Departments
Intermediate Japanese - Free Online Course
GUNKOKUSHUGI
軍国主義
"militarism"
Historians have debated the question of whether or not Japan was a “fascist” country during World War II, like its allies Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Most agree that the word “fascist,” strictly speaking, does not describe wartime Japan. There was no charismatic Japanese equivalent of Mussolini or Hitler. Moreover, there while dissent was stifled, there was no pervasive security apparatus like the Gestapo.
Japan, was, however, certainly a militaristic country during the war years—insofar as the military took over civilian governmental institutions, and the nation’s policies were determined by the military establishment.
Militarism as a Backlash
Japan’s war-era militarism ironically has its roots in the relatively liberal Taishō era (1912-1926). The Western affectations of the young during the Taishō period stirred resentment among many traditionalists. Militaristic organizations called “rural patriotic associations” formed as backlash movements. These associations consisted mostly of school-age boys, and were led by army veterans or local civic leaders. The associations practiced paramilitary drills, and staged patriotic rallies.
In 1925, the Army Minister, General Utagaki, expressed the hope that such organizations would one day come under the direct control of the army. With the population mobilized and properly led, he stated, civilians and soldiers alike could devote themselves to “the emperor’s work” in “war and peace alike.”
Military Divisions and Coup Attempts
“The military” was by no means monolithic. There was an intense rivalry between the army and the navy. Within the army, loyalties were divided between a faction called the Kōdōha / 皇道派 (“Imperial Way”) which emphasized devotion to the emperor and the cultivation of “the Japanese spirit,” and the Tōseiha / 統制派 (“Control Faction”) which emphasized modernization.
On February 26, 1936 a group of junior army officers loyal to the Kōdōha attempted a coup d'état. They led 1,400 rebels (chosen from the army’s 1st division) through the snowy streets of downtown Tokyo, until they arrived at the Imperial Palace. Then they surrounded the palace, and announced that their aim was a “Shōwa restoration” (Shōwa was the emperor currently in power.) They were unclear regarding exactly what a “Shōwa restoration” would entail. Nevertheless, the coup members were deadly serious. They killed three senior government leaders in cold blood. The prime minister himself was also a target; but the rebels bungled by shooting his brother-in-law instead.