Japan - national flag
Japan's flag was officially adopted in 1854, and its use expanded in 1870.
The flag is called Hinomaru, 'Sun disk', and is an example of a
so-called mon, a stylized emblem of Japan's ancient form of
heraldry. The sun disk has been an imperial symbol since the 1300's. The white
color stands for purity and honesty, the red for clarity, sincerity and warmth.
- Countryaah:
What does the flag of Japan look like? Follow this link, then you will see
the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
According to a2zgov, the flag is available in three differently proportioned versions. On August
9, 1999, the flag received official status as the country's national flag for
the first time.
Japan (Prehistory)
It is disputed when the Japanese islands were first inhabited. For between 2
million. and 10,000 years ago the archipelago was for long periods connected
with the mainland. The oldest traces of people in the area date from
approximately 43,000 BC From this time until approximately 13,000 BC the islands were
inhabited by hunters and gatherers. The tools show great similarities with
simultaneous finds from settlements in Siberia and Europe. From the late
Paleolithic settlements of northern Japan comes the world's oldest pottery,
carbon 14-dated to approximately 10,000 BC In Mesolithic Jomon culture, a finely
ornamented pottery was developed; characteristic are also many richly decorated
female statues of burnt clay. Furthermore, thousands of kitchen manure are
known, where quantities of shells of oysters and mussels as well as bones of
fish, deer and wild boar testify to the food composition. Domesticated or wild
useful plants occur between 5500 and 300 BC, albeit to a limited extent; some
wheat, millet, beans and rice were grown. The rich coastal resources remained of
paramount importance.
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such as JPN which represents the official name of Japan.
Approximately 300 BC with the Yayoi period, agriculture was introduced in earnest
with intensive rice cultivation reflecting immigration from Korea. Along with
rice cultivation, bronze and iron technology were introduced. During this
period, megalithic tombs of nozzle-like shapes were erected, which also show
Korean influence.
approximately 250 AD began the proto-historical period in which a strong
hierarchical society was built and Japan gathered under the first
emperors. Thousands of monumental burial mounds were erected for the leading
families, some with burial chamber-like megalithic chambers, other giant burial
mounds with a ground plan in the form of a keyhole. The largest of these is
Emperor Nintoku high near Osaka from 400 t., There is more than 1/2 km
long and about 30 m high, surrounded by ramparts and moats.

Japan (History)
The founding of the empire and the introduction of Buddhism (up to 710)
The oldest Japanese historiography from the 8th century traces the founding
of the empire back to the descendant of the sun goddess, the mythological
emperor Jimmu, 660 BCE However, the political unification process in Japan does
not begin until many hundreds of years later in the Inland Sea area.
Various clans, uji, had fought for power in the period of state
formation, and in the 400's-500's a single line of rulers, the one who claimed to
descend from the sun goddess, seems to have won. The Yamato community was
heavily stratified. The main division was in uji, be, ie. artisan
corporations, and slaves. Many uji and be were of Korean origin, and during this
period there were close connections to the Korean kingdoms Paekche and Silla and
possibly to a Japanese colony called Mimana (366-562). Via Korea also came the
Chinese script as well as Buddhism and Confucianism, and it became the prelude
to a cultural explosion that totally changed the primitive clan society.
The introduction of Buddhism in 552 gave rise to fierce strife between the
leading clans, but under the leadership of the powerful Sogaklan, the position
of Buddhism was secured in 587, and monks, nuns, writers, architects and artists
arrived from Korea. The new state and the new Chinese-inspired political
ideology began to take shape in earnest under Prince Shotoku Taishi, who ruled
593-622, culminating in the Taika reform.in 646. A centralized state
was now to be organized according to the Chinese model: all land was declared
the property of the emperor, clan leaders became governors for years, a central
administration and a new tax system were introduced, and regular censuses and
land surveys were to be conducted. Although the Taika reform did not succeed,
Japan was transformed during the 600's and 700's into a centralized imperial state
with significant tax revenues, known as the ritsuryo system.
Historical overview |
Year |
Event |
approx. 13000 BCE |
Immigration of mammoth and bison hunters from Siberia. |
approx. 4000 BC |
Beginning agriculture. |
approx. 300 BC |
Yayoiperioden; rice cultivation is intensified. Immigration from
Korea and introduction of bronze and iron tools. |
400-500's evt |
The country gathers under the first emperors. |
500's |
Cultural influence from China; Buddhism, Confucianism and Chinese
written language are introduced. |
646 |
Taikareformen; centralization of power. All land becomes the
property of the emperor. |
710-794 |
Naraperioden; art and literature flourish. |
794-1185 |
Heianperioden; the capital is moved to Kyoto; the power of the court
nobility grows at the expense of the emperor. |
1185-1333 |
Kamakura periods; the political power lies with the
shogun. Feudalization. |
1274 and 1281 |
Mongol invasion attempts. |
1392-1568 |
Muromachi period; The Ashikaga family occupies the shogunate; wars
between the feudal lords. In the 1540's, the first Europeans arrive in
Japan. |
1603-1868 |
Tokugawa Shogunate (Edo Period); strong central power; the emperor
without political influence. |
approx. 1630 |
Japan isolates itself from the outside world. |
1853 |
A US Navy arrives in Japan. In the following years, more ports will
be opened. |
1868 |
May restaurants. The shogunate is abolished and the emperor regains
political authority. Social and political reforms. |
1889 |
Japan gets a constitution. |
1894-1895 |
The Sino-Japanese War. |
1904-1905 |
The Russo-Japanese War. |
1914-1918 |
Japan participates in World War I on the side of the Allies. |
1921-1922 |
Washington Conference; naval treaty between England, the United
States and Japan. |
1932 |
The Japanese sound state Manchukuo is established in Manchuria. |
1937 |
Japan invades China. |
1940 |
Tripartite Pact between Japan, Germany and Italy. |
1941 |
Japan bombs Pearl Harbor on December 7 and begins extensive
expansion in South and Southeast Asia. |
1945 |
The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima on August 6
and Nagasaki on August 9. The Soviet Union declares war on 8
August. Japan capitulates on August 15th. |
1945-1952 |
Japan under American occupation. Democratization and
demilitarization. |
approx. 1950 |
Strong economic growth is taking hold. |
1951 |
Peace agreement between Japan and the United States. |
1956 |
Japan joins the UN. |
1964 |
Japan joins the OECD. |
1975 |
The G7 group is created with Japan as a member. |
1993 |
The LDP's long-standing government monopoly ceases. |
2003 |
Japan sends troops to Iraq. |
Naraperioden (710-794)
Nara (Heijo) was now the capital and was built with the Chinese capital
Chang'an (Xi'an) as a model; art and literature flourished and the first
national historiography was created. At the same time, the influence of the
Buddhist monasteries grew, and therefore, in 794, the capital was finally
moved to Kyoto (Heian).
Pagan periods (794-1185)
This period became the classical heyday of an aristocratic Japanese court
culture, detached from the all-dominating Chinese influence that had
characterized the Nara period. However, the strong imperial power that had
manifested itself in the construction phase did not allow itself to be
sustained. Power slipped over to the court, the cow, first and
foremost to the Fujiwara clan. The daughters of the family married the
emperors, and its men became rulers, kampaku, called sessho,
if the emperor was a minor. The centralized state power with the emperor's
ownership of all land did not allow itself to be maintained in the long run
either. Allocated lands to nobles and monasteries, the sho, became
hereditary, and newly reclaimed land was retained in private hands by the noble
families.
At the same time, the kingdom expanded to the east and north through constant
fighting with the indigenous tribes, the Emishi or the Ezo. It
is debated whether these belonged to the Ainu people. They were rice
growers and lived in villages, and as they were subjugated, their leaders became
absorbed into the Japanese elite. The fighting meant that a new powerful warrior
nobility developed based in the provinces, and the Buddhist monasteries emerged
as independent units. A feudalization process had begun, and during the 900's and
1000's, the central government lost control of large parts of the country. Two
new families, Taira and Minamoto, with a power base in the Kanto area around
present-day Tokyo, now asserted themselves and put their influence through the
court. The Taira family was dominant for most of the 12th century, but after a
dramatic and complete defeat, power passed in 1185 to Minamoto Yoritomo.
Kamakura Period (1185-1333)
Minamoto Yoritomo adopted the title of shogun, i.e. the emperor's
supreme general, and assumed political power. The government, the bakufu ('field
government'), was annexed to Kamakura near modern-day Tokyo, while the emperor
remained in Kyoto. His role was now reduced to a purely religious (Shinto)
function. 1205-1333, the Hojo family took over political power as rulers, the shiks,
for the shoguns. In 1274 and again in 1281, the Mongols under Khubilai
Khan attempted to invade Japan, but were repulsed both times.
Muromachi Period (1392-1568)
The high rulers, however, failed to stop the feudal dissolution process. In
1333, Emperor Go-Daigo (1289-1339) tried to seize effective power, but in 1336
he had to flee Kyoto, and until 1392, two rival imperial courts existed. The
shogunate passed to the Ashikaga family (1338-1565), who moved the Bacufu
government to Muromachi, a neighborhood in Kyoto. The last phase of the Ashikaga
shogunate, 1467-1568, is also called sengoku jidai ('the time of the
warring provinces'), because the country was now divided between warring feudal
lords.
The years from the 12th century to the 16th century constituted Japan's
Middle Ages, chusei, and during that period the classical warrior
ideals, bushi-do ('the warrior's path') developed. The feudal lords, daimyo,
surrounded themselves with a local force of warriors, the samurai, who
were allotted land in return for war service and loyalty. In the turbulent
times, however, social mobility was great and the bonds of loyalty were not
always equally strong. Despite the political unrest, the country underwent
economic and social development during these centuries. The cultivated area was
expanded and new cultivation methods were introduced. Markets arose and a
merchant class began to assert itself.
In the latter half of the 16th century, castle towns sprang up all over
Japan: the local Daimyos built castles and dragged their samurai away from the
land into the castle, where they were now paid with scholarships. With this,
actual urban formations were established, which in turn provided a basis for the
influx of craftsmen and merchants, and the surrounding farmers could therefore
produce for a market. Relations with China had been reopened by the Ashikaga
shoguns, who sent official trade delegations to China, while local pirates, wako,
traded more illegally.
By the middle of the 16th century, European expansion reached Japan. In the
1540's, Portuguese merchants began to emerge, and Nagasaki quickly became the
most important port and trading city. Since then, Spanish, English and Dutch
merchants followed. In 1549, the Jesuit missionary Francisco Xavier arrived at
Kagoshima on Kyushu, and the mission was initially a great success. But
Christianity from the beginning became part of the political game of the Daimyo,
and both the missionaries and the foreign merchants could be a splitting factor
for the strong central power that was now developing.
The National Assembly Period (1568-1600)
By the early 16th century, Japan was totally decentralized; neither the
emperor nor the bakufu of Muromachi were able to exercise political authority,
and the country was divided between more than 250 warring daimyos. Gradually,
some of these daimyos developed into regional rulers fighting with each other
for national dominion. Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa
Ieyasu emerge as the great national heroes of this process, which began with
Nobunaga's conquest of Kyoto in 1568 and the deposition of the Ashikaga shogun
and ended with the Battle of Sekigahara.in 1600, where Ieyasu stood as
victor. As part of the pacification of the country, Hideyoshi carried out an
extensive matriculation in the 1580's to ensure a better tax base, and at the
same time the peasants lost the right to bear arms and became staffed.
Tokugawa Shogunate (1603-1868)
In 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu was appointed shogun by the emperor, tenno,
who was still considered the originator of sovereignty and the bearer of
legitimacy, even though he was otherwise without political influence. The
shakun's bakufu government was based in Edo (present-day Tokyo), which was
central to Ieyasu's domain. With the Tokugawa shogunate, a whole new state
formation saw the light of day, the baku-han system. The shogun's own
domain included approximately 1/4 of the country: central
Japan with Kyoto and Edo and the important ports and mines. Outside got his
relatives, shimpan, and allied daimyos, fudai, their len, he,
and ultimately came the daimyos, tozama, who had only joined
Ieyasu after the Battle of Sekigahara. The income base of both shoguns and
daimyos was their county, the peasants alone were taxed, and the tax was paid in
rice. The loyalty of the Daimyos was ensured through the sankin kotai system:
Every two years, the Daimyos were to spend in Edo, and when they returned home
to their county, they had to leave their families hostage.
The structure of society was strictly hierarchically determined; one was thus
born to and remained either a samurai, a farmer, a craftsman, or a merchant in
that rank. Throughout the feudal period, the mighty Buddhist monasteries had
been a major power factor, but now it became different. In the state of
Tokugawa, Confucianism was the guiding principle, and the whole ingenious
structure of society was based on the ties of Confucian loyalty; all classes of
society were bound to their particular place.
Japan as a closed country (approximately 1630-1853)
The very rationale behind the new state structure was political
stability. After Sekigahara, internal peace was secured, but it could be
threatened from the outside at a time when Japan had more open relations with
the outside world than perhaps ever before. Hideyoshi had immediately before his
death attempted a large-scale conquest of Korea; that kind Ieyasu did not
indulge in, but his successors went a step further and during the 1630's made
Japan a closed country, sakoku. The Christians were executed or
forcibly converted, the missionaries deported, and the foreign merchants sent
home. Only Dutch and Chinese were allowed to maintain trading posts in Nagasaki,
completely cut off from the rest of the community. During the death penalty, the
Japanese were forbidden to leave the country and even to build sea-going
ships. For more than 200 years, this isolationist policy has been successfully
maintained.
The period was marked by economic growth with increased productivity in
agriculture, technological improvements, a flourishing trade and growing demand
in the cities. The Sankin kotai system developed into a race among the daimyo to
hold the most beautiful court in Edo, which in the 18th century was a city of
millions. The late 17th and early 18th centuries were a period of cultural
flourishing, genroku ('original happiness'), centered on the trading
and financial city of Osaka.
But with economic growth also came changes in the social structure, which in
turn led to growing political instability. By the mid-19th century, the baku-han
system was in serious crisis. The Daimyo were indebted, the samurai
impoverished, and the new merchant class politically powerless. Nationwide
famine and peasant uprisings in the 1780's and 1830's testified to increasing
social unrest in the countryside. It is an open question whether the Tokugawa
shogunate could have reformed itself out of the crisis, but in 1853 the U.S.
Navy Commander Matthew Perry (1794-1858) summoned into Edo Bay and faced Japan
with an ultimatum. The country had once again come under the spotlight of the
Western powers, but now the situation was completely different than in the 17th
century.
Japan's opening in 1853
It was Japan's opening that Matthew Perry demanded on behalf of the United
States. In the Opium War of 1840-1842, European powers had forced China to open
and establish so-called treaty ports, and the Japanese government was not
unaware of these events. When Perry returned the following year, two ports were
opened, and in the following years further negotiations also took place with
Great Britain, France, Russia and the Netherlands, which in 1858 resulted in
the unequal treaties : Edo, Kobe, Nagasaki, Niigata and Yokohama were
opened; the Japanese customs were placed under international control and a low
import duty was established; the foreign residents were given extraterritorial
law. The shogunate's policy of indulgence did not go unchallenged on the part of
the leading daimyoers with the representatives of the two great outer
counties.Satsuma and Choshu in the lead. A re-establishment of the imperial
power came to be at the center of the efforts, and in November 1867 the shogun
Tokugawa Yoshinobu (1837-1913) was forced to resign his office, which an
imperial decree subsequently declared abolished. A military confrontation did
not change the outcome.
The Restoration of the Empire
The Meiji restaurant ushered in a new phase in the history of Japan. In
January 1868, the rebuilding, restoration of the imperial power was proclaimed,
and the young emperor Mutsuhito relocated from Kyoto to Edo, which was renamed
Tokyo. As the name of his reign, he adopted Meiji ('enlightened
rule'). In the following years, it was a circle of courtiers and young samurai
from the outer counties, often referred to as the oligarchs, who undertook to
transform Japan into a modern nation-state.
Emperors from 1867 |
Year |
Emperor |
1867-1912 |
Mutsuhito (Meiji) |
1912-1926 |
Yoshihito (Taisho) |
1926-1989 |
Hirohito (Showa) |
1989- |
Akihito (Heisei) |
The name of the imperial period is given in parentheses.
The first goal was the repeal of the unequal treaties and the securing of the
great powers' acceptance of Japan as an equal partner. The means for this were
comprehensive political and economic reforms. The new men of the Meiji state
were aware that in order to survive, the state needed a powerful ideology that
could unite the country against the external challenge and ensure social
stability. This does not necessarily mean that there was an overall plan; on the
contrary, everything suggests that there was a "trial and error" process with
many experiments and many studies in both Western and Chinese
conditions. Openness and a high level of information were characteristic
features of the early Meiji period; nevertheless, an overarching objective
emerges: the need for comprehensive Western-style modernization, but at the same
time an adherence to the traditional Japanese in an attempt to preserve its own
identity. This identity was found in the empire.
Political reforms and industrialization
Over the next decade, a series of reforms changed the structure of Japanese
society. Together with the counties, the hierarchically divided estate community
was abolished, and ordinary schooling and conscription were introduced. In
addition, telegraphs and railways were set up, modern land and banking laws were
introduced, a judicial reform was implemented and a number of measures to
promote industry were launched. It was not until 1889, after much deliberation
and in-depth study of Western constitutional law, that Japan got a constitution
modeled on Prussian. The right to vote included 5 percent of the male
population. Thus, on paper, Japan was a constitutional monarchy with admittedly
severely limited civil rights. The following year, the "Imperial Decree on
Education" was issued,
Prime Ministers since 1918 |
Year |
Prime minister |
1918-1921 |
Hara Kei (Takashi) |
1921-1922 |
Takahashi Korekiyo |
1922-1923 |
Kato Tomosaburo |
1923-1924 |
Yamamoto Gombei |
1924 |
Kiyoura Keigo |
1924-1926 |
Kato Komei (Takaaki) |
1926-1927 |
Wakatsuki Reijiro |
1927-1929 |
Tanaka Giichi |
1929-1931 |
Hamaguchi Yuko (Osachi) |
1931 |
Wakatsuki Reijiro |
1931-1932 |
Inukai Ki (Tsuyoshi) |
1932-1934 |
Saito Makoto |
1934-1936 |
Okada Keisuke |
1936-1937 |
Hirota Koki |
1937 |
Hayashi Senjuro |
1937-1939 |
Konoe Fumimaro |
1939 |
Hiranuma Kiichiro |
1939-1940 |
Abe Nobuyuki |
1940 |
Yonai Mitsumasa |
1940-1941 |
Konoe Fumimaro |
1941-1944 |
Tojo Hideki |
1944-1945 |
Koiso Kuniaki |
1945 |
Suzuki Kantaro |
1945 |
Higashikuni Naruhiko |
1945-1946 |
Shidehara Kijuro |
1946-1947 |
Yoshida Shigeru |
1947-1948 |
Katayama Tetsu |
1948 |
Ashida Hitoshi |
1948-1954 |
Yoshida Shigeru |
1954-1956 |
Hatoyama Ichiro |
1956-1957 |
Ishibashi Tanzan |
1957-1960 |
Kishi Nobusuke |
1960-1964 |
Ikeda Hayato |
1964-1972 |
Sato Eisaku |
1972-1974 |
Tanaka Kakuei |
1974-1976 |
Miki Takeo |
1976-1978 |
Fukuda Takeo |
1978-1980 |
Ohira Masayoshi |
1980-1982 |
Suzuki Zenko |
1982-1987 |
Nakasone Yasuhiro |
1987-1989 |
Takeshita Noboru |
1989 |
Uno Sosuke |
1989-1991 |
Kaifu Toshiki |
1991-1993 |
Miyazawa Kiichi |
1993-1994 |
Hosokawa Morihiro |
1994 |
Hata Tsutomo |
1994-1996 |
Murayama Tomiichi |
1996-1998 |
Hashimoto Ryutaro |
1998-2000 |
Keizo Obuchi |
2000-2001 |
Yoshiro Mori |
2001-2006 |
Junichiro Koizumi |
2006-2007 |
Shinzo Abe |
2007-2008 |
Fukuda Yasou |
2008-2009 |
Aso Taro |
2009-2010 |
Hatoyama Yukio |
2010-2011 |
Kan Naoto |
2011- |
Noda Yoshihiko |
The political reforms went hand in hand with changes in the country's
economic structure. As the only country in the Third World, Japan managed to
carry out an industrialization process before World War II. The early industrial
development was based on the textile industry, and it was not until the interwar
period that heavy industry gained importance. The silk and cotton industry was
at the heart of the development, and the government spearheaded the
establishment of model factories and quality control. Foreign experts also
played a role in the early stages, but Japan sought to carry out
industrialization without large foreign loans. This meant heavy tax burdens for
the peasants, and not least the deflationary policy in the 1880's gave rise to a
sharp growth in the number of subsistence farmers. The government supported the
large, strategically important industries, and characteristic was, on the whole,
the co-operation between government and the private business community. In the
last half of the Meiji period, major economic combinations arose,zaibatsu; the
four largest were Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo and Yasuda. These were
family-owned holding companies, which included banking and insurance, various
forms of industry, shipping companies, trading houses, etc. The companies
competed with each other and at the same time, by virtue of their size,
exercised significant political influence.
Wars against China and Russia (1894-1905)
By 1890, political reforms were complete, and those in power began to look
outward. Russia's decision to build the Trans-Siberian Railway rekindled Japan's
traditional security policy interest in Korea. Riots in Korea led to the
outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894, and the Chinese suffered a crushing
defeat. With the Shimonoseki Treaty of 1895, Japan received Formosa (Taiwan),
the Pescadors (Penghu Lietao) and the Liaodong Peninsula, as well as extensive
war damages. Korea became independent from China. Immediately after, however,
Germany, Russia and France intervened (the Triple Intervention) and demanded
that Japan cede the Liaodong Peninsula. This humiliating diplomatic defeat led
to a massive Japanese rearmament and a search for allies. The result was the
British-Japanese Confederation in 1902.
Japanese and Russian interests increasingly clashed in Korea and Manchuria,
and in 1904 the Japanese launched war with a surprise attack on the Russian
navy. The war ended at the Portsmouth Conference in 1905, when the United States
acted as a mediator. Japan was awarded the southern part of Sakhalin,
recognition of its all-dominating interest in Korea, the Liaodong Peninsula for
rent and railway rights in southern Manchuria. In 1910, Korea was annexed by
Japan.
World War 1
The Japanese victory over Russia resonated with all the oppressed peoples of
Asia and brought the Russian Empire to the brink of political collapse. But the
war had been a huge drain on the Japanese economy, and with large expenses for
continued armaments and for the newly gained empire and the resulting
indebtedness, the country had landed on the brink of bankruptcy at the outbreak
of World War I. During the war, Japan joined the Western powers and conquered
the German possessions in Shandong and in the Pacific: the Carolines, the
Marianas, the Marshall Islands, Palau and Yap. At the same time, the Japanese
took over the European markets in Asia, and exports tripled, so that Japan
emerged from the war with a significantly improved economy. But in the wake of
the war followed social unrest and growing political instability. The problems
of modern industrial society had really reached Japan.
1920's political crisis
The political structure of the Meiji state was characterized by a number of
competing elites: the business community (zaikai), the bureaucracy
and the military, as well as the oligarchs, who, as they withdrew from active
politics, formed the genro (a council of elders), which had the
decisive say in government formation.. After 1889, parliament and the
newly formed (conservative) parties, which were dependent on bureaucracy and
business, but without a popular basis, had to find their place in this unstable
balance and perhaps in time completely take over the role after the oligarchs.
The Meiji emperor died in 1912 and was succeeded by his son Yoshihito,
whose reign was named Taisho ('great justice'). During the 1920's, it
became common for party leaders to form a government, the so-called Taishode
democracy, but the parties remained without popular support, and the governments
failed to solve the increasingly pressing economic and social problems.
The great earthquake in the Tokyo area in 1923 gave rise to
great unrest and massacres of Koreans living in Japan, and in general the
workers became more militant, strife between landowners and tenant farmers grew,
and radical movements saw the light of day. The Communist Party was formed in
1922, but immediately banned. In 1925, the government was forced to introduce
universal suffrage for men, but this was followed by a "law of preservation of
peace" that prohibited groups that agitated for changes in the political system
or in private property. At the election of 1928, several "proletarian" parties
lined up; they obtained only 2 percent of the vote, but several of the parties
were banned immediately after the election, and in the following year there were
extensive arrests of leftists.
The new order in Asia and the world crisis
In 1915, in the midst of World War I, the Japanese government issued the
twenty-one demands to China, which would in effect mean that China
came under total Japanese influence. With this, Japan had not only confessed
suit and shown its ambitions in China, but also put itself on a confrontational
course with Britain and above all with the United States. Japan was forced to
modify its demands, and the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 showed that the
Western powers now believed that a new world order had replaced the age of
imperialism. Japan retained German possessions but felt degraded to a
second-class nation when the Japanese proposal for a racial equality clause in
the League of Nations was rejected. The new order in Asia was established at the
Washington Conference 1921-1922. A Nine Powers Treaty guaranteed China's
territorial integrity, and a naval treaty limited the race between Britain, USA
and Japan by locking in the size ratio between the three countries' naval forces
to 5: 5: 3. In the following years, Japan elected under the leadership of
Foreign MinisterShidehara Kijuro an internationalist course of
cooperation, and the economic invasion of China took place by peaceful
means. But in Japan, opinions on the appropriateness of this policy were
divided. In the wake of the Russian Revolution in 1917,
Japanese troops together with US forces invaded Siberia and the Japanese
units were not withdrawn until 1922 after pressure from the United States.
Emperor Hirohito ascended the throne in 1926, and he seems
to have been willing to give the imperial office a more active role than had
been the case under his mentally ill father. His reign was named Showa('enlightened
peace'). In 1929, the world economic crisis erupted. The three countries that
were perhaps hardest hit were Germany, Japan and the United States. The United
States was Japan's most important trading partner, and the collapse of the
American market became a disaster for the Japanese economy. In 1929-1931,
exports fell by 50 percent, and real income by 33 percent. The economic crisis
followed in the heels of the political one. The government sought to rally the
population around nationalist slogans and loyalty to the emperor, but it gave
wind in the sails to ultranationalist groups that now seemed to threaten social
stability.
Manchuria becomes the Japanese sound state
The renegotiation of the naval treaty at the London Conference in 1930 gave
rise to violent protests in Japan, and Prime Minister Hamaguchi Osachi
(1870-1931) was mortally wounded by a young ultranationalist fanatic. In
September 1931, the Kwantung Army, stationed in southern
Manchuria to protect Japanese concessions, took matters into its own hands and
began the conquest of all of Manchuria; it resulted in the creation of the
Japanese sound state of Manchukuo in 1932. In the next decade, Manchukuo
underwent rapid economic development under the control of the Japanese army and
became the most industrialized and militarized area on the Asian mainland.
The conquest of Manchuria became a turning point. The civilian government
stood powerless, Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijiro (1866-1949) resigned, and his
successor, Inukai Tsuyoshi (1855-1932), was assassinated in May 1932; after
that, the influence of the political parties was over. The international
community was just as powerless. When the Lytton Commission set up by the League
of Nations presented its report, Japan chose in 1933 to resign from the League
of Nations. The US government's refusal to recognize Manchukuo remained an empty
gesture. Japan had now definitively abandoned international cooperation policy
and proclaimed a "Monroe Doctrine of Asia", i.e. rejection of the influence of
the Western powers in Asia, and also withdrew from the Washington Treaty
system. Instead, an armaments policy was launched, and Japan then moved rapidly
out of the depression. 1931-1936, Japan doubled its exports, thanks to a
write-down of the Japanese yen and a tight control, regulation and
rationalization of the industry.
Hand in hand with the economic mobilization went a national, ideological
mobilization of the population. Among the younger officers in the army spread
the idea of a Showarestauration, where the military was to take over the
government and free the emperor from his bad advisers, so that he was able to
exercise his real authority and create a union between the leaders and the
people. Noble titles were to be abolished, the power of big industry reduced,
workers and peasants helped, so that a new harmony could emerge in Japanese
society. At the same time, Japan was to take the lead in liberating Asia from
Western influence. The unrest culminated with the coup attempt on February 26,
1936, which was slowed down, by the active intervention of Emperor
Hirohito.
Invasion of China 1937 and the national defense state
Since the conquest of Manchuria, Japan had constantly sought to expand its
influence in northern China. On July 7, 1937, a skirmish between Japanese and
Chinese forces at the Marco Polo Bridge outside Beijing developed
into an actual Japanese conquest of China itself. However, the Chinese
government under Chiang Kai-shek proved to be unexpectedly
determined, and although the Japanese had subjugated the main cities and the
railway network during 1938, the Guomindang government prayedstuck
in Chongqing, and Japan was then embroiled in a bloody Asian mainland war that
could not be won and became an ever-increasing drain on Japanese material and
human resources. At the same time, the attack on China meant that Japan was now
definitely on a collision course with the United States, whose Asian open door
policy precisely had China's territorial integrity as a cornerstone.
The war in China had far-reaching domestic political consequences in the form
of total military mobilization and centralized economic planning, a showcase
restoration from above. A law on national mobilization put parliament out of
influence. The reforms began in 1937 and culminated in 1940, when Prime Minister
Konoe Fumimaro proclaimed a "new national structure", the Shintaisei,
to make Japan an advanced national defense state. The political parties were
disbanded and replaced by a "support organization of the imperial government", taisei
yokusankai, and the few remaining unions were disbanded and all workers
organized into a patriotic organization. To ensure social control, the
population was organized into "neighborhood committees",, which was united in a
nationwide organization. Great resources were invested in the spiritual
mobilization of the people around the ideas of the divine empire, the unique
character of the Japanese state, kokutai, and Japan's special mission
in Asia. At the same time, Konoe developed the idea of "the Greater Asian
collective welfare sphere", which encompassed the whole of Southeast Asia with
Japan as its center.
World War II in Asia
It was also in 1940 that the Asian and European wars merged. In the wake of
the French capitulation, Japan entered northern Indochina in 1940, and in
September, Japan, Germany and Italy, at the initiative of Japan, entered into
the so-called Three Powers.. In April 1941, Japan also
concluded a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union. In response to Japanese
policy, the US government terminated the trade treaty with Japan and imposed an
embargo on exports of jet fuel as well as scrap iron and steel, which was
crucial to Japan's war effort. The US embargo was further extended in November
1940 to include iron and steel, and in July 1941, trade between the two
countries was brought to an almost total halt when the US government froze the
Japanese receivables in the US as a result of Japan's invasion of the south.
Indochina. The Japanese government therefore faced either abandoning its
expansive China policy or seeking its needs for oil, strategic minerals and
rubber covered by the invasion of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and the
Malacca Peninsula. The Japanese government chose the latter, knowing that it
would mean war with the United States. Hoping to paralyze the United States, it
was decided to strike first. It happened with the attack on the naval basePearl
Harbor on December 7, 1941. With this, Japan was definitely involved in
World War II.
The Japanese invasion of China was marked by great brutality, as it was
expressed at the Nanjing Massacre, but wherever Japanese
troops invaded the former colonies, they were received as liberators. Japan,
however, quickly proved to be a ruthless occupying power. For the remaining
Westerners, the occupation became a nightmare; both civilians and prisoners of
war were subjected to degrading and often cruel treatment, which at the same
time was part of a deliberate policy that was to show that the "white race" was
no longer superior.
In the first months of 1942, it seemed that "the Greater Asian collective
welfare sphere" was going to become a reality. Singapore fell in February, the
whole of the Dutch East Indies in March, most of the Philippines in April, and
in May the Japanese entered northern Burma, cutting off supplies to China. But
then the fortunes of war returned, and after the great battles of the Coral Sea
and at Midway in mid-1942, Japan was on the defensive.
The costs of the war now began to make their mark on the everyday life of
ordinary Japanese. The US Navy dominated the Pacific and cut off Japan's imports
of raw materials. Agricultural production was drastically reduced due to the
lack of fertilizers and the handing over of labor to the war industry, and in
late 1944 the US Air Force began a systematic bombing of the Japanese cities. In
a single attack with firebombs on Tokyo in March 1945 alone, approximately 100,000
people, and in total approximately 668,000 Japanese civilians killed in these
bombings. With the Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945, the Allies demanded the
unconditional capitulation of Japan. But it required two atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasakiresp. on
6 and 9 August and the Soviet declaration of war on 8 August with subsequent
invasion of Manchuria, before Japan surrendered on 15 August and then only with
the express understanding that the empire could be allowed to
survive. Thereafter, Japan was under American occupation from 1945 to 1952,
formally on behalf of the Allies.
American Occupation and Cold War (1945-1952)
The American occupation of Japan became another turning point in the history
of modern Japan. The rationale behind the initial phase of the occupation was
demilitarization and democratization, and during the first few years a number of
fundamental structural reforms were implemented: the recognition of all
political parties, the safeguarding of civil liberties and the implementation of
a modern parliamentary and democratic constitution with universal suffrage. men
and women. In addition, a land reform was launched that solved the problem of
the tenant farmers and created a politically stable class of self-employed
farmers. Through labor laws, trade unions were legalized, and the right to
organize, strike, and collective bargaining were secured, and in order to get
the zaibatsudissolved an antitrust law was passed. In addition,
there were a number of reforms aimed at increasing local self-government and
decentralization of Japanese society, including the police and education
sector. The army and navy were disbanded, and in Article 9 of the Constitution,
Japan expressly renounced military power for all time to come. At the same time,
a purge of leading politicians and military and business people was carried
out. On January 1, 1946, Emperor Hirohito issued a decree
renouncing his divinity.
The fundamental problem for the Japanese state since the Meiji restoration
had been the diffuse distribution of power between competing elites. With the
reforms of the occupation, political stability was ensured. The military was
definitely put out of play, and the position of the political parties
consolidated within a democratic political system. But the political parties
still had to share power with the bureaucracy and the business community not in
competition, but in partnership. It had several reasons.
The American occupying power had not only accepted the maintenance of the
empire, but had also, for resource reasons, chosen to implement its reform
policy through the Japanese government and the Japanese bureaucracy. The central
role that the bureaucracy had played since the 1930's in governing and regulating
Japanese society was therefore not changed. In addition, the Cold War turned the
priorities of US Japan policy upside down. It was a development that began as
early as 1947 and gained momentum with the so-called reverse coursein
1949. The desire to reform Japanese society had to give way to efforts to make
Japan "the bastion of the free world in Asia." This required, among other
things, a resurgence of Japanese industry so that it could function as an
economic locomotive for the whole of Southeast Asia. The profound structural
changes in Japanese business that had been the original intention were therefore
not implemented. The Zaibatsure reform was probably implemented, but the major
economic combinations lived on under other forms, partly with different names,
and new ones emerged. The political influence of big business was once again a
reality. The militant trade union movement, which developed in the first years
of the occupation, was tamed by the purge of communist and other radical trade
union leaders, and the reconstruction of Japanese industry took place under
slogans of harmony between labor and capital. Loyalty to the emperor and state
was replaced by loyalty to company and economic growth.
On September 8, 1951, Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru was finally
able to sign a peace treaty with the United States and 47 other countries, which
did not include India, the Soviet Union, and the new communist government in
China. The following year, the occupation was formally brought to an end, and
Japan simultaneously signed a security treaty with the United States that
continued to guarantee U.S. bases in Japan and obliged the United States to
protect Japan in the event of war. By that time, the outbreak of the Korean War
in 1950 had already caused an economic boom, which was the beginning of the
"economic miracle" that became characteristic of Japanese development for the
next many years, but only in 1955 had the Japanese economy reached pre-war
levels.
Japan's economic miracle and political crisis
In the period 1950-1970, the average annual growth rate was over 10 percent,
1965-1970 even 12.1 percent. The oil crises of the 1970's also hit Japan, but the
Japanese economy recovered faster than the European one, and economic growth
continued, albeit at a slower pace, until the late 1980's. The growth was
accompanied by a remarkable and continuous transformation of Japanese industrial
production into increasingly advanced products, ensuring the continued
competitiveness of exports. The conscious commitment to economic growth was
supported by constant technological innovation, high savings among the ordinary
Japanese, a well-educated and highly motivated workforce and a well-developed
cooperation between government, bureaucracy and business on the most favorable
conditions for production. The post-war free trade climate and the general
development of world trade were also a significant factor. But most important of
all was perhaps the political stability provided by the reforms of the
occupation era. From 1955 to 1993, Japan was constantly led by governments
formed by the Liberal Democratic Party,LDP, which became the
guarantor of the partnership between government, bureaucracy and business.
However, the unilateral commitment to economic growth was not without
costs. In the 1960's, the growing environmental pollution gave rise to violent
popular protests, which the government was forced to take note of in the form of
extensive environmental legislation, and political life has repeatedly been
ravaged by extensive corruption scandals.
It was also in the 1960's that Japan really changed face and urbanization took
hold. The rapidly expanding economy combined with low population growth led to
labor shortages and consequent migration from country to city. The mass
emigration from the country caused major housing problems and also gave rise to
a completely new constellation in Japanese politics, namely the
Buddhist-inspired party Komeito, which achieved approximately 10 percent of
the vote and just picked up its voters among the newcomers. However, sustained
and strong economic growth throughout the decade ensured continued political
stability. In 1968, Japan's national product surpassed West Germany, making
Japan the world's third largest economy.
Since the end of the occupation, Japan has covered itself under the American
nuclear umbrella, put itself in the wake of American politics and been the
United States' most loyal ally in Asia. This meant, among other things, that
after the communist takeover of China in 1949, Japan severed diplomatic
relations and instead recognized the nationalist government in Taiwan in 1952.
After the American rapprochement with China in 1971, which happened without
Japan in advance was informed, Japan took steps already in 1972 to resume
relations with China, and a peace treaty was signed in 1978. The historically
strained relationship with Korea was normalized for South Korea with the
conclusion of a treaty in 1965. The subsequent Japanese loans and investments as
well the increased trade had a significant share in South Korea's economic
breakthrough. At the psychological level, however, there are still a number of
unresolved issues between the two countries. Relations with the Soviet Union
improved in 1956, but without an actual peace treaty. The Soviet occupation of
the archipelagoThe Kuriles after World War II remain a
stumbling block in the Russo-Japanese relationship, with Japan wanting the two
southernmost islands and two more small islands returned to Japanese
sovereignty.
In foreign policy, Japan has kept a low profile. Strong pacifist forces in
the population, rooted in the bitter experiences of the war and the country's
status as the sole atomic bomb victim, have prevented an amendment to Article 9
of the Constitution, even though the country has had a technologically
advanced national self-defense force, the SDF. Such a relatively
undramatic decision as participation in the UN peacekeeping forces could even in
1992 give rise to extensive discussions. However, the recognition of Japan's
strong economic position during the 1980's gave rise to a growing self-awareness
and in nationalist-oriented circles also to the desire for a more independent
role in world politics.
Emperor Hirohito died in 1989 and was succeeded by his son Akihito,
who adopted the name Heisei ('lasting peace') for his reign. The first
year of the period seemed to signal new times in the form of the collapse of the
1980's speculative "bubble economy" accompanied by economic stagnation and
political upheaval. The LDP's monopoly on government power was broken in 1993
and replaced by changing coalitions. At the same time, the population's
dissatisfaction with political corruption seemed greater than ever.
Japan in the 2000's
Japan's banking and finance sector suffered a series of scandals in the
second half of the 1990's, which, together with a severe economic crisis, gave
further distrust to the political system. In 2000, Prime Minister Obuchi
Keizo died and was succeeded by LDP Secretary-General Mori Yoshiro. He
unsuccessfully sought to curb the economic problems and in a short time became
so unpopular that he was effectively paralyzed. Mori resigned in 2001 and was
replaced by Koizumi Junichiro. Koizumi soon became immensely
popular with his at once reform-oriented and nationalist program, but he too has
had trouble resolving the country's economic crisis. Koizumi sought to
strengthen Japan's foreign policy position through close cooperation with the
United States; In 2003, Japan sent a troop contingent to Iraq; it was the first
time since 1945 that Japanese soldiers had been deployed in a war zone. Another
sign of Japan's renewed military commitment was that in 2006 the country
established a Ministry of Defense, the first since World War II.
Koizumi was replaced by Shinzo Abe in 2006; however, he had to resign the
following year. Japan was hit hard by the economic crisis of 2008, and in 2009
the center-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won the parliamentary elections,
breaking half a century of almost unbroken LDP rule. The new prime minister was
DPJ's Hatoyama Yukio, who formed a coalition government with
other former opposition parties. The parties wanted to break with the
US-oriented policy and instead turn more towards the rest of Asia. However, it
also proved difficult for these parties to get the economy back on track, and as
early as 2010, Hatoyama resigned, after which former Finance Minister Naoto
Kan became head of government.
On March 11, 2011, Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake, with
subsequent tsunamis in particular causing colossal destruction
in many port cities. More than 15,000 died and several thousand were reported
missing. The Fukushima nuclear power plant was
hit by the tsunami, which caused the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl in
1986. Large areas were cordoned off due to radiation danger. Criticism of the
government's handling of the crisis led to the resignation of Naoto Kan a few
months later.
In the December 2012 election, the LDP regained power and Shinzo Abe became
Prime Minister again.
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