑ Sandra T. Jamison, "The Rise of Militarism in Prewar Japan: A Critical Review", Chung Chi Journal
- ↑ Edwin T. Hoyt (1985), The Militarists: the Rise of Japanese Militarism since WWII, Donald I. Fine, ISBN 0917657179
- ↑ Mikiso Hane (1990), Premodern Japan: a historical survey, Westview Press, ISBN 978-0813380650, pp. 214-217
- ↑ Tetsuo Najita & H.D. Harootunian, Japan's Revolt against the West, in Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi, Modern Japanese thought, Cambridge University Press, pp. 208-209
- ↑ John Toland (1970), Chapter 1: Gekokoju, The Rising Sun: the Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1935, vol. Volume 1, Random House, p. 5