Japan and History

Introduction

Japan starting from the Meiji Restoration tried to be a modern state and one of the respected nations in the world. The course of Japan changed when the pace shifted towards militarism before the World War II. After the war, the total surrender of Japan and demilitarization and democratization of Japan created a pacifist society. The success of economic miracle and the being one of the prominent economies in the world is not sufficient for the government of Japan, in the time of an assertive China rising in the region.

The Japanese politicians did not see themselves as a normal state, and believe the post-war policies and education created a pacifist society; the Japanese policy makers try to infuse nationalism by actions regarding with historical events that can take negative reaction of their neighbors and change the post-war constitutional situation. These actions on historical monuments, aimed to ignite nationalism and show the stance in the region.

The Path to Devastation

The pace of Japan to be a respected nation started with the Meiji Restoration. Japan managed to be secluded from the sporadic Western intrusion for a while; however the Opium War increased the number of foreign ships in the region. In1853 an armed mission from the United States led by Commodore Mathew C. Perry forced Japan to admit concessions, and this event started a series of unequal treaties that gave rights to foreigners.[1] The concessions to the westerners showed the weakness of the bakufu. The opening of Japan to foreigners ignited the resistance action to remove the bakufu.

The events afterwards led the downfall of the bakufu. The new main sovereign elites started a restoration in which the emperor was the main legitimate figurehead.[2] The Meiji Restoration was a top down controlled reform process that is initiated due to the external threat.[3] The people who overthrow the bakufu were aware of the world order of the time; they realized that they had to reform the society and political system in the western way and establish institutions the same as in the western world. The Charter Oath that opened the way for the modernization of the country was proclaimed just after the abolishment of the old bakufu.[4] After the Charter Oath the new regime step by step abolished the old feudal system and classes. The Meiji Restorations transformed Japan into a modern country by emulating west. The new modern Japan needed colonies for the expansion of economic and military power like the western powers.

Japan in search of becoming a powerful state, used the Tonghak Rebellion in Korea to show her military might. China’s relative power over the region challenged during the Sino-Japanese war; the traditional power relationship with Japan reversed after China’s defeat by Japan. The China’s weakness was seen after the defeat. The Sino-Japanese war changed the balance and established a new order in the region. The Sino-Japanese War was the start of imperialism and colonialism movement of the Japan that would later end in total failure of a nation. Japan expansion went on effectively by defeating Russia in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War. This victory over a European country showed that Japan is capable as the Western countries.

During the Meiji era, the government was controlled by a small ruling group of elder statesmen. The genro used its position to coordinate the bureaucracy, the military, the parliament, the emperor. After the death of the last member of the genro, no single governmental institution was able to establish full control, until the 1931 Manchurian Incident. In 1931 Japanese army seized all of Manchuria after a plotted bomb blast on a Japanese railroad by Japanese officers. The Manchurian incident escalated the militarism of the Japanese politics. [5] During the military rule nationalism and the belief of superior was infused in the society.

Japan was ruled by military elites during the World War II, and the Japanese Army caused too many traumas in China and Korea that still remain as unsolved contentious issues between these countries. In the World War II, Japan was on the side of the Axis Powers. The war was ended for Japan with total surrender. All the large cities, the industries and the transportation networks were severely damaged. The United States led the Allies in the occupation and rehabilitation of the Japanese state. The Occupation led by General Douglas A. MacArthur, enacted widespread military, political, economic, and social reforms. The aim was demilitarization of Japan and turning the country into a democratic state.[6] The policy gave fruit as Japan economically recovered and prospered. However, the social consequences over the course created a pacifist society.

The constitutional constraints on military power and the American presence in Japan freed the government to support an Army. The funds were used for economic development. The Japanese economy grew rapidly till the oil crises. The Japanese then managed to maintain modestly and to grow steadily until the 1990s.[7] Japan established a new identity of anti-militarism, and a focused on economic development. Japanese history textbooks shortly mention the war period and do not mention what the Japanese Army did in China and Korea.[8] The shortened history led a society more pacifist and not less nationalist.

Conclusion

The end of the Cold War changed the security implications in the region, and the rising China in the region both economically and militarily forced the politicians revive the nationalism within the society. Some Japanese politicians’ visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, in which 14 convicted war criminals enshrined with the other soldiers,[9] the attempts of Abe to amend the constitution that restrict having a robust military[10] could be seen as efforts to ignite national identity after a period of pacifism. Japan normalization is deemed as having a legitimate military force, since soft power had not any effect in world politics.[11] The normalization of Japan is constructing national identity.

The Japanese politicians believe, Japan is not a normal state because of infused pacifism post-war era. Today politicians try to invigorate a society by visiting historical places and changing the constitutions that restricts military power in the eve of emergence of an assertive China. All this actions of “normalization” have two effects, igniting the nationalism in the society and showing a posture to China and other actors in the region.

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[1] Conrad Schirokauer and Donald N. Clark, Modern East Asia: A Brief History, (California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2008), 144-47.

[2] Schirokauer and Clark, Modern East Asia, 153.

[3] Martin Jacques, When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order, (New York:Penguin Books, 2013), 65.

[4] Schirokauer and Clark, Modern East Asia, 154-55.

[5] Schirokauer and Clark, Modern East Asia, 297-300.

[6] Ibid., 319.

[7] Schirokauer and Clark, Modern East Asia, 402-05.

[8] Zheng Wang, Never Forget National Humiliation, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014), 207.

[9] Masaru Tamamoto, “How Japan Imagines China and Sees Itself,” World Policy Journal 22, no. 4 (Winter 2005/2006): 60.

[10] Martin Fackler, “Prime Minister Abe Appeals to Japanese on Pacifist Constitution,” The New York Times (12 February 2015).

[11] Margarita Estevez Abe, “Feeling Triumphalist in Tokyo,” Foreign Affairs, (May/June 2014).