Japan Nationalism
The modernization that has changed the world
I believe that a huge number of people know about a beautiful and fascinating country called Japan or the Land of the Rising Sun. However, its history is full of dark spots, like radical nationalism, fascism, civil wars.
Have you ever seen samurai or Japanese women with kimono? These traditional attributes were spread in Japan before the second part of the 19th century when Western imperialistic countries started to be a real threat for Japan, so this small closed country was forced to start a rapid modernization in all spheres of life and especially in the military.
This period is called the Meiji restoration (1868–1912), when under the rule of Emperor Meiji (yeah, it sounds quite controversial), a lot of reforms were implemented to modernize the country (educational reform, cultural, military, and so on). One of the main goals of authorities was to promote national unity, nationalism, and centralization.
In 1889 in the constitution defined that allegiance to the state was the main duty of each citizen in Japan. The government actively interfered in economics to increase and build a strong military. The motto “Fukoku kyōhei” means “enrich the country and help military” to encourage private enterprises to invest in the military.
Moreover, in order to purify national beliefs from the influence of other countries, and make a strong cultural national identity, there was a revival of Shintoism (when the emperor was like a divine being). It was Shintoism that kept the nation’s spirit of resistance, provided the ability to mobilize national energy to solve national problems. The practice of emperor worship and his portraits were spread in a whole country in order to strengthen national solidarity and patriotism.
At schools, the main emphasis was on traditional national ideological values, morality, and religion. Also for schools, there were printed a lot of books with an ideological orientation that defined the position of State superior to position of personality and position of Emperor superior to State. Moreover, all students must attend courses against foreign invasion and received military drills. A lot of students even were recruited, for home defense and regular military units.
It is worth saying that Japan really succeeded in the transformation from an underdeveloped unknown country with Confucian hierarchical order to one of the most industrial nations. In 1905, Japan could even defeat Russia in war, which made leading countries concerned about Japan’s military power. After this triumphal victory, there was a triple growth in Japanese nationalism. During this war, Yasukuni Shrine was converted into a focus for nationalist sentiment and received state patronage until the end of World War II. Of course, it is not surprising that in every authoritarian country Japan created special police (“Peace Preservation Department”) that controlled dissent in the press and persecuted communists.
In the 30s after the political and economic crisis that was defeated by the militarization of the economy, the first fascist groups began to appear in Japan. If we talk about the goals pursued by representatives of Japanese fascism, then first of all it was the elimination of the parliamentary regime and the formation of a military dictatorship. Following the example of the Italians, Japan did not destroy the monarchical system. It differed in the fact that in Italy the king had no power, but in Japan, the emperor received unlimited opportunities and full power.
In this situation, global censorship, media unification, and support for chauvinism flourished. It was promoted that the divine task of Japan (people strongly believed that gods always help Japan) was the establishment of social balance, the creation of an integral united state, which would be led by the emperor, and also promoted the ideas of the supreme Yamato race.
During World War II there was a peak in Pan-Asianism, an ideology that promotes political and economic unity and cooperation of Asians. Japanese propaganda propagated a pan-Asian ideology in the Asian territories occupied by Japanese troops. The main slogan, “Asia for Asiatics,” called for the struggle of indigenous Asian peoples against British and American colonialism.
Even after World War II and the capitulation of Japan, Americans could not destroy the unity of Japan for one simple reason — the state in Japan has always taken seriously the preservation of the ethnic origins of the nation. Cultural history in Japan has been a solid foundation for the appeal and success of Japanese nationalism in the past and present.
Since the beginning of the Cold War, closer relations were developed between Japan and the USA against the USSR. Japan even hoped to become “the third leg in a triangle involving two superpowers.” However, Japan refused from militaristic nationalism and the idea to expand by colonies, because it had rapid economic growth, so Japan chose another path to prosperity.
At the beginning of the 21st century, there was an unexpected rise in Japanese nationalism because of the decline of Tokyo’s influence both in the world economy and in politics. Neonationalists aggressively demand the Kuril Islands from Russia and promote the idea that “It’s time for Japan to wake up,” shake off its failures, and take up the military power build-up, which will contribute both to the development of the economy and the rise of national consciousness. And when Japan becomes strong again, everyone will have to respect it — both China, Russia, and other countries.
Today Japanese elite deftly manipulates people, their national feelings, myths, and traditional Japanese culture and carefully hints that survival in this world is only possible by combining the collective efforts of all Japanese under the leadership of the emperor and the state.
Last thoughts
There are a lot of features of Japanese nationalism, such that it always goes from the state, using centralization and government control of all reforms in different areas of Japanese life. Secondly, in all periods it has been presented as an important tool to fight against an external threat. Thirdly, Japanese nationalism has developed in history as authoritarian and imperial. Finally, an important feature of Japanese state nationalism is its complex and dynamic nature. Today, there are a lot of nationalist organizations and nationalists in Japan. Moreover, religious undertone, rituals, and ceremonies play an important role in the maintenance of Japanese nationalism.
