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| 29th Prime Minister of Japan in 1931. Japan still affected by Great Depression of 1929, and its return to the gold standard. Immediately took steps to inflate the economy and to place an embargo on gold exports. Tried, but was unable to reduce military spending, or stop military action in China (after Manchurian Incident). Struggle against military led to assassination during May 15 Incident of 1932. |
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| Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, piloted by Paul Tibbets. 6 August 1945, became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war. The bomb, "Little Boy", was targeted at Hiroshima. One of the two nuclear bombings claimed to have ended WW2. Very controversial, sparked strong anti-nuclear weapons movement in Japan. |
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An army group of the Imperial Japanese Army in early 20th century. Created in 1906 to guard Japan’s leased territory and rail lines in southern Manchuria (acquired in Russo-Japanese War). Late 1920s, the army turned to insurgency
and conspiracy. Kwantung officers envisioned the army as a group in the vanguard of a coming war between Japan and the West. June 1928, Kwantung Army staff officer engineered plot to blow up a train carrying a Chinese warlord, then blame Chinese rivals, in hopes Prime minister would support more aggressive policy in Manchuria. When found out, the government set an ominous precedent by taking no strong
actions to discipline those responsible. |
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| 1940's/1950's. A change in U.S. policy toward Japan during the post-World War II reconstruction. Japan appeared weak—inflation, poverty, and leftist parties were growing—and ripe for communism, America, in throes of cold war, wanted to prevent communism spreading, and though a strong Japanese economy would prevent communism spreading in Asia. Public sector workers lost right to strike, blow to ideological freedom (1950 Red Purge), halt to Zaibatsu busting process, and loosening to anti-monopoly laws. Strengthened right-wing elements within Japanese society (Yakuza, right wing politicians etc). Forced Japan’s foreign policy to be based around its relationship with the US. |
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| Kwantung Army’s operations officer from 1929 to 1932. Believed that a cataclysmic “final war” loomed inevitably between Japan and the United States. To prepare for a Japanese victory, he argued to his subordinates that Japan had to take over Manchuria. The region’s rich mineral resources had strategic value. September 18, 1931, Ishiwara’s forces took bold clandestine action. They blew up track of the southern Manchurian railway at Mukden and announced it as the work of Chinese military forces (Manchurian Incident). Success of operation led to him being awarded command of an infantry regiment, despite controversy. |
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| The Americans promoted a crackdown on the Japan Communist Party. 1950, the Japanese government launched Red Purge with SCAP encouragement. Thirteen thousand people alleged to be Communist Party members were ousted from their public or private sector jobs, on the grounds that their political activities were impeding the goals of the occupation. This was the same justification for the 1945–46 SCAP purge of wartime leaders. The Red Purge coincided with the de-purging of some of these men, who quickly returned to prominent positions in the political world. Dramatic example of the “reverse course.” |
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| 1931. Staged event engineered by Kwantung Army. Japanese gov't agreed to approve Ishiwara's plan to invade Manchuria only if provoked by Chinese forces. Lieutenant Colonel Kanji Ishiwara et al. detonated a small quantity of dynamite close to railroad owned by Japan. The Imperial Japanese Army, accusing Chinese dissidents of the act, responded with a full invasion that led to the occupation of Manchuria, in which Japan established its puppet state of Manchukuo. The ruse was soon exposed, leading Japan to diplomatic isolation and its withdrawal from the League of Nations. Sometimes regarded as the start of the Fifteen-Year War (WW2) |
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| Signed September 8, 1951 in San Francisco, between Japan and part of the Allied Powers. Came into force on April 28, 1952. Brought the occupation to an end. Renounces Japanese rights to many territorial gains, incl. Sakhalin island. Article 11 made Japan accept responsibility for war crimes. Lays down the framework for Japan's current status of retaining a military that is purely defensive in nature. Marked the beginning of the 'San-Francisco system'. Marks beginning of Japan being under considerable American influence. |
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| The puppet state, established 1932, in Manchuria by the Kwantung Army, after Manchurian incident and subsequent seizing of Manchuria. Japan essentially had full control over it. Abolished 1945 after Japan's WW2 defeat, when the area was transferred back to the Chinese. |
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| U.S. Japan Security Treaty |
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First one: signed on 8 September 1951, hours after San Francisco Treaty. Dictated that Japan grant the United States the territorial means for it to establish a military presence in the Far East, meaning America could keep troops and bases in Japan. Also, Japan could not provide foreign powers any bases or military rights without America's express consent. Some saw it as making Japan subordinate to America. Labelled the 'Second Unequal Treaty'. Subject of debate for decades. Originally termed to last 8 years, until…
Second one: Signed January 19, 1960. Strengthened Japan's ties to the West in the Cold-War era. Extended many of the terms of original treaty, incl. Japan providing America with bases etc. America agreed to provide advance notice of bringing nuclear weapons into Japan as small attempt at appeasing opposition. Treaty made future renewal automatic, unless one side explicitly asked for an end. Triggered lots of protests, people were against being subordinate to America, and were worried about risk of being dragged into America's war. |
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| An attempted coup d'état in Japan, from February 26 to 29, 1936 carried out by 1,483 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly occupied by the rebelling troops, under the slogan of 'Showa Restoration'. Aimed to restore Japan’s glory by honouring the emperor, defending the empire, and improving the lot of common people. The emperor sharply condemned the actions carried out by the troops. Although the coup failed, the army emerged stronger than ever. Its leaders finally mustered the determination to purge the ranks of assassination-minded radicals. |
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Ruled almost continuously for nearly 54 years from its founding in 1955 until its defeat in the 2009 election. The Liberal and Democratic parties (Both right-wing conservative parties) joined forces to found the LDP, as a united front against the then popular Japan Socialist Party. Reformed Japan's foreign affairs, ranging from entry into the United Nations, to establishing diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union. Also, put into effect the 'Income doubling plan'. From the 1950s through the 1970s, the CIA spent millions of dollars attempting to influence elections in Japan to favour the LDP against parties such as the Socialists and the Communists.
One of the most successful political parties in political history. |
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| An ideology or a movement that Asian nations unite against European imperialism. Before and during World War II, this was a major element in Japanese propaganda to justify Japanese external invasions. The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere was an example of this propaganda. |
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| Mitsui, who owned the mine, cut back on jobs in order to survive the decline in demand for mining due to foreign imports. In October 1959, the mine's workers union called the first of several time-limited strikes in opposition to job cuts. In December the company announced the dismissals, which targeted union leaders in particular. The union replied by declaring a strike. To keep order, the government sent in fifteen thousand police troopers, 10 percent of the nation’s entire police force. Bolstered by this state support, the mine company outlasted the union. In the autumn of 1960, After a 313-day strike, the company won the right to impose the entire rationalization plan (i.e. the job cuts). |
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| Marco Polo Bridge Incident |
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| 8 July, 1937. Marked the beginning of the second Sino-Japanese War. The night before, Japanese troops carried out a training exercise without warning the Chinese. The Chinese thought they were attacking, and fired a few warning rifle shots. When a Japanese soldier didn't return to his post, the Japanese thought he had been captured by the Chinese. Japanese opened fire on the bridge with machine guns, and had partially seized it by mid-afternoon, but Chinese reinforcements soon overran the Japanese, and re-took the bridge. The two nations came to the agreement that Japan would formally apologise to China for the incident and a ceasefire would come into place. However, both sides continued reinforcing, and the ceasefire was not honoured for long. |
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Announced in September 1960 by the LDP, the plan set forth the goal of rapidly “achieving full employment and radically raising people’s living standard by doubling the gross national product” by 1970. By lowering taxes and interest rates,
Roughly three years ahead of schedule the economy indeed doubled in size. Gained the LDP great support |
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| National General Mobilisation Law |
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| 24 March 1938, to put the national economy of the Empire of Japan on war-time footing after the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Gave the gov't control over industries, labour unions and pricing. Allowed the gov't to conscript Men 16-40 and Women 16-25 into the jobs left behind by those going off to war, jobs that needed to be filled for the war effort, e.g. munitions factories. People drafted were not allowed to quit their jobs, even as wages got worse and worse thanks to government restrictions between '39 and '41. The law was attacked as unconstitutional when introduced, but was passed due to strong pressure from the military. Abolished 1945 after Japanese defeat. |
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| Japan Productivity Centre |
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| Created 1955, with backing from the gov't and business organisations. An external training organisation. Met the need for management development in industry for which higher academic institutions (uni?) were not equipped to deal by way of graduate schools. i.e. they gave practical skills for management, not just theoretical skills. |
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| Kokutai no Hongi (Fundamentals of our National Polity) |
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| 1937, gov't promulgated this manifesto as a leaflet through the school system. Demonised western ideas such as individualism, and even communism. Called for a return to traditional Japanese ideals. It exalted loyalty to the emperor as being of utmost importance, in order to overcome social unrest and build a new Japan. Students were urged to put their nation before themselves, and value the family hierarchy system above all else. |
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| The 56th and 57th Prime Minister of Japan from February 1957, to July 1960. Credited as being a key player in the initiation of the "1955 System", the extended period during which the LDP remained dominant. In 1935, he became one of the top officials involved in the industrial development of Manchukuo, where he was later accused of exploiting Chinese forced labour. Appointed Minister of Commerce and Industry in 1941 by Hideki Tojo. November 1859, Kishi laid down his proposals for a revamped extension of the US-Japan Security Treaty. |
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A Shrine that supposedly houses the 'Kami' of the dead who served the Emperor between 1867–1951. However, as part of this, also houses the 'souls' of over 1000 war criminals, incl. Hideki Tojo. According to Shinto beliefs, enshrinement absolves all earthly crimes, and so trivialised the war crimes.
The shrine also hosts the Yūshūkan War Museum, which is criticsed as offering a revisionist interpretation of WW2 and pre-WW2 Japan, glossing over Japanese atrocities and presenting the Co-Prosperity Sphere etc. as righteous and justified, and glorifying Japanese military aggression in general.
Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited yearly, to much controversy. For example, the Japanese foreign ministers trip to Beijing was cancelled in 2005 by the Chinese as a result of Koizumu visiting the shrine a few days prior. |
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| In 1954 a Japanese fishing boat, the Lucky Dragon, was showered with radioactive fallout from an American thermonuclear test on Bikini Island in the central Pacific. This catalyzed a surge of organizing against nuclear arms and bomb testing. Thirty million people signed petitions opposing nuclear bomb tests. The most prominent anti-nuclear organization to emerge in the 1950s was the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo¯). It came to lead a large annual anti-bomb conference, convened on the anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. |
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Served as the 34th, 38th and 39th Prime Minister of Japan and founder/leader of the IRAA (see IRAA slide). Before establishing the IRAA, passed the National Mobilization Law, which was similar in nature. In 1941, desperately tried to avert war with America by planning to go to America, and agree to all of America's demands, despite great personal risk of him being assassinated for doing so upon returning to Japan. It failed. Again desperately tried to avoid war by secretly arranging a meeting with Roosevelt, which also failed.
Continually tried to persuade army to agree to pull out from China to appease America, but the army, especially General Tojo, felt that it would be akin to surrender and 'a stain on the empire'. Resigned from being PM Oct. 1941. General Tojo became the following PM.
Committed suicide in 1945, after Japan's defeat, presumably to avoid the war trials. |
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| Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and film director. Believed that Hirohito should have abdicated and taken responsibility for the war dead, and was hated by leftists because of this view. November 1970, invaded a Tokyo headquarter of the Self-Defense Forces and made a speech calling on the troops to launch an uprising to restore the prewar political order, before committing Seppuku in front of the crowd. This draws attention to a radical critique of Japan’s modernizing, materialistic postwar culture. |
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| September 1935, Tōjō assumed top command of the Kempeitai of the Kwantung Army. From 17 October 1941 to 22 July 1944, Prime Minister of Japan. Continued militaristic and nationalist indoctrination in the national education system, and reaffirmed totalitarian policies. After Japan's war defeat, Douglas MacArthur ordered his arrest as a War Criminal. Tried and failed to commit suicide before arrest, but was healed and tried by the 'International Military Tribunal for the Far East' for war crimes, and was found guilty. Hung on 23 December 1948, after apologising for Japan's war atrocities, and begging forgiveness from America for Japan's people. Remains kept in Yasukuni shrine |
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| Narita Airport extension protest |
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| Many in the "new left" such as Chukaku-ha opposed the construction of Narita Airport, reasoning that the real purpose for the new airport was to promote capitalism and to provide additional facilities for US military aircraft. They teamed up with local farmers who simply did not want to give up their land. 1966: a group of locals and student activists and left-wing political parties formed resistance group known as the 'Sanrizuka-Shibayama Union to Oppose the Airport'. It was only after highly publicized battles between heavily armoured police and the fiercely opposed farmers and students that the airport finally opened (16 September 1971: three policemen were killed in a riot involving thousands). Forced the government to respond to citizen concerns and take a more conciliatory approach in future projects of this sort. |
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| General Douglas MacArthur |
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| 29 August 1945, MacArthur was ordered to exercise authority through the Japanese government, including the Sho-wa Emperor. As SCAP, MacArthur and his staff helped Japan rebuild itself, institute democratic government, and chart a new course that ultimately made Japan one of the world's leading industrial powers. Drafted a new constitution that renounced war and stripped the Emperor of his military authority. Outside of his SCAP responsibilities, MacArthur was responsible for confirming and enforcing the sentences for war crimes. He worked to get the Emperor off scot-free, and announced that he would not be required to abdicate. MacArthur handed over power to the Japanese government in 1949 |
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| self-made dynamo dubbed “the computerized bulldozer.” Built his political fortune as king of the construction industry throughout Japan. He served as prime minister from 1972 to 1974. He used his personal wealth and access to corporate generosity to consolidate the most powerful faction within the LDP. His main tactic was bankrolling the campaigns of his grateful followers. 1974: a maverick reporter published a scathing expose´ in a major monthly magazine. It detailed the massive shady deals, in the construction business above all, that financed Tanaka Kakuei’s political empire. The mainstream media jumped on the bandwagon. Later that year, Tanaka resigned as prime minister in the face of fierce scrutiny and public criticism. |
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| December 1937: As part of the war against Chinese Nationalists, Japanese troops murdered and raped tens of thousands of civilians and disarmed soldiers. Japanese high command in Nanjing allowed the roundups, rapes, and killings to proceed for weeks on end. From the Gordon book: "It may be that high-level Japanese in both Nanjing and Tokyo, frustrated at the inability to negotiate favourable terms, hoped that the example of these murders would destroy the Chinese will to resist. If so, they were as mistaken as they were brutal." |
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| A neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. First discovered 1956: It was caused by the release of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, which spread up through the food chain. Chisso denied responsibility continually, until disease finally officially recognised by the gov't in 1968. Finally, the victims were awarded compensation. They established important precedents that forced the government and corporations to take preventive as well as remedial steps in the future. |
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| Signed in Berlin, Germany on September 27, 1940. Established the Axis Powers of WWII, i.e. Germany, Italy and Japan. Committed the Axis powers to support each other against the United States, should it enter the war. Enabled the Japanese to negotiate an agreement with the Vichy authorities (placed by Germany) to station troops in the northern region of the French colony of Indochina (Vietnam). It is doubtful that an independent French government would have accepted the presence of Japanese troops. |
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| Student protests against the 1960 U.S. Japan security treaty, known as 'Anpo'. Socialists, student groups, women’s groups, and even some in the LDP objected to the prospect of a nearly permanent “subordinate independence” under American hegemony. They objected as well to the ongoing risk that Japan would be drawn into a larger war. Beginning in April, dozens of demonstrations brought protesters into the streets of Tokyo. When the Treaty was passed anyway, the demonstrations grew dramatically in size. A woman died in protests, making the US president call off a planned trip for fear of his safety. Led PM Kishi to resign in shame. |
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| Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere |
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| Announced 1940. Ostensibly a Japanese plan to 'unite' Asia against the West. Japan claimed if East Asia could unite in peace, then it could lead to world peace. However, could be seen as an excuse for Japan to invade a bunch of Asian territories, where they set up puppet gov'ts for the benefit of imperial Japan. They wanted all of Asia to unite under one cause… a cause that 'just so happened' to be the Japanese Emperor. Aimed to eventually encompass Australia and India, two British colonies. Failed completely when Japan was defeated in the war. |
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| Leftist activist group that existed from 1965 to 1974. As a coalition of a few hundred anti-war groups it protested Japanese assistance to the United States during the Vietnam War. Remarkable for maintaining no formal membership lists, bylaws, or dues. Largest single demonstration drew 770,000 people into the streets to denounce the automatic extension of the United States–Japan Security Treaty in June 1970- movement was unsuccessful, however. |
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Imperial Rule Assistance Association
(IRAA) |
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| A para-fascist organization created by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe on October 12, 1940 to promote the goals of his Shintaisei ("New Order") movement. It evolved into a "statist" ruling political party which aimed at removing the sectionalism in the politics and economics in the Empire of Japan to create a totalitarian single-party state, in order to maximize efficiency of Japan’s total war effort in China. Also played a role in increasing productivity, monitoring rationing, and organizing civil defence. |
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| AKA Hirohito. Emperor December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Despite presumably playing large role in Japan's war atrocities, was acquitted of all crimes by SCAP, Douglas MacArthur, who presented him as a powerless figurehead, who was 'fooled' by the military into going to war, to much controversy. Many possible reasons for this. For example, America knew Hirohito would be loyal to them, and they needed a figurehead who supported them to stop Japan falling into total chaos and being even more opposed to the occupation than it already was. The Truman administration and General MacArthur both believed the occupation reforms would be implemented smoothly if they used Hirohito to legitimise their changes. |
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April-June 1945, weeks before the atomic bombing. The largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. Controversy over whether civilians were told to commit suicide to avoid capture.
Okinawa had high military value for America, who could use it as a base for operations against mainland Japan. Supposedly, the intense difficulty of taking Okinawa led the Americans to want to avoid a land assault of mainland Japan, and perhaps led to the nuclear bombings. Significant US forces remain garrisoned at Okinawa. |
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Founder of Honda Motor Co.
Defied bureaucratic warnings and entered the auto market in 1963 with great long-run success. An example of daring young Japanese entrepreneurs who defied the cautious warnings
of government bureaucrats to invest in new fields and new technologies, despite the presence of experienced global competitors. |
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| February 1945 Konoe (see his slide) made a desperate attempt to take the initiative from army hardliners. He presented a plea, known as the Konoe Memorial, to the emperor in person. He urged Hirohito to make peace with the United States, even at the cost of unconditional surrender. This, he argued, was the only way to “extricate the people from the miserable ravages of war, preserve the kokutai, and plan for the security of the imperial house.” The emperor appeared intrigued, but did not follow his advice to replace the prime minister with someone willing to take this course. |
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| The “San Francisco System” |
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| This term, coined by historian John W. Dower, signifies the effects of Japan's relationship with the United States and its role in the international arena as determined by these two treaties (San Francisco Treaty and U.S. Japan Security treaty) and is used to discuss the ways in which these effects have governed Japan's post-war history. Beginning of the system was marked by the San Francisco Treaty, September 1951. |
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| Served as Prime Minister from 1946 to 1947 and from 1948 to 1954. His pro-American and pro-British ideals and his knowledge of Western societies, gained through education and political work abroad are what made him the perfect candidate in the eyes of the postwar Allied occupation. His policies, emphasizing Japan's economic recovery and a reliance on United States military protection at the expense of independence in foreign affairs, became known as the Yoshida Doctrine. |
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| MITI (Ministry of International Trade and Industry) |
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| Created with the split of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in May 1949 and given the mission for coordinating international trade policy, to help Japan recover from the economic disaster of WW2. MITI facilitated the early development of nearly all major industries by providing protection from import competition, technological intelligence, help in licensing foreign technology, access to foreign exchange, and assistance in mergers. Strongest in the 1950s and 1960s. As industry became stronger and as MITI lost some of its policy tools, such as control over allocation of foreign exchange, MITI's policies also changed. The success of Japanese exports and the tension it has caused in other countries led MITI to provide guidance on limiting exports of particular products to various countries. |
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| SCAP (Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers) |
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| The title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the Occupation of Japan following World War II. SCAP also referred to the offices of the occupation, including a staff of several hundred U.S. civil servants as well as military personnel. Played a primary role to exonerate Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and all members of the imperial family implicated from criminal prosecution after the war. Worked on slanting the testimony of other war criminals away from implicating the Emperor as being involved. Believed the occupation reforms would be implemented smoothly if they used Hirohito to legitimise their changes. Also gave immunity to those involved in human experimentation of bacteria, in exchange for the results. SCAP also had strict control over all of the Japanese media, banned a total of 31 topics from all forms of media incl. the atomic bomb. With the Treaty of San Francisco, the post of SCAP lapsed. |
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Founder of the Japanese new religious group Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway and several other crimes, for which he was sentenced to death by hanging, 2004. On March 20, 1995, members of Aum attacked the Tokyo Subway System with the nerve gas sarin. Thirteen people died and thousands more suffered from after-effects.
The Japanese police initially reported that the attack was the cult's way of hastening an apocalypse, by blaming the west and bringing about war.
Attacks provoked legal reforms designed to monitor religious organizations better. E.g. Religious Corporations Law |
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| International Military Tribunal for the Far East |
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Definition
| 1946: The tribunal which judged the leaders of Japan during WW2 for War Crimes. They divided the crimes into Classes A, B and C, with 28 leaders being charged with Class A crimes, and over 5700 Japanese Nationals being charged with Classes B or C, mostly for prisoner abuse. Emperor Hirohito was not tried, despite potentially playing a large role, and SCAP ensured that no other testimonies implicated Hirohito as being involved. General MacArthur believed the occupation reforms would be implemented smoothly if they used Hirohito to legitimise their changes. Shiro Ishii received immunity in exchange for data gathered from his experiments on live prisoners. The tribunal was adjourned on 12 November 1948. |
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An agreement between the governments of France, West Germany, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom, to depreciate the U.S. dollar in relation to the Japanese yen and German Deutsche Mark by intervening in currency markets. The five governments signed the accord on September 22, 1985 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.
Devaluing the dollar made U.S. exports cheaper to its trading partners, which in turn meant that other countries bought more American-made goods and services.
The signing of the Plaza Accord was significant in that it reflected Japan's emergence as a real player in managing the international monetary system. Yet it is postulated that it contributed to the Japanese asset price bubble, which ended up in a serious recession, the so-called Lost Decade. |
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| Potsdam Declaration/Proclamation |
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Definition
| July 26, 1945: A statement calling for the Surrender of Japan in World War II. The United States, the United Kingdom, and China issued the document, which outlined the terms of surrender for the Empire of Japan as agreed upon at the Potsdam Conference. This ultimatum stated that, if Japan did not surrender, it would face "prompt and utter destruction." Japan's initial rejection of the ultimatum led directly to Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, respectively. |
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| A Japanese diplomat who served as Vice-Consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania. During World War II, he helped several thousand Jews leave the country by issuing transit visas to Jewish refugees so that they could travel to Japan. Most of the Jews who escaped were refugees from German-occupied Poland and residents of Lithuania. Sugihara wrote travel visas that facilitated the escape of more than 6,000 Jewish refugees to Japanese territory, risking his career (Japan didn't officially want him to be doing it) and his family's lives (Nazi Germany had forbade things of this nature, and all other Embassy's had closed under their orders). |
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