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Japanese Politics and Public Policy: an Introduction [Faculty Seminar at East West Center, May 29, 2013]. Yves Tiberghien, UBC ( yves.tiberghien@ubc.ca ) Director of the Institute of Asian Research Associate Professor of Political Science
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Japanese Politics and Public Policy: an Introduction[Faculty Seminar at East West Center, May 29, 2013] Yves Tiberghien, UBC (yves.tiberghien@ubc.ca) Director of the Institute of Asian Research Associate Professor of Political Science [Currently Visiting Associate Professor at Tokyo University’s School of Public Policy]
Opening Questions • How many main islands does Japan have? • What is Japan’s size? Bigger or Smaller than France or California? • How many times bigger is Canada? • What is the population of Japan (vs Canada)? • When did Japan become a democracy?
MORE QUESTIONS • Who is Japan’s Prime Minister? • Until When ? • Who was Prime Minister before him/her? • Who is the next PM?
A few questions for everyone: • What comes to your mind first regarding Japan’s politics / policy? • What puzzles you most about Japanese politics and policy-making? • What are you most interested in / curious about?
OUTLINE- Top Puzzles on Japanese Politics: • 1. Where did the Constitution come from? • 1b. Why did the US retain the Emperor? • 2. What are differences with other parliamentary systems? • 3. Why did one party (LDP) dominate for so long, crash, and then come back with a vengeance? • 4. Why do prime ministers rotate so often in Japan?
5. Who has power in the Japanese system? • 6. Is civil society making a major impact since the late 1990s? • 7. What was the Koizumi moment? • 8. Why did the DPJ win massively in 2009 and crashed miserably in 2012? • 9. What is PM Abe doing?
10. Why are China and Japan engaged in such a bitter conflict over small islands after years of economic integration? • 11. Why did Japan deal so efficiently with the great 3.11 earthquake/tsunami and so poorly with the nuclear crisis?
1. POLITICAL HISTORY – Origins of Japan’s Constitution and Political System
Key Milestones to Remember • 1. Tokugawa Japan: 1600-1868 • 2. Commodore Perry: 1854 • 3. Meiji Restoration / Revolution: 1868 • 4. Meiji Constitution: 1889 • 5. Imperialism: 1895-1945 • 6. Taisho Democracy:1920s • 7. Militarization:1930s-1945
EDO Period (1600-1868) • Unification of Japan by 3 military leaders: • Nobunaga Oda: 1568-1582 • Hideyoshi Toyotomi: 1583-1598 • Tokugawa Ieyasu: 1600 (battle Sekigahara)
Highlights of Edo Period • Establishment of Shogunate (in Edo-Tokyo) • Peace and Stability for 250 years (Sankin Kotai) • Feudal System (Nobles, Samurais, Peasants, Merchants) • National Seclusion (1639) • Ban on Christianity, Persecution • Proto-industrial development • But occurrence of peasant protests / famines
Ending Years of Edo Period • 1823: Siebold comes to Nagasaki, arrested in 1829 (with shipment of maps) • 1833: Tempo Famine (300,000 dead) • 1837: Morrison Incident, US ship fired at • 1841: Tempo Reforms (conservative) • 1842: Treaty of Nanking (UK-China) • 1853: Arrival of Commodore Perry
Meiji Revolution • 1866: Satsuma-Choshu Alliance Against Tokugawa Shogunate • 1868: Restoration of Imperial Rule • 1871: Domains dissolved • 1871: Iwakura Mission in US and Europe • 1872: National Army created • 1873: First Railroad Tokyo-Yokohama
Meiji Revolution-the Bottom Line • Political Transformation: effective centralized authoritarian government • Social Transformation: abolition of classes • Education revolution: unified education • Economic Transformation: the fastest industrialization on record • Military Transformation: a top army in 30 years
Constitution of 1889 • Important Milestone: Creation of a Parliament (Diet), elected by 1% of population • Constitutional Government • Drafted by Ito Hirobumi • The Emperor and the People “rule together” • Power in hands of Emperor, but in reality Meiji Oligarchs rule • No Civilian Control of the Army
Consolidation and Expansion of Japan • 1855: Japan-Russia Treaty of Shimoda - 4 Kuril islands under JP control, joint control over Sakhalin • 1875: New Treaty with Russia- all Kurils for Japan, all Sakhalin for Russia • 1874: Japanese Military Expedition to Ryukyu islands (Okinawa)- Ryukyu ruler had historically been both vassal to Satsuma and tributary to Qing China • 1879: Ryukyu Islands incorporated into Japan as the new prefecture of Okinawa, ex-ruler is pensioned off (like the daimyos of Tokugawa Japan)
Japanese Imperialism & For.Pol. • 1876: JP gunboat to Korea (imitation of Commodore Perry)- Treaty of Kangwha opens 3 ports to Japan and grants extra-territoriality • 1894: Anglo-Japanese Commercial treaty (end of unequal treaties) • 1894-1895: Sino-Japanese War, Treaty of Shimonoseki. But Japan immediately forced by European powers to relinquish territory in Korea and China (Liaodong). Japan keeps Taiwan (Formosa). • 1898: Supreme insult: Russia takes Liaodong peninsula in China (the very area that Japan had won in the war with China) • 1902: Anglo-Japanese Alliance • 1904-1905: Russo-Japanese War, Japanese Stunning Victory, Treaty of Portsmouth: Korea, Port-Arthur, Liaodong Peninsula, Manchurian Railway, half of Sakhalin under Japan’s control • 1910: Annexation of Korea • 1915: 21 Demands to China (during WWI, JP allied with UK and FR)
Taisho Democracy: a Lively Period of Party Cabinets • From Oligarchy to Democracy? • Centrist/Conservative Parties Manage to Organize Cabinets (and gain power) by compromising with the bureaucracy and the military • Through the Diet, parties control the budget, appointments of prefectural governors • 1918: First party cabinet (Hara Government) • 1922-1923: Death of last Meiji Oligarchs • 1925: Universal Suffrage • 1918-1932: Alternance of Governments between Seiyukai and Minseito
Taisho Period (1912-1926) and Showa Period • 1919: End of WWI- Treaty of Versailles. Japan wins Shandong Peninsula in China and ex-German South Pacific Islands. Riots erupt in China in protest (May 4 Movement) • 1921: Washington Naval Conference • 1923: Great Kanto Earthquake • 1930-1935: Great Economic Depression • 1931-32: Invasion of Manchuria, Bombing of Shanghai • 1930s: Military increasingly gains control. 1937: Total war mobilization coordinated by military & bureaucracy • 1937: Invasion of China; Nanjing Massacre • 1940: Tripartite Pact with Germany,Italy