Q. WHAT LED TO THE GROWTH OF MILITARISM IN JAPAN?
Japan's march toward militarism started soon after the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate
and the beginning of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, with the Meiji oligarchs' adoption of a
policy of fukoku kyôhei (rich country, strong military). Although the Meiji oligarchs showed
restraint in outward expressions of militarism and imperialism in the first half of the Meiji period
from 1868 to 1890, this does not mean they disagreed with the goals of foreign expansion and
military build-up, but rather they first focused more on modernization and economic growth to
catch up with Western industrial powers before they took significant steps to expand Japan's
influence in foreign matters.
The Meiji oligarchs' early leanings toward militarism and imperialism can be seen by the
Conscription Law of 1873, which required all males to serve active duty in the military for
three years and reserve duty for an additional four years, and by several small territorial
acquisitions in the 1870s, such as the Ryûkyû Islands, Bonin Islands, and Kurile Islands.
The rise of militarism in Japan can be traced back in the century-old military tradition of the
samurai. Hundreds of years of rule by men-of-sword had made the people ready to accept the
claims of militarists to national leadership. Fundamentally, Japan had a strong tradition of
unquestioned obedience to authority. The spirit of Bushido had existed in the hearts of the
Japanese and it permeated into all social strata through the nation-wide conscription army.
Furthermore, foreign threats emphasized the importance of militarism. Japan in the 1850s had
been forced to sign unequal treaties, and her independence was threatened in an age of
imperialism. These facts taught the Japanese the realities of power politics — that “Might is
Right.” As such, the Meiji leaders, mostly ex-samurai, learnt the necessity of a strong military
force. In time, they carried out important military reforms and created an army second only to
Germany in the world. Inevitably, the military services were to have decisive influence in the
nation’s affairs.
Institutional loopholes helped to increase the influence of the militarists. The Meiji
Constitution 1889 gave autonomy to the armed services. It stated that the services had the
right of direct access to the emperor, and thus bypassing the government should it become
necessary to do so. A second loophole was the 1900 decree. In that decree, it established the
rule that only serving generals and admirals could become Ministers of War and of the Navy.
As such, the army and navy could wreck a government which was against their interests by
refusing to supply it with army or navy ministers. These institutional loopholes, no doubt,
encouraged the growth of military influence and autonomy.
Another factor that strengthened the tradition of militarism was Japan’s victories in the Sino-
Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars. These two victories brought great benefits to Japan - in
terms of money and territorial gains as well as international status. These gave great prestige
to the militarists and taught the Japanese a lesson that war was the best instrument to further
national interest and it paid high dividends. In short, victories justified the advocates of
militarism and expansion.
Japan’s overseas expansion became necessary with the successful Meiji modernization.
Significant economic advances were made, especially in industrialization and population growth.
These developments pointed to the search for living space, raw materials, markets and the
like from abroad. The Asian mainland, in particular, China and Korea, became Japan’s primary
target for expansion.
Meiji leaders, for the sake of national unity, ardently cultivated an emperor-centered
nationalism among Japanese minds. It placed the Emperor in an unchallenged position. Thus,
whoever acted in the name of the emperor could control the destiny of Japan. In theory, the
armed forces were the personal army and navy of the emperor, and therefore were qualified to
speak for the emperor.
By making use of this absolute obedience to the emperor and the nation, the army started to
carry out aggression in the 1930s, believing that this served the will of the emperor and the
nation’s interest. A side-effect of this fanatical devotion to the emperor was the growth of
ultra-nationalism. A number of extremist societies such as the Black Dragon Society fanned up
the sentiment of Japan’s superiority in the world by virtue of its divine origins. They strongly
advocated militarism and imperialism.
All the above were underlying factors that enabled the rise of militarism in the 1930s. For the
time being, the Meiji oligarchs as a group could hold the militarists at bay. With the fading out of
the oligarchs, however, no political group was strong enough to play a similar role. As a matter
of fact, party politicians failed disastrously to stop the rise of militarist influence by the early
1930s.
Failure of Party Government:
Despite its achievements in the earlier years, the failure of party government became apparent
by the late 1920s. This failure of the parties to provide national leadership gave the militarists
their chance to rise to power. As we have seen in earlier section, the failure of party
governments derived partly from its own weaknesses: internal disunity, corruption, no mass
support, and economic failures.
There was another side of the story. In foreign affairs, there was strong reaction among the
army officers against the “weak-kneed” diplomacy of the party governments. The military men
resented the reduction in size of the armed forces and regarded Foreign Minister Shidehara’s
policy of improving relations with China as a sign of weakness. They were especially unhappy
with the 1930 London Naval Disarmament Conference in which Japan agreed to a naval
inferiority relative to Britain and the United States. On this account, the Prime Minister was
assassinated by an extremist.
One of the most influential nationalist extremists was Kita Ikki who advocated an economic and
social revolution led by the militarists. He also advocated the conquest of such areas as
Manchuria and Siberia because Japan lacked natural resources and living space. His ideas
provided a program of action for the militarists. The influence of Kita was acknowledged in the
Showa Restoration movement in the early 1930s. The concept of Showa Restoration envisaged
the return of power from the parties and zaibatsu to the emperor and militarists who served
better the nation’s interests.
Independence of the Military:
Also forming part of the basis for the growth of militarism was the freedom from civilian
control enjoyed by the Japanese armed forces. In 1878, the Imperial Japanese Army
established the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff office, modeled after the Prussian
General Staff. This office was independent of, and equal to (and later superior) to the Ministry
of War of Japan in terms of authority.
The Imperial Japanese Navy soon followed with the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff.
These General Staff offices were responsible for the planning and execution of military
operations, and reported directly to the emperor. As the Chiefs of the General Staff were not
cabinet ministers, they did not report to the Prime Minister, and were thus completely
independent of any civilian oversight or control.
The Army and the Navy also had decisive say on the formation (and survival) of any civilian
government. Since the law required that the posts of Army Minister and Navy Minister be
filled by active-duty officers nominated by their respective services, and since the law also
required that a prime minister resign if he could not fill all of his cabinet posts, both the Army
and the Navy had final say on the formation of a cabinet, and could bring down the cabinet at
any time by withdrawing their minister and refusing to nominate a successor.
Growth of Ultra Nationalism:
During the Taisho period, Japan saw a short period of democratic rule (the so-called "Taisho
democracy"), and several diplomatic attempts were made to encourage peace, such as the
Washington Naval Treaty and participation in the League of Nations.
However, with the beginning of the Showa era, the apparent collapse of the world economic
order with the Great Depression starting in 1929, coupled with the imposition of trade
barriers by western nations and an increasing radicalism in Japanese politics including issues
of domestic terrorist violence (including an assassination attempt on the emperor in 1932 and a
number of attempted coups d'etat by ultra-nationalist secret societies) led to a resurgence of
jingoistic patriotism, a weakening of democratic forces and a belief that the military could
solve all threats both domestic and foreign. Patriotic education also strengthened the sense of
a hakko ichiu , or a divine mission to unify Asia under Japanese rule.
A turning point came with the ratification of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. Prime Minister
Osachi Hamaguchi and his Minseito party agreed to a treaty which would severely limit
Japanese naval power. This treaty was strongly opposed by the military, who claimed that it
would endanger national defense, and was portrayed by the opposition Rikken Seiyukai party
as having been forced upon Japan by a hostile United States, which further inflamed growing
anti-foreign sentiment.
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.
Circumstances Favourable in the Present Situation:
Meanwhile, China by 1928 was on the verge of being unified by Chiang Kai-shek. A unified and
strong China could threaten Japan’s position in Manchuria where the Kwangtung Army was
stationed. Apparently, the Nanking government was trying to bring Manchuria back into
China’s control. The Manchurian warlord, Chang Hsueh-liang defied Japan by associating himself
with the Nanking government. In the eye of the militarists, Japan had to act fast in order to
safeguard her vested interests. Consequently, in September 1931, the Kwangtung Army took
independent action and seized control of Manchuria.
Another significant factor was the effects of the Great Depression on Japan’s economy. This
world-wide depression led to a collapse of international trade because each country raised
protective tariffs to protect her own interests. This development was fatal to Japan’s economy
which depended heavily on export trade. Thus, between 1929 and 1931, Japan’s exports
dropped 50%, unemployment reached 3 million, and peasants’ real income dropped one-third
as a result of falling prices for silk.
Then, there was a failure of rice crop in 1932. Such rural distresses intensified the discontents
of the army officers, many of whom had connections with the rural population. They blamed
the party governments in power and believed that parliamentary policies were ruining Japan.
Consequently, there was a popular support for military adventures. Many Japanese believed
that overseas expansion was an effective solution to economic problems.
Aspiration for Western-style Imperialism:
The Meiji leaders sought to make Japan a first-rate nation (ittô koku), which included the
prestige and power associated with foreign territorial possessions. During the 19th century,
the Western powers of Britain, Germany, America, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia,
and Italy made various overseas territorial acquisitions, many times through military means.
Knowing very well the long history of Western imperialism, which began in the 16th century,
the Meiji oligarchs desired to join the Western powers in demands for rights and privileges in
other Asian countries. However, the oligarchs realized that the country needed to modernize
and strengthen its military before it attempted to assert its demands to the Western powers.
Even after Japan had been building its military for several years, Japanese leaders realized in
1895 that the country still had not reached the same level as the imperialist Western powers.
Although Japan won the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-95 and as a result acquired Formosa and
forced China to pay a large indemnity, Japan could not stand up to the other Western powers
when Russia, Germany, and France forced Japan in the Triple Intervention to give up the
Liaotung Peninsula. This led Japan to a rapid increase in military expenditures between 1895
and 1904.
Security Concerns:
Japan's militaristic attitude intensified as government leaders recognized the need to ensure
the defense of the country against Russia and other Western powers. Observing the advanced
technological achievements and superior military and naval power of the West, Japan had fears
of being invaded by a Western country such as Russia. Also, with China being so weak militarily
and economically in the late 19th century, Japanese leaders feared the rivalries of the Western
powers could bring China to collapse, which would have profound implications on the security
of Japan. Yamagata Aritomo, known as the father of the modern Japanese army, advocated
expansionism more for security reasons rather than for conquest as an end in itself or for other
reasons.
Yamagata Aritomo recommended that Japan not only protect its line of sovereignty
(shukensen) but also strive toward its line of advantage (riekisen), which meant that Japan
should extend its influence and control beyond its national borders in order to ensure its
security. Control over Korea represented an essential element in the protection of Japan against
Western countries due to the two countries' geographical propinquity and due to Korea's having
borders with both China and Russia.
Japan soon recognized that it needed control over the Liaotung Peninsula in southern
Manchuria to ensure the defense of Korea.
Belief in Asian Leadership Role:
In the late 19th century, many Japanese leaders came to believe that their country had a
"manifest destiny" to free other Asian countries from Western imperialist powers and to lead
these countries to collective strength and prosperity. Fukuzawa Yukichi and other late 19th
century writers supported foreign expansionism and Social Darwinism, which promoted survival
of the strongest cultures by a process of natural selection.
In 1905, Japan became the first Asian country to defeat a Western power, namely Russia in the
Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, which bolstered Japan's belief in its destiny to lead Asia and
encouraged leaders in other Asian countries that they had a chance to stand against Western
imperialist designs.
Several ultranationalist groups and writers, such as the Black Dragon Society and Kita Ikki,
gained increasing popularity with their views that Japan should take leadership in Asia to
expel foreign powers by means of a righteous war if necessary. Many of these ultranationalist
groups believed that the moral purity of the Yamato race and Japan's unique ancestry as
descendants of the sun goddess Amaterasu entitled the Japanese to such a leadership role in
Asia.
Provocation by Western Powers:
A series of coercive acts, insults, and provocations by Western imperialist countries from the
1850s to the 1930s caused great anger to fester among the Japanese people. Japan's signing of
unequal treaties with America, France, Holland, and Russia in 1858 placed restrictions on
Japan's national sovereignty, such as extraterritoriality, which meant that foreigners in Japan
had immunity from the jurisdiction of the Japanese legal system. The 1921-22 Washington
Conference naval treaties forced on Japan an unfavorable battleship ratio of 5:5:3 for the US,
Britain, and Japan respectively, and the Western powers at the London Naval Conference of
1930 coerced Japan to accept the same ratio for its heavy cruisers.
Strong racial prejudice by Westerners toward Japanese, in addition to Chinese and other
Asians, led to several severely insulting incidents for the Japanese people. In 1919 at the Paris
Peace Conference, Western countries rejected the simple Japanese request to have a racial
equality clause included in the League of Nations Covenant. In 1905, California passed anti-
Japanese legislation. In the following year, the school board in San Francisco ordered Japanese
and other Asian children to attend segregated schools. In 1924, America passed the Japanese
Exclusion Act to shut off Japanese immigration into the US. This series of international affronts
to Japanese pride and status provided fuel to the militaristic and imperialist sentiments of
Japanese government leaders and ultranationalists.
The end of Japanese Militarism:
Despite efforts to totally militarize Japanese society during the war, including such measures
as the National Service Draft Ordinance and the National Spiritual Mobilization Movement,
Japanese militarism was completely discredited during the American occupation by the utter
failure of Japan's military in World War II.
After the surrender of Japan, many of its former military leaders were tried for war crimes
before the Tokyo tribunal, its government, educational system revised and had pacifism
written into the post-war Constitution of Japan as one of its key tenets.
Bibliography:
Japanese Imperialism 1894-1945: William Beasley
Japanese Militarism, Past and Present: John M Maki
A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present: Andrew Gordon
Japan in War & Peace: John W Dower
