Q. WHAT LED TO THE GROWTH OF MILITARISM IN JAPAN ?

Japan's march toward militarism started soon after the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate and the
beginning of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, with the Meiji oligarchs' adoption of a policy of fukoku kyô hei
(rich country, strong military). Although the Meiji oligarchs showed restraint in outward expressions of
militarism and imperialism in the first half of the Meiji period from 1868 to 1890, this does not mean they
disagreed with the goals of foreign expansion and military build-up, but rather they first focused more on
modernization and economic growth to catch up with Western industrial powers before they took significant
steps to expand Japan's influence in foreign matters.

The Meiji oligarchs' handling of Saigô Takamori's recommendation to invade Korea in 1873 reflects this
philosophy. Although the Meiji oligarchs did not disagree in principle with Saigô 's proposal, they prudently
decided against the invasion because of its excessive cost, the need to focus investments on economic
modernization, and the expected negative reaction from Western powers.

The Meiji oligarchs' early leanings toward militarism and imperialism can be seen by the Conscription Law
of 1873, which required all males to serve active duty in the military for three years and reserve duty for an
additional four years, and by several small territorial acquisitions in the 1870s, such as the Ryû kyû Islands,
Bonin Islands, and Kurile Islands.

Japanese militarism and imperialism steadily developed for five principal reasons. Although all five reasons
existed from early in the Meiji period to the start of war in China in 1937, the relative importance of these
reasons differed depending on the time period.

The first two reasons, Japan's desire to be a Western-style imperialist power and Japan's concerns for its
security and safety, played important roles in the growth of militarism up to the end of the Russo-Japanese
War in 1905. The next two reasons, Japan's belief in its leadership role for Asia and Japan's frequent
provocations by Western powers, gave rise to an expansion of militarism and imperialism from 1905 to the
1930s. The final reason, Japan's desire to secure its economic interests, rose in importance as Japan entered
the decade of the 1930s.

Western imperialism played an integral part in Japan's aggression toward foreign countries. As this essay
analyzes the five causes of Japanese militarism and imperialism, the significant role of Western imperialism
in each cause will become clear. In some cases Japan followed the examples of the Western imperialist
nations, and in other cases Japan needed to counteract or defend against the actions of Western powers.

The stubborn and provocative attitude of the imperialist Western nations toward Japan provided a favorable
environment for Japan's advance toward militarism and imperialism, which ultimately led to World War II.

Let us now examine the history if Militarism in Japan:

Legacies of the Meiji era -

The rise of militarism in Japan can be traced back in the century-old military tradition of the samurai.
Hundreds of years of rule by men-of-sword had made the people ready to accept the claims of militarists to
national leadership. Fundamentally, Japan had a strong tradition of unquestioned obedience to authority.
The spirit of Bushido had existed in the hearts of the Japanese and it permeated into all social strata through
the nation-wide conscription army.Furthermore, foreign threats emphasized the importance of militarism.
Japan in the 1850s had been forced to sign unequal treaties, and her independence was threatened in an age
of imperialism. These facts taught the Japanese the realities of power politics — that “Might is Right.” As
such, the Meiji leaders, mostly ex-samurai, learnt the necessity of a strong military force. In time, they
carried out important military reforms and created an army second only to Germany in the world. Inevitably,
the military services were to have decisive influence in the nation’s affairs.Institutional loopholes helped to
increase the influence of the militarists. The Meiji Constitution 1889 gave autonomy to the armed services. It
stated that the services had the right of direct access to the emperor, and thus bypassing the government
should it become necessary to do so. A second loophole was the 1900 decree. In that decree, it established
the rule that only serving generals and admirals could become Ministers of War and of the Navy. As such, the
army and navy could wreck a government which was against their interests by refusing to supply it with
army or navy ministers. These institutional loopholes, no doubt, encouraged the growth of military influence
and autonomy.Another factor that strengthened the tradition of militarism was Japan’s victories in the Sino-
Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars. These two victories brought great benefits to Japan - in terms of money
and territorial gains as well as international status. These gave great prestige to the militarists and taught
the Japanese a lesson that war was the best instrument to further national interest and it paid high
dividends. In short, victories justified the advocates of militarism and expansion.Japan’s overseas expansion
became necessary with the successful Meiji modernization. Significant economic advances were made,
especially in industrialization and population growth. These developments pointed to the search for living
space, raw materials, markets and the like from abroad. The Asian mainland, in particular, China and Korea,
became Japan’s primary target for expansion.

Meiji leaders, for the sake of national unity, ardently cultivated an emperor-centered nationalism among
Japanese minds. It placed the Emperor in an unchallenged position. Thus, whoever acted in the name of the
emperor could control the destiny of Japan. In theory, the armed forces were the personal army and navy of
the emperor, and therefore were qualified to speak for the emperor.

By making use of this absolute obedience to the emperor and the nation, the army started to carry out
aggression in the 1930s, believing that this served the will of the emperor and the nation’s interest. A side-
effect of this fanatical devotion to the emperor was the growth of ultra-nationalism. A number of extremist
societies such as the Black Dragon Society fanned up the sentiment of Japan’s superiority in the world by
virtue of its divine origins. They strongly advocated militarism and imperialism.All the above were
underlying factors that enabled the rise of militarism in the 1930s. For the time being, the Meiji oligarchs as
a group could hold the militarists at bay. With the fading out of the oligarchs, however, no political group was
strong enough to play a similar role. As a matter of fact, party politicians failed disastrously to stop the rise
of militarist influence by the early 1930s.

Failure of Party Government -

Despite its achievements in the earlier years, the failure of party government became apparent by the late
1920s. This failure of the parties to provide national leadership gave the militarists their chance to rise to
power. As we have seen in earlier section, the failure of party governments derived partly from its own
weaknesses: internal disunity, corruption, no mass support, and economic failures. There was another side
of the story. In foreign affairs, there was strong reaction among the army officers against the “weak-kneed”
diplomacy of the party governments.

The military men resented the reduction in size of the armed forces and regarded Foreign Minister
Shidehara’s policy of improving relations with China as a sign of weakness. They were especially unhappy
with the 1930 London Naval Disarmament Conference in which Japan agreed to a naval inferiority relative to
Britain and the United States.
On this account, the Prime Minister was assassinated by an extremist.

One of the most influential nationalist extremists was Kita Ikki who advocated an economic and social
revolution led by the militarists. He also advocated the conquest of such areas as Manchuria and Siberia
because Japan lacked natural resources and living space. His ideas provided a programme of action for the
militarists.
The influence of Kita was acknowledged in the Showa Restoration movement in the early 1930s. The concept
of Showa Restoration envisaged the return of power from the parties and zaibatsu to the emperor and
militiarists who served better the nation’s interests.

Independence of the Military -

Also forming part of the basis for the growth of militarism was the freedom from civilian control enjoyed by
the Japanese armed forces. In 1878, the Imperial Japanese Army established the Imperial Japanese Army
General Staff office, modeled after the Prussian General Staff. This office was independent of, and equal to
(and later superior) to the Ministry of War of Japan in terms of authority.

The Imperial Japanese Navy soon followed with the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff. These General
Staff offices were responsible for the planning and execution of military operations, and reported directly to
the emperor. As the Chiefs of the General Staff were not cabinet ministers, they did not report to the Prime
Minister of Japan, and were thus completely independent of any civilian oversight or control.

The Army and the Navy also had decisive say on the formation (and survival) of any civilian government.
Since the law required that the posts of Army Minister and Navy Minister be filled by active duty officers
nominated by their respective services, and since the law also required that a prime minister resign if he
could not fill all of his cabinet posts, both the Army and the Navy had final say on the formation of a cabinet,
and could bring down the cabinet at any time by withdrawing their minister and refusing to nominate a
successor.

In reality, while this tactic was used only one time (ironically to prevent a General, Kazushige Ugaki, from
becoming Prime Minister in 1937), the threat always loomed high when the military made any demands on
the civilian leadership.

Growth of Ultra nationalism -

During the Taisho period, Japan saw a short period of democratic rule (the so-called "Taisho democracy"),
and several diplomatic attempts were made to encourage peace, such as the Washington Naval Treaty and
participation in the League of Nations.

However, with the beginning of the Showa era, the apparent collapse of the world economic order with the
Great Depression starting in 1929, coupled with the imposition of trade barriers by western nations and an
increasing radicalism in Japanese politics including issues of domestic terrorist violence (including an
assassination attempt on the emperor in 1932 and a number of attempted coups d'etat by ultra-nationalist
secret societies) led to a resurgence of jingoistic patriotism, a weakening of democratic forces and a belief
that the military could solve all threats both domestic and foreign.
Patriotic education also strengthened the sense of a hakko ichiu , or a divine mission to unify Asia under
Japanese rule.

Those who continued to resist the “military solution” including nationalists with unquestionable patriotism,
such as generals Jotaro Watanabe and Tetsuzan Nagata and ex-Foreign Minister Kijuro Shidehara were
driven from office or an active role in the government.

A turning point came with the ratification of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. Prime Minister Osachi
Hamaguchi and his Minseito party agreed to a treaty which would severely limit Japanese naval power. This
treaty was strongly opposed by the military, who claimed that it would endanger national defense, and was
portrayed by the opposition Rikken Seiyukai party as having been forced upon Japan by a hostile United
States, which further inflamed growing anti-foreign sentiment.

The Japanese system of party government finally met its demise with the May 15th Incident in 1932, when a
group of junior naval officers and army cadets assassinated Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi. Although the
assassins were put on trial and sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment, they were seen popularly as having
acted out of patriotism and the atmosphere was set where the military was able to act with little restraint.

Circumstances Favourable in the Present Situation -

By the late 1920s., a number of developments accelerated the rise of militarism in Japan. In the first place,
China by 1928 was on the verge of being unified by Chiang Kai-shek. A unified and strong China could
threaten Japan’s position in Manchuria where the Kwangtung Army was stationed.
Apparently, the Nanking government was trying to bring Manchuria back into China’s control. The
Manchurian warlord, Chang Hsueh-liang defied Japan by associating himself with the Nanking government.
In the eye of the militarists, Japan had to act fast in order to safeguard her vested interests. Consequently, in
September 1931, the Kwangtung Army took independent action and seized control of Manchuria.Another
significant factor was the effects of the Great Depression on Japan’s economy. This world-wide depression
led to a collapse of international trade because each country raised protective tariffs to protect her own
interests. This development was fatal to Japan’s economy which depended heavily on export trade. Thus,
between 1929 and 1931, Japan’s exports dropped 50%, unemployment reached 3 million, and peasants’ real
income dropped one-third as a result of falling prices for silk.

Then, there was a failure of rice crop in 1932. Such rural distresses intensified the discontents of the army
officers, many of whom had connections with the rural population. They blamed the party governments in
power and believed that parliamentary policies were ruining Japan. Consequently, there was a popular
support for military adventures. Many Japanese believed that overseas expansion was an effective solution
to economic problems. In short, the economic crisis made the nation desperate for military expansion. Thus
took place the Manchurian Incident in 1931.Japan’s expansionism was not an isolated event. In Europe, Nazi
Germany and Fascist Italy also undertook such a course in the 1930s. Their aggressive actions echoed and
reinforced each other’s, thereby drawing these three countries closer together. By 1940, the Axis Alliance
took shape and this became an important factor for the outbreak of the Second World War.

Aspiration for Western-style Imperialism -

The Meiji leaders sought to make Japan a first-rate nation (ittô koku), which included the prestige and
power associated with foreign territorial possessions. During the 19th century, the Western powers of
Britain, Germany, America, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Russia, and Italy made various overseas
territorial acquisitions, many times through military means.

Knowing very well the long history of Western imperialism, which began in the 16th century, the Meiji
oligarchs desired to join the Western powers in demands for rights and privileges in other Asian countries.
However, the oligarchs realized that the country needed to modernize and strengthen its military before it
attempted to assert its demands to the Western powers.

Even after Japan had been building its military for several years, Japanese leaders realized in 1895 that the
country still had not reached the same level as the imperialist Western powers. Although Japan won the
Sino-Japanese War in 1894-95 and as a result acquired Formosa and forced China to pay a large indemnity,
Japan could not stand up to the other Western powers when Russia, Germany, and France forced Japan in the
Triple Intervention to give up the Liaotung Peninsula captured during the war. This led Japan to a rapid
increase in military expenditures between 1895 and 1904.

Security Concerns -
Japan's militaristic attitude intensified as government leaders recognized the need to ensure the defense of
the country against Russia and other Western powers.
Observing the advanced technological achievements and superior military and naval power of the West,
Japan had fears of being invaded by a Western country such as Russia.
Also, with China being so weak militarily and economically in the late 19th century, Japanese leaders feared
the rivalries of the Western powers could bring China to collapse, which would have profound implications
on the security of Japan. Yamagata Aritomo, known as the father of the modern Japanese army, advocated
expansionism more for security reasons rather than for conquest as an end in itself or for other reasons.

Yamagata recommended that Japan not only protect its line of sovereignty (shukensen) but also strive
toward its line of advantage (riekisen), which meant that Japan should extend its influence and control
beyond its national borders in order to ensure its security.
Control over Korea represented an essential element in the protection of Japan against Western countries
due to the two countries' geographical propinquity and due to Korea's having borders with both China and
Russia.

Japan soon recognized that it needed control over the Liaotung Peninsula in southern Manchuria to ensure
the defense of Korea. Although Japan captured the Liaotung Peninsula in the Sino-Japanese War, the Triple
Intervention in 1895 forced Japan to give up its position.

Russia moved into Port Arthur at the tip of the Liaotung Peninsula in 1898, which further increased Japan's
sense of insecurity. Although the 1902 Anglo-Japanese Alliance provided Japan a potential ally in the case of
attack, the continuing tensions with Russia soon led to the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-5.

Belief in Asian Leadership Role -

In the late 19th century, many Japanese leaders came to believe that their country had a "manifest destiny"
to free other Asian countries from Western imperialist powers and to lead these countries to collective
strength and prosperity. Fukuzawa Yukichi and other late 19th century writers supported foreign
expansionism and Social Darwinism, which promoted survival of the strongest cultures by a process of
natural selection.

In 1905, Japan became the first Asian country to defeat a Western power, namely Russia in the Russo-
Japanese War of 1904-5, which bolstered Japan's belief in its destiny to lead Asia and encouraged leaders in
other Asian countries that they had a chance to stand against Western imperialist designs.

Several ultranationalist groups and writers, such as the Black Dragon Society and Kita Ikki, gained increasing
popularity with their views that Japan should take leadership in Asia to expel foreign powers by means of a
righteous war if necessary. Many of these ultranationalist groups believed that the moral purity of the
Yamato race and Japan's unique ancestry as descendants of the sun goddess Amaterasu entitled the Japanese
to such a leadership role in Asia.

Provocation by Western Powers -

A series of coercive acts, insults, and provocations by Western imperialist countries from the 1850s to the
1930s caused great anger to fester among the Japanese people.
Japan's signing of unequal treaties with America, France, Holland, and Russia in 1858 placed restrictions on
Japan's national sovereignty, such as extraterritoriality, which meant that foreigners in Japan had immunity
from the jurisdiction of the Japanese legal system. The 1921-22 Washington Conference naval treaties forced
on Japan an unfavorable battleship ratio of 5:5:3 for the US, Britain, and Japan respectively, and the Western
powers at the London Naval Conference of 1930 coerced Japan to accept the same ratio for its heavy
cruisers.

Strong racial prejudice by Westerners toward Japanese, in addition to Chinese and other Asians, led to
several severely insulting incidents for the Japanese people. In 1919 at the Paris Peace Conference, Western
countries rejected the simple Japanese request to have a racial equality clause included in the League of
Nations Covenant.
In 1905, California passed anti-Japanese legislation. In the following year, the school board in San Francisco
ordered Japanese and other Asian children to attend segregated schools. In 1924, America passed the
Japanese Exclusion Act to shut off Japanese immigration into the US. This series of international affronts to
Japanese pride and status provided fuel to the militaristic and imperialist sentiments of Japanese
government leaders and ultranationalists.
Economic Interests -
With Japan's heavy dependence on foreign trade, the world depression that began in 1929 caused great
economic hardships for the Japanese people. This great worldwide depression came on the heels of the
devastating Kantô earthquake in 1923 and economic stagnation during the 1920s, which especially hurt
farmers and workers in small shops. Entering the decade of the 1930s, economic motives for Japan's
imperialism became very strong in order to ensure continued foreign trade.
Economic growth required strong export markets for Japanese textiles and other goods. Other Asian
countries, especially China, provided the best market opportunities for Japanese export products, so the
Japanese government needed to ensure that this trade would not be interrupted by obtaining commercial
and transportation rights in China. Japan's economy also required imports of raw materials to supply its
manufacturing industries.

Manchuria's extensive land area and abundant natural resources such as iron and coal provided a ready
solution to Japan's overpopulation problem and its need for raw materials to support its heavy industries,
which focused on military equipment buildup. Japan seized Manchuria in 1931. Japan later moved into other
countries in south Asia to ensure sufficient resources to maintain its self-sufficiency. For example, Japan
needed oil from the Dutch East Indies in order to keep its industry and military supplied.

The end of Japanese Militarism -

Despite efforts to totally militarize Japanese society during the war, including such measures as the National
Service Draft Ordinance and the National Spiritual Mobilization Movement, Japanese militarism was
completely discredited during the American occupation by the utter failure of Japan's military in World War
II.

After the surrender of Japan, many of its former military leaders were tried for war crimes before the Tokyo
tribunal, its government, educational system revised and had pacifism written into the post-war
Constitution of Japan as one of its key tenets.

Bibliography:
Japanese Imperialism 1894-1945: William Beasley
Japanese Militarism, Past and Present: John M Maki
A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present: Andrew Gordon
Japan in War & Peace: John W Dower