Understanding about the formation of statism during Meiji Restoration

李效轩

While the Fascism has been exterminated for decades in Japan， theres still ambivalences that are reflected in many representation need to be dealt. In this article， we would mostly focus on how Japan formed their own nationalism and seek out the meaning beneath the history. In fact， tracing back to the origin of controversy is the relatively objective pattern of exploring the notion that was predominant in 20th century， helping us understand some hotly talked events by lateral aspects.

·Seduction of Power Politics

In order to bring about a utopian “Plain of High Heaven” on Earth， the Japanese people must purify themselves by annihilating the individual self and transcend “into the mystical body of the emperor once ones own individuality is abandoned”. In other words， the figure of the Emperor was the living embodiment of the popular， general will of the Japanese people， not unlike the almost mystical Fuhrer of Nazi Germany.

The fact is， some influential theorists， leading intellectuals， and even antifascism political groups in Japan did not realise they were facing a way of Fascism as they continued their purpose of richening the country with sweeping the impediments. During the first year of Emperor Meiji in power， Ito Hirobumi directly suggested to rearrange soldiers who came back from Russia to fully serve as the army under the lead of Emperor. Then central authority could not only suppress the riots in the nation， but also fight against foreign invaders.

Emperor Meiji

In the second year of Meiji period， war minister Yamagata Aritomo spoke for the expansion of military modernity. Strongly influenced by the recent striking success of Prussia in transforming itself from an agricultural state to a leading modern industrial and military power， he backed up it Through the effort he put into the construction of the fledging army， the Imperial Japanese Army was finally formed in 1873 and began to widely conscript.

During the explosive expansion of countrys military， central authority simultaneously begun to pay attention to impair some sectional forces and propagate ideas for emphasising outstanding features of Japanese. Unlike other countries， it is the first time for Japan to begin effectively restricting the forces in the nation. Rather than physically annihilating thought criminals from society， from May 1931 onward the Japanese Tokko （thought police） carried out the policy of conversion （tenko）. Ultimately， between 1928 and 1941， 66， 000 were arrested under the Peace Preservation Law， but just a small fraction of this number ever moved beyond prosecution stage， and only a single person was executed for treason. Additionally， the right of holding weapons was along to be deprived. January 29， Meiji directly promulgated regulations on the management of guns， “up to the Chinese people， down to the civilian population”， were not allowed to hold military firearms and ammunition， and Emperor also prohibited unauthorised manufacturing；shotgun and other types of guns. Only some designated Merchants were permitted and supervised by the Ministry of Warhead. Next， government promptly promulgated the “waste knife order”， not allowing non-military personnel to hold Japanese knives.endprint

The appearance of standing army in Japan exposed governments intent to control social ideology. After all， throughout the period of applying expansionism， people did not have any effective approach for limiting the power of government and the new type of army. One of the most representative example is the Southwest Battle in 1877， which revealed the violent nature of the strong government， compelling people with dissatisfaction to give up their desire for revolution. After the suicide of Saigō Takamori， the most awe-inspiring hero in Meiji Period， government has almost eliminated all the dissidents and opposition forces， signalling the end of an era.

·Historical significance of Statism and Nationalism

In the ‘Utopia of Plato， it was noted that the guardian of city should be gentle to his citizens and be fierce to the enemy. But it was just an theoretical world in Platos mind；literally， police and military could still be vicious to their own people and become more ruthless than foreign invaders. At that point， Japan had totally gone astray from original goals. Since the 1878， when the military general staff was established， the military as a whole was constitutionally independent of civilian oversight. They could send their own candidates to represent them in the civilian cabinet， who were answerable only to Emperor. As such， they had always been able to exert extraordinary influence on successive civilian cabinets to bend them to their will on national policies， lest the Army or the Navy dissolve the cabinets mandate by refusing to nominate their own cabinet ministers. In this system of a military veto， the civilian government was largely impotent in expressing power over foreign policy and military spending.

Whats unavoidable fact is：Japan was stimulated by external forces to start to build up a integrated nation， which was based on the conflict between liberalism and nationalism. However， in the period of drastic change， it seems to be urgent to gather resources to empowering the nations military and economy. Also， the desire for Power Politics would outweigh Republican.

In a nutshell， on the way of chasing expansionism， the rapid change caused central authority to gradually contort the social structure. As mentioned above， troops and police were totally overpowering people and became violent organisation. This phenomena was evidently represented to be one of a feature of powerful authority and nationalism that compelled the nation to be unstoppable， finally losing their own way on development.endprint

With coming into a new era， nationalism has gradually diminished around Japan. Democracy in Japan also becomes more and more mature. There is still a problem with nationalism， which is the contention existing in Japanese political parties. Under recent circumstance， foundation of fascism is still needed to be cautious in the society. The trend of globalism would accelerate toward more intensified conflict. What we need to know is， nationalism is not a cultural problem；instead， it is more like a social and economic problem. Maybe we could find methods for solving social conflict by reconsidering the history.

References：

[1]Jason G.Karlin，“The Gender of Nationalism：Competing Masculinities in Meiji Japan.” Journal of Japanese Studies 28，no.1（2002）：42.

[2]Marius B Jansen，Sakamoto Ryōma and the Meiji Restoration （New York：Columbia University Press，1994）especially chapter VIII：“Restoration”.

[3]W.G.Beasley，The Meiji Restoration（Stanford，California：Stanford University Press，1972）.endprint