Japan

1. Tension in Tradition Japan

2. The Tokugawa Shogunate • Tokugawa Shogunate 1600 – 1868 established military rule and class based society by controlling contact with outside world including giving the Dutch a limited trade monopoly and eliminating Christianity from Japan • Loyalty was primary political value during this time and contributed to factionalism • MotoriNorinaga (1730-1801) articulated the ideology of kokutai as an expression of Japanese superiority in the Imperial way and rejected foreign influences such as Buddhism and Confucianism

3. The Meiji Period • Economic and social problems plagued late Tokugawa Japan including a famine that led to hundreds of thousands of deaths and the impoverishment of many in the samurai class • Concessions to Commodore Matthew Perry to open trading ports to America ignited nationalist forces that would culminate in the Meiji Restoration – Revere the Emperor and Expel the Barbarians – SonnoJoi • Brief civil war and drawing up of the Charter Oath to embrace a course of modernization – 1877 Samurai rebellion defeated • ItagakiTaisuke reorganized forces into the Jiyuto, the Liberal Party, in 1881 that eventually became the modern Liberal Democratic Party – parties in the 80s were more leader centered and did not represent mass interests • The Meiji Constitution of 1889 asserted authority of emperor and was followed by the Imperial Rescript on Education that further articulated conservative values • Japan succeeds in war against China 1894 and Russia 1905 and establishes itself as an imperial power in Korea in 1910

4. Korea at the Crossroads • Korea and Japan had early contact but chose different cultural paths with Korea emphasizing Confucianism and Japan preserving a balance between Buddhism and Confucianism • Early Twentieth Century Japanese colonialism is established and country is liberated by Russians and Americans setting the stage for the Korean War 1950-1953 • Democratic People’s Republic is one of the few remaining authoritarian, communist states in the world • Republic of Korea has worked through six constitutions with the 1987 permitting direct elections. Presently ROK is a multiparty democracy with the Grand National Party and the Democratic Party dominating electoral outcomes • Civic activism plays an important role in ROK politics. Sometimes activism is directed against the United States

5. The Twentieth Century: Pluralistic and Authoritarian Legacies • Cleavages emerged between political elites who followed the Meiji reformers with those adhering to kokutai, State Shinto, and emperor worship prevailing • Japan becomes integrated into global economy and becomes aware of need for resources and territorial expansion • Cycles of economic recession hit Japan with labor market flexibility met by bringing women in during times of growth and pushing them out during recessions • Early twenties sees the birth of labor unions, a Communist party, and a variety of other left leaning parties but these groups are eclipsed by the emergence of state sponsored and administered organizations • Japan expands into Manchuria through autonomous military action and Prime Minister resisting such efforts is assassinated • Fundamentals of Our National Polity published in 1937 expresses militarism, statism, and superiority of Japanese way to Occidental ways.

6. A New Constitutional Order • After catastrophe of war the Japanese focused on recovery and became open to change • The Supreme Commander or the Allied Powers (SCAP) retained emperor and bureaucracy and focused on demilitarization, land reform, legalizing labor unions, and enfranchising women • Zaibatsu were disbanded but old economic elites such as Mitsubishi and Sumitomo survived • Deconcentration policies shelved for Cold War objectives of building a strong anti-communist alliance in Asia • Economic crisis has raised questions about basic institutions established after World War II

7. Nihonjinron • Nihonjinron refers to the debate about what makes the Japanese different than other people • Conservative forces such as Yukio Mishima have focused on the martial spirit of the Japanese; whereas others such as the Society for Textbook reform attempt to downplay or recast Japan’s role in World War II • Others such as Miyazaki Hayao focus on environmental degradation and Japanese values such as the heart-mind that might be resources for resisting such degradation • The extraordinary economic performance during the 1980s intensified the quest for the unique elements of Japanese national identity. Economic troubles in the 1990s and globalization have challenged these ideas of uniqueness

8. Yasukuni Shrine • Yasukuni Shrine established in 1869 to enshrine spirits of those who died fighting for the country, including dozens of convicted class A war criminals from World War II • Controversy over providing funds for Shrine runs into conflict Articles 20 and 89 of the 1947 Constitution • Raises questions about civic religion as well as international controversies when Japanese Prime Ministers have visited the Shrine

9. Summary • Development of Japanese identity includes uniquely Japanese elements such as kokutai and Shinto, as well as adapted nonindigenous traditions such as Confucianism and parliamentary democracy • Ambiguous feelings have emerged about outside influences including rejection of Chinese influence and pan-Asian resistance to Western influence • Ambivalent feelings Americans have for the Japanese are shared by the Japanese towards Americans and the constitutional legacy of 1947