Empire of Japan

Coordinates: 35°40′57″N 139°45′10″E / 35.68250°N 139.75278°E / 35.68250; 139.75278
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Empire of Japan
  • 大日本帝國
  • Dai Nippon Teikoku or
    Dai Nihon Teikoku
1868–1947
Motto: 
(1868–1912)
annexation of Korea until the 1945 surrender.[b]
Areas de facto controlled by the Empire of Japan at peak in World War II
(1942):
Capital
Largest city
  • Tokyo City (1868–1943)
  • Tokyo (1943–1947)
Official languagesJapanese
Recognised regional languages
Religion
GovernmentUnitary absolute monarchy
(1868–1889)[7]

semi-constitutional monarchy
(1889–1947)[8]

Under
 
• 1868–1912
Meiji
• 1912–1926
Taishō
• 1926–1947
Shōwa
Prime Minister
 
• 1885–1888 (first)
Itō Hirobumi
• 1946–1947 (last)
Shigeru Yoshida
LegislatureNone (
Mukden Incident
18 September 1931
7 July 1937
12 October 1940
7 December 1941
2 September 1945
3 May 1947[8]
Area
1938[10]1,984,000[f] km2 (766,000 sq mi)
1942[11]7,400,000[g] km2 (2,900,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1920
77,700,000a
• 1940
105,200,000[h]b
Currency
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Tokugawa shogunate
Republic of Ezo
Occupied Japan
Japan
  1. 56.0 million lived in the naichi.[12]
  2. 73.1 million lived in the naichi.[12]
Japanese Empire
Japanese name
Kanji大日本帝国
Hiraganaだいにっぽんていこく
だいにほんていこく
Katakanaダイニッポンテイコク
ダイニホンテイコク
Kyūjitai大日本帝國
Japanese Empire
Japanese name
Kyūjitai大日本帝國
Shinjitai大日本帝国
Official Term name
Official TermJapanese Empire
Literal Translation name
Literal TranslationImperial State of Greater Japan

The Empire of Japan,

nation-state[j] that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the reformed Constitution of Japan in 1947.[8] From 29 August 1910 until 2 September 1945, it administered the naichi (the Japanese archipelago and post-1943 Karafuto) and the gaichi (Korea, Taiwan, Kwantung Leased Territory, and pre-1943 Karafuto). The South Seas Mandate was a single Japanese dependent territory in the name of the League of Nations under Japanese administration. In the closing stages of World War II, with Japan defeated alongside the rest of the Axis, the formalized Japanese Instrument of Surrender was issued in compliance with the Potsdam Declaration of the victorious Allies
, and Japanese de facto territory subsequently shrunk to cover only the Japanese archipelago as it is today.

Under the slogans of

Asia-Pacific.[15] During this period, the Japanese army committed many atrocities, including the Nanjing Massacre
.

The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces initially achieved large-scale military successes during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War. However, from 1942 onwards, and particularly after decisive Allied advances at Midway Atoll and Guadalcanal, Japan was forced to adopt a defensive stance against the United States. The American-led island-hopping campaign led to the eventual loss of many of Japan's Oceanian island possessions in the following three years. Eventually, the American military captured Iwo Jima and Okinawa Island, leaving the Japanese mainland unprotected and without a significant naval defense force. By August 1945, plans had been made for an Allied invasion of mainland Japan, but were shelved after Japan surrendered in the face of a major breakthrough by the United States and the Soviet Union, with the former detonating two atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the latter invading Japan's northern territories. The Pacific War officially came to an end on 2 September 1945, leading to the beginning of the Allied occupation of Japan, during which American military leader Douglas MacArthur administered the country. In 1947, through Allied efforts, a new Japanese constitution was enacted, officially ending the Japanese Empire and forming present-day Japan. During this time, the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces were dissolved and replaced by the current Japan Self-Defense Forces. Reconstruction under the Allied occupation continued until 1952, consolidating the modern Japanese constitutional monarchy.

In total, the Empire of Japan had three emperors: Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa. The Imperial era came to an end partway through Shōwa's reign, though he remained emperor until 1989.

Terminology

The historical state is frequently referred to as the "Empire of Japan", the "Japanese Empire", or "Imperial Japan" in English. In Japanese it is referred to as Dai Nippon Teikoku (大日本帝國),[16] which translates to "Empire of Great Japan" (Dai "Great", Nippon "Japanese", Teikoku "Empire"). Teikoku is itself composed of the nouns Tei "referring to an emperor" and -koku "nation, state", literally "Imperial State" or "Imperial Realm" (compare the German Kaiserreich).

This meaning is significant in terms of geography, encompassing Japan, and its surrounding areas. The nomenclature Empire of Japan had existed since the anti-Tokugawa domains, Satsuma and Chōshū, which founded their new government during the Meiji Restoration, with the intention of forming a modern state to resist Western domination. Later the Empire emerged as a great power in the world.

Due to its name in

exonyms
"Empire of the Sun" and "Empire of the Rising Sun."

History

Background

After two centuries, the seclusion policy, or

shōguns of the Edo period came to an end when the country was forced open to trade by the Convention of Kanagawa which came when Matthew C. Perry arrived in Japan in 1854. Thus, the period known as Bakumatsu
began.

The following years saw increased foreign trade and interaction; commercial treaties between the

xenophobic movement, the sonnō jōi (literally "Revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians").[17]

In March 1863, the Emperor issued the "

bombardment of Shimonoseki by a multinational force in 1864.[19] The Chōshū clan also launched the failed coup known as the Kinmon incident. The Satsuma-Chōshū alliance was established in 1866 to combine their efforts to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu. In early 1867, Emperor Kōmei died of smallpox and was replaced by his son, Crown Prince Mutsuhito (Meiji)
.

On November 9, 1867, Tokugawa Yoshinobu resigned from his post and authorities to the emperor, agreeing to "be the instrument for carrying out" imperial orders,[20] leading to the end of the Tokugawa shogunate.[21][22] However, while Yoshinobu's resignation had created a nominal void at the highest level of government, his apparatus of state continued to exist. Moreover, the shogunal government, the Tokugawa family in particular, remained a prominent force in the evolving political order and retained many executive powers,[23] a prospect hard-liners from Satsuma and Chōshū found intolerable.[24]

On January 3, 1868, Satsuma-Chōshū forces seized the imperial palace in Kyoto, and the following day had the fifteen-year-old Emperor Meiji declare his own restoration to full power. Although the majority of the imperial consultative assembly was happy with the formal declaration of direct rule by the court and tended to support a continued collaboration with the Tokugawa, Saigō Takamori, leader of the Satsuma clan, threatened the assembly into abolishing the title shōgun and ordered the confiscation of Yoshinobu's lands.[m]

On January 17, 1868, Yoshinobu declared "that he would not be bound by the proclamation of the Restoration and called on the court to rescind it".[26] On January 24, Yoshinobu decided to prepare an attack on Kyoto, occupied by Satsuma and Chōshū forces. This decision was prompted by his learning of a series of arson attacks in Edo, starting with the burning of the outworks of Edo Castle, the main Tokugawa residence.

Boshin War

Kasuga and Kōtetsu
of the Imperial Japanese Navy

The Boshin War (戊辰戦争, Boshin Sensō) was fought between January 1868 and May 1869. The alliance of samurai from southern and western domains and court officials had now secured the cooperation of the young Emperor Meiji, who ordered the dissolution of the two-hundred-year-old Tokugawa shogunate. Tokugawa Yoshinobu launched a military campaign to seize the emperor's court in Kyoto. However, the tide rapidly turned in favor of the smaller but relatively modernized imperial faction and resulted in defections of many daimyōs to the Imperial side. The Battle of Toba–Fushimi was a decisive victory in which a combined army from Chōshū, Tosa, and Satsuma domains defeated the Tokugawa army.[27] A series of battles were then fought in pursuit of supporters of the Shogunate; Edo surrendered to the Imperial forces and afterward, Yoshinobu personally surrendered. Yoshinobu was stripped of all his power by Emperor Meiji and most of Japan accepted the emperor's rule.

Pro-Tokugawa remnants retreated to northern Honshū (

Hokkaidō), where they established the breakaway Republic of Ezo. An expeditionary force was dispatched by the new government and the Ezo Republic forces were overwhelmed. The siege of Hakodate came to an end in May 1869 and the remaining forces surrendered.[27]

Meiji era (1868–1912)

Emperor Meiji, the 122nd emperor of Japan

The Charter Oath was made public at the enthronement of Emperor Meiji of Japan on April 7, 1868. The Oath outlined the main aims and the course of action to be followed during Emperor Meiji's reign, setting the legal stage for Japan's modernization.[28] The Meiji leaders also aimed to boost morale and win financial support for the new government.

Prominent members of the Iwakura mission. Left to right: Kido Takayoshi, Yamaguchi Masuka, Iwakura Tomomi, Itō Hirobumi, Ōkubo Toshimichi

Japan dispatched the

Sakhalin island.[29]

The Japanese government sent observers to Western countries to observe and learn their practices, and also paid "

German conservatism."[30] The government also outlawed customs linked to Japan's feudal past, such as publicly displaying and wearing katana and the top knot, both of which were characteristic of the samurai class, which was abolished together with the caste system. This would later bring the Meiji government into conflict with the samurai
.

Several writers, under the constant threat of assassination from their political foes, were influential in winning Japanese support for

world power and a major force in East Asia
in about 25 years as a result of industrialization and economic development.

As writer Albrecht Fürst von Urach comments in his booklet "The Secret of Japan's Strength," published in 1942, during the Axis powers period:

The rise of Japan to a world power during the past 80 years is the greatest miracle in world history. The mighty empires of antiquity, the major political institutions of the Middle Ages and the early modern era, the Spanish Empire, the British Empire, all needed centuries to achieve their full strength. Japan's rise has been meteoric. After only 80 years, it is one of the few great powers that determine the fate of the world.[31]

Transposition in social order and cultural destruction

In the 1860s, Japan began to experience great social turmoil and rapid modernization. The feudal caste system in Japan formally ended in 1869 with the

Meiji government issued a decree called Senmin Haishirei (賤民廃止令 Edict Abolishing Ignoble Classes) giving burakumin equal legal status. It is currently better known as the Kaihōrei (解放令 Emancipation Edict). However, the elimination of their economic monopolies over certain occupations actually led to a decline in their general living standards, while social discrimination simply continued. For example, the ban on the consumption of meat from livestock was lifted in 1871, and many former burakumin moved on to work in abattoirs and as butchers
. However, slow-changing social attitudes, especially in the countryside, meant that abattoirs and workers were met with hostility from local residents. Continued ostracism as well as the decline in living standards led to former burakumin communities turning into slum areas.

In the Blood tax riots, the Japanese Meiji government brutally put down revolts by Japanese samurai angry over the legal revocation of the traditional untouchable status of burakumin.[citation needed]

The social tension continued to grow during the

syncreticism between Shinto and Buddhism ended. Losing the protection of the Japanese government which Buddhism had enjoyed for centuries, Buddhist monks faced radical difficulties in sustaining their institutions, but their activities also became less restrained by governmental policies and restrictions. As social conflicts emerged in this last decade of the Edo period, some new religious movements appeared, which were directly influenced by shamanism and Shinto
.

Emperor Ogimachi issued edicts to ban Catholicism in 1565 and 1568, but to little effect. Beginning in 1587 with imperial regent Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ban on Jesuit missionaries, Christianity was repressed as a threat to national unity. Under Hideyoshi and the succeeding Tokugawa shogunate, Catholic Christianity was repressed and adherents were persecuted. After the Tokugawa shogunate banned Christianity in 1620, it ceased to exist publicly. Many Catholics went underground, becoming hidden Christians (隠れキリシタン, kakure kirishitan), while others lost their lives. After Japan was opened to foreign powers in 1853, many Christian clergymen were sent from Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches, though proselytism was still banned. Only after the Meiji Restoration, was Christianity re-established in Japan. Freedom of religion was introduced in 1871, giving all Christian communities the right to legal existence and preaching.

Andronic Nikolsky, appointed the first Bishop of Kyoto and later martyred as the archbishop of Perm during the Russian Revolution
, was also canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a Saint and Martyr in the year 2000.

Ōura Church, Nagasaki

Shōwa period
.

Under the Meiji Restoration, the practices of the samurai classes, deemed feudal and unsuitable for modern times following the end of sakoku in 1853, resulted in a number of edicts intended to 'modernise' the appearance of upper class Japanese men. With the Dampatsurei Edict of 1871 issued by Emperor Meiji during the early Meiji Era, men of the samurai classes were forced to cut their hair short, effectively abandoning the chonmage (chonmage) hairstyle.[35]: 149 

During the early 20th century, the government was suspicious towards a number of unauthorized religious movements and periodically made attempts to suppress them. Government suppression was especially severe from the 1930s until the early 1940s, when the growth of

lèse majesté
prohibited insults against the Emperor and his Imperial House, and also against some major Shinto shrines which were believed to be tied strongly to the Emperor. The government strengthened its control over religious institutions that were considered to undermine State Shinto or nationalism.

The majority of Japanese castles were smashed and destroyed in the late 19th century in the Meiji restoration by the Japanese people and government in order to modernize and westernize Japan and break from their past feudal era of the Daimyo and Shoguns. It was only due to the 1964 Summer Olympics in Japan that cheap concrete replicas of those castles were built for tourists.[36][37][38] The vast majority of castles in Japan today are new replicas made out of concrete.[39][40][41] In 1959 a concrete keep was built for Nagoya castle.[42]

During the Meiji restoration's

Kenmu restoration
as a political move to link the Meiji restoration to the Kenmu restoration for their new State Shinto cult.

Japanese had to look at old paintings in order to find out what the

Horyuji temple used to look like when they rebuilt it. The rebuilding was originally planned for the Shōwa era.[45]

The Japanese used mostly concrete in 1934 to rebuild the

Togetsukyo Bridge, unlike the original destroyed wooden version of the bridge from 836.[46]

Political reform

Interior of the Japanese Parliament, showing the Prime Minister speaking addressing the House of Peers, 1915

The idea of a written constitution had been a subject of heated debate within and outside of the government since the beginnings of the

national assembly
, and the promulgation of a constitution.

The constitution recognized the need for change and modernization after the removal of the

shogunate
:

We, the Successor to the prosperous Throne of Our Predecessors, do humbly and solemnly swear to the Imperial Founder of Our House and to Our other Imperial Ancestors that, in pursuance of a great policy co-extensive with the Heavens and with the Earth, We shall maintain and secure from decline the ancient form of government. ... In consideration of the progressive tendency of the course of human affairs and in parallel with the advance of civilization, We deem it expedient, in order to give clearness and distinctness to the instructions bequeathed by the Imperial Founder of Our House and by Our other Imperial Ancestors, to establish fundamental laws. ...

Imperial Japan was founded, de jure, after the 1889 signing of Constitution of the Empire of Japan. The constitution formalized much of the Empire's political structure and gave many responsibilities and powers to the Emperor.

  • Article 1. The Empire of Japan shall be reigned over and governed by a line of Emperors unbroken for ages eternal.
  • Article 2. The Imperial Throne shall be succeeded to by Imperial male descendants, according to the provisions of the Imperial House Law.
  • Article 3. The Emperor is sacred and inviolable.
  • Article 4. The Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in Himself the rights of sovereignty, and exercises them, according to the provisions of the present Constitution.
  • Article 5. The Emperor exercises the legislative power with the consent of the Imperial Diet.
  • Article 6. The Emperor gives sanction to laws, and orders them to be promulgated and executed.
  • Article 7. The Emperor convokes the Imperial Diet, opens, closes and prorogues it, and dissolves the House of Representatives.
  • Article 11. The Emperor has the supreme command of the Army and Navy.[47]
  • Article 12. The Emperor determines the organization and peace standing of the Army and Navy.
  • Article 13. The Emperor declares war, makes peace, and concludes treaties.
  • Article 14. The Emperor declares a state of siege.
  • Article 15. The Emperor confers titles of nobility, rank, orders and other marks of honor.
  • Article 16. The Emperor orders amnesty, pardon, commutation of punishments and rehabilitation.
  • Article 17. A Regency shall be instituted in conformity with the provisions of the Imperial House Law.

In 1890, the

House of Representatives of Japan and the House of Peers. Both houses opened seats for colonial people as well as Japanese. The Imperial Diet continued until 1947.[8]

Economic development

Baron Masuda Tarokaja, a member of the House of Peers (Kazoku). His father, Baron Masuda Takashi, was responsible for transforming Mitsui into a zaibatsu.

Economic development was characterized by rapid

feudal workers to wage labour. The use of strike action also increased, and 1897, with the establishment of a union for metalworkers, the foundations of the modern Japanese trade-union movement were formed.[49]

Samurai were allowed to work in any occupation they wanted. Admission to universities was determined based on examination results. The government also recruited more than 3,000 Westerners to teach modern science, mathematics, technology, and foreign languages in Japan (

O-yatoi gaikokujin).[50] Despite this, social mobility was still low due to samurai and their descendants being overrepresented in the new elite class.[51]

After sending observers to the United States, the Empire of Japan initially copied the decentralized American system with no central bank.

yen as the new decimal currency. It had parity with the Mexican silver dollar.[53][54]

First Sino-Japanese War

The

Joseon dynasty. Korea had traditionally been a tributary state of China's Qing Empire, which exerted large influence over the conservative Korean officials who gathered around the royal family of the Joseon kingdom. On February 27, 1876, after several confrontations between Korean isolationists and the Japanese, Japan imposed the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876, forcing Korea open to Japanese trade. The act blocked any other power from dominating Korea, resolving to end the centuries-old Chinese suzerainty
.

On June 4, 1894, Korea requested aid from the Qing Empire in suppressing the Donghak Rebellion. The Qing government sent 2,800 troops to Korea. The Japanese countered by sending an 8,000-troop expeditionary force (the Oshima Composite Brigade) to Korea. The first 400 troops arrived on June 9 en route to Seoul, and 3,000 landed at Incheon on June 12.[55] The Qing government turned down Japan's suggestion for Japan and China to cooperate to reform the Korean government. When Korea demanded that Japan withdraw its troops from Korea, the Japanese refused. In early June 1894, the 8,000 Japanese troops captured the Korean king Gojong, occupied the Royal Palace in Seoul and, by June 25, installed a puppet government in Seoul. The new pro-Japanese Korean government granted Japan the right to expel Qing forces while Japan dispatched more troops to Korea.

China objected and war ensued. Japanese ground troops routed the Chinese forces on the

Port Arthur fortress, and based the Russian Pacific Fleet in the port. Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay, built Tsingtao fortress and based the German East Asia Squadron
in this port.

Boxer Rebellion

Marquess Komura Jutaro. Komura became Minister for Foreign Affairs under the first Katsura administration, and signed the Boxer Protocol on behalf of Japan.

In 1900, Japan joined an international military coalition set up in response to the Boxer Rebellion in the Qing Empire of China. Japan provided the largest contingent of troops: 20,840, as well as 18 warships. Of the total, 20,300 were Imperial Japanese Army troops of the 5th Infantry Division under Lt. General Yamaguchi Motoomi; the remainder were 540 naval rikusentai (marines) from the Imperial Japanese Navy.[citation needed]

At the beginning of the Boxer Rebellion the Japanese only had 215 troops in northern China stationed at Tientsin; nearly all of them were naval rikusentai from the

army general staff in Tokyo had become aware of the worsening conditions in China and had drafted ambitious contingency plans,[58] but in the wake of the Triple Intervention five years before, the government refused to deploy large numbers of troops unless requested by the western powers.[58] However three days later, a provisional force of 1,300 troops commanded by Major General Fukushima Yasumasa was to be deployed to northern China. Fukushima was chosen because he spoke fluent English which enabled him to communicate with the British commander. The force landed near Tianjin on July 5.[58]

On 17 June 1900, naval Rikusentai from the Kasagi and Atago had joined British, Russian, and German sailors to seize the

Boer War, so a large part of the British army was tied down in South Africa. Further, deploying large numbers of troops from its garrisons in India would take too much time and weaken internal security there.[58] Overriding personal doubts, Foreign Minister Aoki Shūzō calculated that the advantages of participating in an allied coalition were too attractive to ignore. Prime Minister Yamagata agreed, but others in the cabinet demanded that there be guarantees from the British in return for the risks and costs of the major deployment of Japanese troops.[58] On July 6, 1900, the 5th Infantry Division was alerted for possible deployment to China, but no timetable was set for this. Two days later, with more ground troops urgently needed to lift the siege of the foreign legations at Peking, the British ambassador offered the Japanese government one million British pounds in exchange for Japanese participation.[58]

Shortly afterward, advance units of the 5th Division departed for China, bringing Japanese strength to 3,800 personnel out of the 17,000 of allied forces.[58] The commander of the 5th Division, Lt. General Yamaguchi Motoomi, had taken operational control from Fukushima. Japanese troops were involved in the storming of Tianjin on July 14,[58] after which the allies consolidated and awaited the remainder of the 5th Division and other coalition reinforcements. By the time the siege of legations was lifted on August 14, 1900, the Japanese force of 13,000 was the largest single contingent and made up about 40% of the approximately 33,000 strong allied expeditionary force.[58] Japanese troops involved in the fighting had acquitted themselves well, although a British military observer felt their aggressiveness, densely-packed formations, and over-willingness to attack cost them excessive and disproportionate casualties.[59] For example, during the Tianjin fighting, the Japanese suffered more than half of the allied casualties (400 out of 730) but comprised less than one quarter (3,800) of the force of 17,000.[59] Similarly at Beijing, the Japanese accounted for almost two-thirds of the losses (280 of 453) even though they constituted slightly less than half of the assault force.[59]

After the uprising, Japan and the Western countries signed the Boxer Protocol with China, which permitted them to station troops on Chinese soil to protect their citizens. After the treaty, Russia continued to occupy all of Manchuria.

Russo-Japanese War

French illustration of a Japanese assault on entrenched Russian troops during the Russo-Japanese War

The

Ryojun
.

Originally, in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Ryojun had been given to Japan. This part of the treaty was overruled by Western powers, which gave the port to the Russian Empire, furthering Russian interests in the region. These interests came into conflict with Japanese interests. The war began with a surprise attack on the Russian Eastern fleet stationed at Port Arthur, which was followed by the

annex Korea outright
in 1910.

Annexation of Korea

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, various Western countries actively competed for influence, trade, and territory in East Asia, and Japan sought to join these modern colonial powers. The newly modernised Meiji government of Japan turned to Korea (under the Joseon dynasty), then in the sphere of influence of China's Qing dynasty. The Japanese government initially sought to separate Korea from Qing and make Korea a Japanese puppet state in order to further their security and national interests.[61]

In January 1876, following the Meiji Restoration, Japan employed gunboat diplomacy to pressure the Joseon Dynasty into signing the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876, which granted extraterritorial rights to Japanese citizens and opened three Korean ports to Japanese trade. The rights granted to Japan under this unequal treaty,[62] were similar to those granted western powers in Japan following the visit of Commodore Perry.[62] Japanese involvement in Korea increased during the 1890s, a period of political upheaval.

Korea (under the

annexed
in Japan through the annexation treaty in 1910.

In Korea, the period is usually described as the "Time of Japanese Forced Occupation" (

Korean Peninsula was officially part of the Empire of Japan for 35 years, from August 29, 1910, until the formal Japanese rule ended, de jure, on September 2, 1945, upon the surrender of Japan in World War II
. The 1905 and 1910 treaties were eventually declared "null and void" by both Japan and South Korea in 1965.

Taishō era (1912–1926)

Emperor Taishō, the 123rd emperor of Japan

World War I

Japan entered

Kiautschou Bay concession and the Siege of Tsingtao proved successful. The German colonial troops surrendered on November 7, 1914, and Japan gained the German holdings. In 1920, the League of Nations
established the South Seas Mandate under Japanese administration to replace German New Guinea.

With its Western allies, notably the United Kingdom, heavily involved in the war in Europe, Japan dispatched a Naval fleet to the Mediterranean Sea to aid Allied shipping. Japan sought further to consolidate its position in China by presenting the Twenty-One Demands to China in January 1915. In the face of slow negotiations with the Chinese government, widespread anti-Japanese sentiment in China, and international condemnation, Japan withdrew the final group of demands, and treaties were signed in May 1915. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was renewed and expanded in scope twice, in 1905 and 1911, before its demise in 1921. It was officially terminated in 1923.

Siberian Intervention

Commanding Officers and Chiefs of Staff of the Allied Military Mission to Siberia, Vladivostok during the Allied intervention

After the fall of the Tsarist regime and the later provisional regime in 1917, the new

Bolshevik government signed a separate peace treaty with Germany. After this, various factions that succeeded the Russian Empire fought amongst themselves in a multi-sided civil war
.

In July 1918, President Wilson asked the Japanese government to supply 7,000 troops as part of an international coalition of 25,000 troops planned to support the

agreed to send 12,000 troops but under the Japanese command rather than as part of an international coalition. The Japanese had several hidden motives for the venture, which included an intense hostility and fear of communism; a determination to recoup historical losses to Russia; and the desire to settle the "northern problem" in Japan's security, either through the creation of a buffer state or through outright territorial acquisition.

By November 1918, more than 70,000 Japanese troops under Chief of Staff Yui Mitsue had occupied all ports and major towns in the Russian Maritime Provinces and eastern Siberia. Japan received 765 Polish orphans from Siberia.[63][64]

In June 1920, around 450 Japanese civilians and 350 Japanese soldiers, along with Russian White Army supporters, were massacred by partisan forces associated with the

Aleksandr Kolchak by the Red Army. However, the Japanese decided to stay, primarily due to fears of the spread of Communism so close to Japan and Japanese-controlled Korea and Manchuria. The Japanese army provided military support to the Japanese-backed Provisional Priamurye Government based in Vladivostok against the Moscow-backed Far Eastern Republic
.

The continued Japanese presence concerned the United States, which suspected that Japan had territorial designs on Siberia and the Russian Far East. Subjected to intense diplomatic pressure by the United States and United Kingdom, and facing increasing domestic opposition due to the economic and human cost, the administration of Prime Minister Katō Tomosaburō withdrew the Japanese forces in October 1922. Japanese casualties from the expedition were 5,000 dead from combat or illness, with the expedition costing over 900 million yen.

"Taishō Democracy"

Count Itagaki Taisuke is credited as being the first Japanese party leader and an important force for liberalism in Meiji Japan.

The two-party political system that had been developing in Japan since the turn of the century came of age after World War I, giving rise to the nickname for the period, "Taishō Democracy". The public grew disillusioned with the growing national debt and the new election laws, which retained the old minimum tax qualifications for voters. Calls were raised for universal suffrage and the dismantling of the old political party network. Students, university professors, and journalists, bolstered by labor unions and inspired by a variety of democratic, socialist, communist, anarchist, and other thoughts, mounted large but orderly public demonstrations in favor of universal male suffrage in 1919 and 1920.

On 1 September 1923, at a magnitude of 7.9, an

earthquake struck Kantō Plain. The death toll was estimated to have exceeded to 140,000 lives lost. On the same day, the Imperial Japanese Army and its nationalists committed a massacre
of Korean residents.

The election of Katō Komei as Prime Minister of Japan continued democratic reforms that had been advocated by influential individuals on the left. This culminated in the passage of universal male suffrage in March 1925. This bill gave all male subjects over the age of 25 the right to vote, provided they had lived in their electoral districts for at least one year and were not homeless. The electorate thereby increased from 3.3 million to 12.5 million.[65]

In the political milieu of the day, there was a proliferation of new parties, including socialist and communist parties. Fear of a broader electorate, left-wing power, and the growing social change led to the passage of the Peace Preservation Law in 1925, which forbade any change in the political structure or the abolition of private property.

In 1932, Park Chun-kum was elected to the House of Representatives in the

Japanese general election as the first person elected from a colonial background.[clarification needed][66] In 1935, democracy was introduced in Taiwan and in response to Taiwanese public opinion, local assemblies were established.[67] In 1942, 38 colonial people were elected to local assemblies of the Japanese homeland.[66]

Unstable coalitions and divisiveness in the Diet led the

Rikken Minseitō platform was committed to the parliamentary system, democratic politics, and world peace. Thereafter, until 1932, the Seiyūkai
and the Rikken Minseitō alternated in power.

Despite the political realignments and hope for more orderly government, domestic economic crises plagued whichever party held power. Fiscal austerity programs and appeals for public support of such conservative government policies as the Peace Preservation Law—including reminders of the moral obligation to make sacrifices for the emperor and the state—were attempted as solutions.

Early Shōwa (1926–1930)

Shōwa period

Rise of militarism and its social organisations

Important institutional links existed between the party in government (

Imperial Youth Corps, Keishichō (to 1945), Shintoist Rites Research Council, Treaty Faction, Fleet Faction, and Volunteer Fighting Corps
.

Nationalism and decline of democracy

Sadao Araki was an important figurehead and founder of the Army party and the most important militarist thinker in his time. His first ideological works date from his leadership of the Kōdōha (Imperial Benevolent Rule or Action Group), opposed by the Tōseiha (Control Group) led by General Kazushige Ugaki. He linked the ancient (bushido code) and contemporary local and European fascist ideals (see Statism in Shōwa Japan), to form the ideological basis of the movement (Shōwa nationalism).

Rebel troops assembling at police headquarters during the February 26 Incident

From September 1931, the Japanese were becoming more locked into the course that would lead them into the Second World War, with Araki leading the way.

Emperor worship
.

On February 26, 1936, a coup d'état was attempted (the

February 26 Incident
). Launched by the ultranationalist Kōdōha faction with the military, it ultimately failed due to the intervention of the Emperor. Kōdōha members were purged from the top military positions and the Tōseiha faction gained dominance. However, both factions believed in expansionism, a strong military, and a coming war. Furthermore, Kōdōha members, while removed from the military, still had political influence within the government.

The state was being transformed to serve the Army and the Emperor. Symbolic katana swords came back into fashion as the martial embodiment of these beliefs, and the Nambu pistol became its contemporary equivalent, with the implicit message that the Army doctrine of close combat would prevail. The final objective, as envisioned by Army thinkers such as Sadao Araki and right-wing line followers, was a return to the old Shogunate system, but in the form of a contemporary Military Shogunate. In such a government the Emperor would once more be a figurehead (as in the Edo period). Real power would fall to a leader very similar to a führer or duce, though with the power less nakedly held. On the other hand, the traditionalist Navy militarists defended the Emperor and a constitutional monarchy with a significant religious aspect.

A third point of view was supported by

Emperor Shōwa, who repeatedly counseled him to implement a direct imperial rule, even if that meant suspending the constitution.[68]

With the launching of the

Imperial Rule Assistance Association in 1940 by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, Japan would turn to a form of government that resembled totalitarianism. This unique style of government, very similar to fascism, was known as "Shōwa Statism".[citation needed
]

In the early twentieth century, a distinctive style of architecture was developed for the empire. Now referred to as Imperial Crown Style (帝冠様式, teikan yōshiki), before the end of World War II, it was originally referred to as Emperor's Crown Amalgamate Style, and sometimes Emperor's Crown Style (帝冠式, Teikanshiki). The style is identified by Japanese-style roofing on top of Neoclassical styled buildings; and can have a centrally elevated structure with a pyramidal dome. The prototype for this style was developed by architect Shimoda Kikutaro in his proposal for the Imperial Diet Building (present National Diet Building) in 1920 – although his proposal was ultimately rejected. Outside of the Japanese mainland, in places like Taiwan and Korea, Imperial Crown Style architecture often included regional architectural elements.[69]

Overall, during the 1920s, Japan changed its direction toward a democratic system of government. However,

parliamentary government
was not rooted deeply enough to withstand the economic and political pressures of the 1930s, during which military leaders became increasingly influential. These shifts in power were made possible by the ambiguity and imprecision of the Meiji Constitution, particularly as regarded the position of the Emperor in relation to the constitution.

Economic factors

A bank run during the Shōwa financial crisis, March 1927

During the 1920s, the whole global economy was dubbed as "a decade of global uncertainty". At the same time, the

Sumitomo, and Yasuda) looked towards great future expansion. Their main concern was a shortage of raw materials. Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe combined social concerns with the needs of capital, and planned for expansion. Their economic growth was stimulated by certain domestic policies and it can be seen in the steady and progressive increase of materials such as in the iron, steel and chemical industry.[70]

The main goals of Japan's expansionism were acquisition and protection of spheres of influence, maintenance of territorial integrity, acquisition of raw materials, and access to Asian markets. Western nations, notably the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, had for long exhibited great interest in the commercial opportunities in China and other parts of Asia. These opportunities had attracted Western investment because of the availability of raw materials for both domestic production and re-export to Asia. Japan desired these opportunities in planning the development of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.

The Great Depression, just as in many other countries, hindered Japan's economic growth. The Japanese Empire's main problem lay in that rapid industrial expansion had turned the country into a major manufacturing and industrial power that required raw materials; however, these had to be obtained from overseas, as there was a critical lack of natural resources on the home islands.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Japan needed to import raw materials such as iron, rubber, and oil to maintain strong economic growth. Most of these resources came from the United States. The Japanese felt that acquiring resource-rich territories would establish economic self-sufficiency and independence, and they also hoped to jump-start the nation's economy in the midst of the depression. As a result, Japan set its sights on East Asia, specifically Manchuria with its many resources; Japan needed these resources to continue its economic development and maintain national integrity.

Later Shōwa (1931–1941)

Prewar expansionism

Manchuria
Mukden Incident
, 1931

In 1931, Japan invaded and conquered Northeast China (Manchuria) with little resistance. Japan claimed that this invasion was a liberation of the local

Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies in Manchuria. In 1936, Japan created a similar Mongolian puppet state in Inner Mongolia named Mengjiang (Chinese: 蒙疆), which was also predominantly Chinese as a result of recent Han immigration to the area. At that time, East Asians were banned from immigration to North America and Australia, but the newly established Manchukuo was open to immigration of Asians. Japan had an emigration plan to encourage colonization; the Japanese population in Manchuria subsequently grew to 850,000.[71] With rich natural resources and labor force in Manchuria, army-owned corporations turned Manchuria into a solid material support machine of the Japanese Army.[72]

Second Sino-Japanese War
The Japanese occupation of Peiping (Beijing) in China, on August 13, 1937. Japanese troops are shown passing from Peiping into the Tartar City through Zhengyangmen, the main gate leading onward to the palaces in the Forbidden City.

Japan invaded China proper in 1937, beginning a war against both

People's Republic of China has never undertaken a full accounting of the massacre. In total, an estimated 20 million Chinese, mostly civilians, were killed during World War II. A puppet state was also set up in China quickly afterwards, headed by Wang Jingwei
. The Second Sino-Japanese War continued into World War II with the Communists and Nationalists in a temporary and uneasy nominal alliance against the Japanese.

Clashes with the Soviet Union

In 1938, the Japanese 19th Division entered territory claimed by the Soviet Union, leading to the

Treaty of Peking
, between Imperial Russia and Manchu China (and subsequent supplementary agreements on demarcation), and furthermore, that the demarcation markers were tampered with.

On May 11, 1939, in the Nomonhan Incident (

Battle of Khalkhin Gol
), a Mongolian cavalry unit of some 70 to 90 men entered the disputed area in search of grazing for their horses, and encountered Manchukuoan cavalry, who drove them out. Two days later the Mongolian force returned and the Manchukoans were unable to evict them.

The

IJA 7th Division. On September 15 an armistice was arranged. Nearly two years later, on April 13, 1941, the parties signed a Neutrality Pact, in which the Soviet Union pledged to respect the territorial integrity and inviolability of Manchukuo, while Japan agreed similarly for the Mongolian People's Republic
.

Tripartite Pact
Signing ceremony for the Tripartite Pact, September 27, 1940 in Berlin, Nazi Germany

In 1938, Japan prohibited the expulsion of the Jews in Japan, Manchuria, and China in accordance with the spirit of racial equality on which Japan had insisted for many years.[73][74]

The Second Sino-Japanese War had seen tensions rise between Imperial Japan and the United States; events such as the

Panay incident and the Nanjing Massacre turned American public opinion against Japan. With the occupation of French Indochina in the years of 1940–41, and with the continuing war in China, the United States and its allies placed embargoes on Japan of strategic materials such as scrap metal and oil, which were vitally needed for the war effort. The Japanese were faced with the option of either withdrawing from China and losing face or seizing and securing new sources of raw materials in the resource-rich, European-controlled colonies of Southeast Asia—specifically British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia
).

On September 27, 1940, Japan signed the

Axis Powers. The pact also called for mutual protection—if any one of the member powers was attacked by a country not already at war, excluding the Soviet Union
and for technological and economic cooperation between the signatories.

For the sake of their own people and nation, Prime Minister Konoe formed the Taisei Yokusankai (Imperial Rule Assistance Association) on October 12, 1940, as a ruling party in Japan.

In 1940 Japan

Susanoo as a negative figure, arguing that he was created to serve as the rebellious opposite of the imperial ancestress Amaterasu.[77] A historian in 20th century, Sokichi Tsuda's view of history, which has become mainstream after the World War II, is based on his idea. Many scholars today also believe that the mythology of Takamagahara in Kojiki was created by the ruling class to make people believe that the class was precious because they originated in the heavenly realm.[78][79]

World War II (1941–1945)

Map of Japanese conquests from 1937 to 1942

On November 5, 1941, Yamamoto in his "Top Secret Operation Order no. 1" issued to the Combined Fleet, the Empire of Japan must drive out Britain and America from Greater East Asia and to hasten the settlement of the China, whereas should the eventuality that Britain and America would really be driven out from the Philippines and Dutch East Indies, an independent, self-supporting economic entity will be firmly established – mirroring the principle of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere in another personification.[80]

Facing an oil embargo by the United States as well as dwindling domestic reserves, the Japanese government decided to execute a plan developed by

European Theatre and Pacific Theater in full force, thereby bringing the United States to World War II on the side of the Allies
.

Even as they launched the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were well aware that the United States had the capability to mount a counter-offensive against them. However, they believed that they could maintain their defensive perimeter and push back any attempt by the British and Americans that could incur enough losses to make the Allied forces consider making peace on the basis of Japan's retainment of the territories she had gained.[81]

Japanese conquests

Victorious Japanese troops marching through the city center of Singapore following the city's capture in February 1942

Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese launched offensives against Allied forces in East and Southeast Asia, with simultaneous attacks in

Malayan Peninsula, forcing the Allied forces to retreat towards Singapore. The Allies lacked aircover and tanks; the Japanese had complete air superiority. The sinking of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse
on December 10, 1941, led to the east coast of Malaya being exposed to Japanese landings and the elimination of British naval power in the area. By the end of January 1942, the last Allied forces crossed the strait of Johore and into Singapore.

On January 11, 1942, a Japanese submarine shelled the United States naval Station at Pago Pago in Samoa, suggesting that the Japanese were advancing to the direction of Australia and nearby Oceanic regions.[82]

In

Pacific, including Guadalcanal
.

Tide turns

A model representing the attack by dive bombers from USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise on the Japanese aircraft carriers Sōryū, Akagi and Kaga in the morning of June 4, 1942, during the Battle of Midway

Japanese military strategists were keenly aware of the unfavorable discrepancy between the industrial potential of Japan and the United States. Because of this they reasoned that Japanese success hinged on their ability to extend the strategic advantage gained at Pearl Harbor with additional rapid strategic victories. The Japanese Command reasoned that only decisive destruction of the United States' Pacific Fleet and conquest of its remote outposts would ensure that the Japanese Empire would not be overwhelmed by America's industrial might.

In April 1942, Japan was bombed for the first time in the Doolittle Raid. During the same month, after the Japanese victory in the Battle of Bataan, the Bataan Death March was conducted, where 5,650 to 18,000 Filipinos died under the rule of the imperial army.[85] In May 1942, failure to decisively defeat the Allies at the Battle of the Coral Sea, in spite of Japanese numerical superiority, equated to a strategic defeat for the Japanese. This setback was followed in June 1942 by the catastrophic loss of four fleet carriers at the Battle of Midway, the first decisive defeat for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It proved to be the turning point of the war as the Navy lost its offensive strategic capability and never managed to reconstruct the "'critical mass' of both large numbers of carriers and well-trained air groups".[86]

Australian land forces defeated Japanese Marines in New Guinea at the

Philippines campaign (1944–45)
, the Allies, including the combined United States forces together with the native guerrilla units, recaptured the Philippines.

Surrender

The rebuilt battlecruiser Haruna sank at her moorings in the naval base of Kure on July 24 during a series of bombings.

By 1944, the Allies had seized or bypassed and neutralized many of Japan's strategic bases through amphibious landings and bombardment. This, coupled with the losses inflicted by

nuclear radiation
in the following weeks, months and years. The bombs killed as many as 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 80,000 in Nagasaki by the end of 1945.

At the

division of Germany and Berlin, the division of Europe with the Iron Curtain and the subsequent Cold War
.

Having ignored (

Gyokuon-hōsō
.

End of the Empire of Japan

Occupation of Japan

A drawing depicting a speech in the Imperial Japanese Diet on November 1, 1945, following the end of the Second World War. In the foreground are several Allied soldiers watching the proceedings from the back of the balcony.

A period known as

occupied Japan followed after the war, largely spearheaded by US Army General Douglas MacArthur to revise the Japanese constitution and de-militarize the nation. The Allied occupation, including concurrent economic and political assistance, continued until 1952. Allied forces ordered Japan to abolish the Meiji Constitution and enforce the 1947 Constitution of Japan. This new constitution was imposed by the United States under the supervision of MacArthur. MacArthur included Article 9 which changed Japan into a pacifist country.[89]

Upon adoption of the 1947 constitution, the Empire of Japan dissolved and became simply the state of

Japan adopted a parliamentary-based political system, and the role of the Emperor became symbolic. The

Japanese history that it was occupied by a foreign power.[92]

General MacArthur later commended the new Japanese government that he helped establish and the new Japanese period when he was about to send the American forces to the Korean War:

The Japanese people, since the war, have undergone the greatest reformation recorded in modern history. With a commendable will, eagerness to learn, and marked capacity to understand, they have, from the ashes left in war's wake, erected in Japan an edifice dedicated to the supremacy of individual liberty and personal dignity; and in the ensuing process there has been created a truly representative government committed to the advance of political morality, freedom of economic enterprise, and social justice. Politically, economically, and socially Japan is now abreast of many free nations of the earth and will not again fail the universal trust. ... I sent all four of our occupation divisions to the Korean battlefront without the slightest qualms as to the effect of the resulting power vacuum upon Japan. The results fully justified my faith. I know of no nation more serene, orderly, and industrious, nor in which higher hopes can be entertained for future constructive service in the advance of the human race.

For historian John W. Dower:

In retrospect, apart from the military officer corps, the purge of alleged militarists and ultranationalists that was conducted under the Occupation had relatively small impact on the long-term composition of men of influence in the public and private sectors. The purge initially brought new blood into the political parties, but this was offset by the return of huge numbers of formerly purged conservative politicians to national as well as local politics in the early 1950s. In the bureaucracy, the purge was negligible from the outset. ... In the economic sector, the purge similarly was only mildly disruptive, affecting less than sixteen hundred individuals spread among some four hundred companies. Everywhere one looks, the corridors of power in postwar Japan are crowded with men whose talents had already been recognized during the war years, and who found the same talents highly prized in the 'new' Japan.[93]

Influential personnel

Political

In the administration of Japan dominated by the military political movement during World War II, the civil central government was under the management of military men and their right-wing civilian allies, along with members of the nobility and

Commander-in-Chief
of the Imperial Armed Forces and head of state.

Early period:

World War II:

Diplomats

Early period

World War II

Military

From left to right: Marshal Admiral Heihachirō Tōgō (1848–1934), Field Marshal Oku Yasukata (1847–1930), Marshal Admiral Yoshika Inoue (1845–1929) and Field Marshal Kageaki Kawamura (1850–1926), at the unveiling ceremony of the bronze statue of Field Marshal Iwao Ōyama

The Empire of Japan's military was divided into two main branches: the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy. To coordinate operations, the Imperial General Headquarters, headed by the Emperor, was established in 1893. Prominent generals and leaders:

Imperial Japanese Army

Early period
World War II

Imperial Japanese Navy

Early period
World War II

Demographics

naichi
(1920)
Population density map of the naichi (1940)

Economy

Education

Notable scholars/scientists

19th century

Anthropologists, ethnologists, archaeologists, and historians

Medical scientists, biologists, evolutionary theorists, and geneticists

Inventors, industrialists, engineers

Philosophers, educators, mathematicians, and polymaths

Chemists, physicists, and geologists

20th century

Timeline

Emperors

Posthumous name1 Given name2 Childhood name3 Period of reign Era name4
Meiji Tennō
(明治天皇)
Mutsuhito
(睦仁)
Sachi-no-miya
(祐宮)
1868–1912
(1890–1912)5
Meiji
Taishō Tennō
(大正天皇)
Yoshihito
(嘉仁)
Haru-no-miya
(明宮)
1912–26 Taishō
Shōwa Tennō
(昭和天皇)
Hirohito
(裕仁)
Michi-no-miya
(迪宮)
1926–896 Shōwa
1 Each posthumous name was given after the respective era names as
Qing
Dynasties of China.
2 The Japanese imperial family name has no surname or dynastic name.
3 The Meiji Emperor was known only by the appellation Sachi-no-miya from his birth until November 11, 1860, when he was proclaimed heir apparent to Emperor Kōmei and received the personal name Mutsuhito.
4 No multiple era names were given for each reign after Emperor Meiji.
5 Constitutionally
6 Constitutionally. The reign of the Shōwa Emperor in fact continued until 1989 since he did not abdicate after World War II. However, he lost his status as a living god and influence on politics after the 1947 constitution was adopted.

Emblems

  • Flag of the Empire of Japan from 1870 to 1999
    Flag of the Empire of Japan from 1870 to 1999
  • War flag of the Imperial Japanese Army
    War flag of the Imperial Japanese Army
  • Naval ensign of the Empire of Japan
    Naval ensign of the Empire of Japan
  • Flag of the Japanese Emperor
    Flag of the Japanese Emperor

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Modified version used in 1880–1945.
  2. ^ South Seas Mandate (7) was a mandate of the League of Nations under Japanese control.
  3. ^ From 1943 to 1945, Karafuto was part of the naichi
  4. Karafuto
    was part of the naichi
  5. Yasukuni Jinja in Tokyo, took on ever greater proportions as their number grew."[6]
  6. ^ De facto, including Japanese puppet state Manchukuo and not official.
  7. ^ De facto, including Japanese occupation territories and not official.
  8. ^ De facto, including population in Japanese occupation territories and not official.
  9. ^ Japanese: 大日本帝国, Dai Nippon Teikoku or Dai Nihon Teikoku
  10. Meiji nation-state out of an older, heterogeneous Tokugawa realm, integrating semi-autonomous domain states into a unified political community."[13] "Rather than restore an ancient (and probably imaginary) center-periphery order, the Meiji Restoration hastened the creation of a new and unambiguously centralized and modern nation-state. Within a few decades of the official beginning of the nation-building project, Tokyo had become the political and economic capital of a state that replaced semi-autonomous domains with newly created prefectures subordinate to central laws and centrally appointed administrators."[14]
  11. ^ 富国強兵, "Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Armed Forces"
  12. ^ 殖産興業, "Promote Industry"
  13. ^ During a recess, Saigō, who had his troops outside, "remarked that it would take only one short sword to settle the discussion".[25] The word used for "dagger" was tantō.

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Bibliography

External links

Preceded by
Edo period
1603−1868
History of Japan
Empire of Japan
1868−1947
Succeeded by
Post-war Japan
1945–present
Occupation of Japan

1945–1952

35°40′57″N 139°45′10″E / 35.68250°N 139.75278°E / 35.68250; 139.75278