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Japan The Rise of the Militarists
Ultranationalism was characteristic of right-wing
politicians
and conservative military men since the inception of the
Meiji
Restoration, contributing greatly to the prowar politics
of the
1870s. Disenchanted former samurai had established
patriotic
societies and intelligence-gathering organizations, such
as the
Gen'yosha (Black Ocean Society, founded in 1881) and its
later
offshoot, the Kokuryukai (Black Dragon Society, or Amur
River
Society, founded in 1901). These groups became active in
domestic
and foreign politics, helped foment prowar sentiments, and
supported ultranationalist causes through the end of World
War II.
After Japan's victories over China and Russia, the
ultranationalists concentrated on domestic issues and
perceived
domestic threats, such as socialism and communism.
After World War I and the intellectual ferment of the
period,
nationalist societies became numerous but had a minority
voice
during the era of two-party democratic politics. Diverse
and angry
groups called for nationalization of all wealth above a
fixed
minimal amount and for armed overseas expansion. The
emperor was
highly revered by these groups, and when Hirohito was
enthroned in
1927, initiating the Showa period (Bright Harmony,
1926-89), there
were calls for a "Showa Restoration" and a revival of
Shinto.
Emperor-centered neo-Shintoism, or State Shinto, which had
long
been developing, came to fruition in the 1930s and 1940s.
It
glorified the emperor and traditional Japanese virtues to
the
exclusion of Western influences, which were perceived as
greedy,
individualistic, bourgeois, and assertive. The ideals of
the
Japanese family-state and self-sacrifice in service of the
nation
were given a missionary interpretation and were thought by
their
ultranationalist proponents to be applicable to the modern
world.
The 1930s were a decade of fear in Japan, characterized
by the
resurgence of right-wing patriotism, the weakening of
democratic
forces, domestic terrorist violence (including an
assassination
attempt on the emperor in 1932), and stepped-up military
aggression
abroad. A prelude to this state of affairs was Tanaka
Giichi's term
as prime minister from 1927 to 1929. Twice he sent troops
to China
to obstruct Chiang Kai-shek's unification campaign. In
June 1928,
adventurist officers of the Guandong Army, the Imperial
Japanese
Army unit stationed in Manchuria, embarked an unauthorized
initiatives to protect Japanese interests, including the
assassination of a former ally, Manchurian warlord Zhang
Zuolin.
The perpetrators hoped the Chinese would be prompted to
take
military action, forcing the Guandong Army to retaliate.
The
Japanese high command and the Chinese, however, both
refused to
mobilize. The incident turned out to be a striking example
of
unchecked terrorism. Even though press censorship kept the
Japanese
public from knowing about these events, they led to the
downfall of
Tanaka and set the stage for a similar plot, the
Manchurian
Incident, in 1931.
A secret society founded by army officers seeking to
establish
a military dictatorship--the Sakurakai (Cherry Society,
the cherry
blossom being emblematic of self-sacrifice)--plotted to
attack the
Diet and political party headquarters, assassinate the
prime
minister, and declare martial law under a "Showa
Restoration"
government led by the army minister. Although the army
canceled its
coup plans (to have been carried out in March 1931), no
reprisals
were taken and terrorist activity was again tacitly
condoned.
The Manchurian Incident of September 1931 did not fail,
and it
set the stage for the eventual military takeover of the
Japanese
government. Guandong Army conspirators blew up a few
meters of
South Manchurian Railway Company track near Mukden (now
Shenyang),
blamed it on Chinese saboteurs, and used the event as an
excuse to
seize Mukden. One month later, in Tokyo, military figures
plotted
the October Incident, which was aimed at setting up a
national
socialist state. The plot failed, but again the news was
suppressed
and the military perpetrators were not punished. Japanese
forces
attacked Shanghai in January 1932 on the pretext of
Chinese
resistance in Manchuria. Finding stiff Chinese resistance
in
Shanghai, the Japanese waged a three-month undeclared war
there
before a truce was reached in March 1932. Several days
later,
Manchukuo was established. Manchukuo was a Japanese puppet
state
headed by the last Chinese emperor, Puyi, as chief
executive and
later emperor. The civilian government in Tokyo was
powerless to
prevent these military happenings. Instead of being
condemned, the
Guandong Army's actions enjoyed popular support back home.
International reactions were extremely negative, however.
Japan
withdrew from the League of Nations, and the United States
became
increasingly hostile.
The Japanese system of party government finally met its
demise
with the May 15th Incident in 1932, when a group of junior
naval
officers and army cadets assassinated Prime Minister
Inukai
Tsuyoshi (1855-1932). Although the assassins were put on
trial and
sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment, they were seen
popularly
as having acted out of patriotism. Inukai's successors,
military
men chosen by Saionji, the last surviving genro,
recognized
Manchukuo and generally approved the army's actions in
securing
Manchuria as an industrial base, an area for Japanese
emigration,
and a staging ground for war with the Soviet Union.
Various army
factions contended for power amid increasing suppression
of dissent
and more assassinations. In the February 26th Incident of
1936,
about 1,500 troops went on a rampage of assassination
against the
current and former prime ministers and other cabinet
members, and
even Saionji and members of the imperial court. The revolt
was put
down by other military units, and its leaders were
executed after
secret trials. Despite public dismay over these events and
the
discredit they brought to numerous military figures,
Japan's
civilian leadership capitulated to the army's demands in
the hope
of ending domestic violence. Increases were seen in
defense
budgets, naval construction (Japan announced it would no
longer
accede to the London Naval Treaty), and patriotic
indoctrination as
Japan moved toward a wartime footing.
In November 1936, the Anti-Comintern Pact, an agreement
to
exchange information and collaborate in preventing
communist
activities, was signed by Japan and Germany (Italy joined
a year
later). War was launched against China after the Marco
Polo Bridge
Incident of July 7, 1937, in which an allegedly unplanned
clash
took place near Beiping (as Beijing was then called)
between
Chinese and Japanese troops and quickly escalated into
full-scale
warfare. The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45) ensued,
and
relations with the United States, Britain, and the Soviet
Union
deteriorated. The increased military activities in
China--and the
Japanese idea of establishing "Mengukuo" in Inner Mongolia
and the
Mongolian People's Republic--soon led to a major clash
over rival
Mongolia-Manchukuo border claims. When Japanese troops
invaded
eastern Mongolia, a ground and air battle with a joint
Soviet-
Mongolian army took place between May and September 1939
at the
Battle of Halhin Gol. The Japanese were severely defeated,
sustaining as many as 80,000 casualties, and thereafter
Japan
concentrated its war efforts on its southward drive in
China and
Southeast Asia, a strategy that helped propel Japan ever
closer to
war with the United States and Britain and their allies.
Under the prime ministership of Konoe Fumimaro
(1891-1945)--the
last head of the famous Fujiwara house--the government was
streamlined and given absolute power over the nation's
assets. In
1940, the 2,600th anniversary of the founding of Japan,
according
to tradition, Konoe's cabinet called for the establishment
of a
"Greater East Asia Coprosperity Sphere," a concept
building on
Konoe's 1938 call for a "New Order in Greater East Asia,"
encompassing Japan, Manchukuo, China, and Southeast Asia.
The
Greater East Asia Coprosperity Sphere was to integrate
Asia
politically and economically--under Japanese
leadership--against
Western domination and was developed in recognition of the
changing
geopolitical situation emerging in 1940. (In 1942 the
Greater East
Asia Ministry was established, and in 1943 the Greater
East Asia
Conference was held in Tokyo.) Also in 1940, political
parties were
ordered to dissolve, and the Imperial Rule Assistance
Association,
comprising members of all former parties, was established
to
transmit government orders throughout society. In
September 1940,
Japan joined the Axis alliance with Germany and Italy when
it
signed the Tripartite Pact, a military agreement to
redivide the
world that was directed primarily against the United
States.
There had been a long-standing and deep-seated
antagonism
between Japan and the United States since the first decade
of the
twentieth century. Each perceived the other as a military
threat,
and trade rivalry was carried on in earnest. The Japanese
greatly
resented the racial discrimination perpetuated by United
States
immigration laws, and the Americans became increasingly
wary of
Japan's interference in the self-determination of other
peoples.
Japan's military expansionism and quest for national self-
sufficiency eventually led the United States in 1940 to
embargo war
supplies, abrogate a long-standing commercial treaty, and
put
greater restrictions on the export of critical
commodities. These
American tactics, rather than forcing Japan to a
standstill, made
Japan more desperate. After signing the Japanese-Soviet
Neutrality
Pact in April 1941, and while still actively making war
plans
against the United States, Japan participated in
diplomatic
negotiations with Washington aimed at achieving a peaceful
settlement. Washington was concerned about Japan's role in
the
Tripartite Pact and demanded the withdrawal of Japanese
troops from
China and Southeast Asia. Japan countered that it would
not use
force unless "a country not yet involved in the European
war" (that
is, the United States) attacked Germany or Italy. Further,
Japan
demanded that the United States and Britain not interfere
with a
Japanese settlement in China (a pro-Japanese puppet
government had
been set up in Nanjing in 1940). Because certain Japanese
military
leaders were working at cross-purposes with officials
seeking a
peaceful settlement (including Konoe, other civilians, and
some
military figures), talks were deadlocked. On October 15,
1941, army
minister Tojo Hideki (1884-1948) declared the negotiations
ended.
Konoe resigned and was replaced by Tojo. After the final
United
States rejection of Japan's terms of negotiation, on
December 1,
1941, the Imperial Conference (an ad hoc meeting
convened--and then
only rarely--in the presence of the emperor) ratified the
decision
to embark on a war of "self-defense and self-preservation"
and to
attack the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor.
Data as of January 1994
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