Showa Statism

From Polcompball Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search

"The sword is our steel Bible!"

Showa Statism (also called Showa Nationalism), shortened Showaism, is a totalitarian, ethno-ultranationalist, culturally far-right, economically 3rd positionist (specifically favoring corporatism) and expansionist ideology, which was practiced and developed in Japan during the first half of the reign of Emperor Showa (at the time called Hirohito). Showa Statism was a political syncretism of extreme ideologies in Japan, which developed over time after the Meiji Restoration, when Japan overthrew the previous Tokugawa Shogunate.

History

Origins

Showa Statism's origins can be traced back to the Meiji Restoration. After the victory over China in the First Sino-Japanese War and over Russia in the Russo-Japanese War, Japan joined the Western powers. They needed a strong military to secure Japan's new overseas empire which was reinforced by a feeling that only through a strong military would Japan earn the respect of Western nations. The period where it was the most prominent was during the dawn of the Showa Period and throughout the Second World War. The first 20 years of Emperor Showa's reign it was characterized by extreme nationalism and a series of expansionist wars. It was a mixture of ideas such as Japanese nationalism, militarism, fascism (while disputed by some), and corporatism, that was initiated by several political philosophers and thinkers in Japan. Those philosophers include Ikka Kita, Shumei Okawa, and Sadao Araki. Many had different (sometimes outright contrasting) views, which is why Showa Statism could be described as ideologically syncretic.

The Rise of Militarism

Kōdōha Faction

The Kōdōha or the Imperial Way Faction was founded by were General Sadao Araki and his protégé, Jinzaburō Masaki. The Kōdōha was a radical faction, that sought to establish a military government that promoted totalitarian, militaristic, and aggressive expansionist ideas and was mostly supported by young officers. The Kōdōha was strongly supportive of the hokushin-ron ("Northern Expansion Doctrine") strategy of a preemptive strike against the Soviet Union, believing that Siberia was in Japan's sphere of interest; although there were supporters of the Northern Expansion in the Tōseiha, the faction largely favored a more cautious defense expansion. Both factions had struggled to gain influence over the military after the Manchurian Incident, however, the Kodoha remained dominant until the resignation of Sadao Araki due to illness, and the Kodoha would start to decline in its influence over the military. Araki was replaced by General Senjūrō Hayashi, who had Tōseiha sympathies. Thus, after the February 26 Incident, the Kōdōha effectively ceased to exist, and the Tōseiha lost most of its raison d'être.

The Righteous Army

A group of young IJA officers who supported the radical Kodoha. The young officers believed that the problems facing the nation were the result of Japan drifting from the kokutai (國體) (an amorphous term often translated as "national polity", it roughly signifies the relationship between the Emperor and the state). To them, the "privileged classes," exploited the people,(Almost all of the young officers' subordinates were from poor peasant families or working-class) leading to widespread poverty in rural areas, and deceiving the Emperor, taking his power and weakening Japan. The solution, they believed, was a "Shōwa Restoration" modeled on the Meiji Restoration of 70 years earlier. These beliefs were strongly influenced by contemporary nationalist thought, especially the political philosophy of Ikki Kita On February 26th, 1936, they would attempt a military coup with the goal of purging the government and military leadership of their factional rivals and ideological opponents.

Feburary 26th Incident (26-28 Feburary 1936)

The February 26th Incident (二・二六事件) was an attempted coup d'état in the Empire of Japan. It was organized by young officers known as the Righteous Army, who support the Kodo-ha, with the goal of bringing about the "Showa Restoration," purging their political opponents (particularly the Tosei-ha) and restoring direct rule under Emperor Showa (Hirohito). Although they managed to assassinate several leading officials and occupy the government center of Tokyo, they had failed to assassinate Prime Minister Keisuke Okada, secure control of the Imperial Palace, or get support from the Emperor. Their supporters in the army made attempts to capitalize on their actions, but divisions within the military, combined with anger at the coup, meant they were unable to achieve a change of government. Facing overwhelming opposition as the army moved against them, the rebels surrendered on 29 February. This resulted in the uprising being suppressed, the loss of Koda-ha factional influence, and the increase of military influence over the government.

Toseiha Faction

The Toseiha or the Control Faction was a political faction in the Imperial Japanese Army active in the 1920s and 1930s. The Tōseiha was created by Tetsuzan Nagata and Hideki Tōjō, a group of moderate officers united primarily because of their opposition to the radical Kōdōha faction and its aggressive imperialist and anti-modernization ideals. They were concerned that the Kōdōha would gain too much power and Araki's emphasis on the spiritual morale of the army instead of modernization and mechanization. Rather than the confrontational approach of the Kōdōha, which wanted to bring about the "Showa Restoration" through violence, the Tōseiha sought to reform by working within the already existing system. The Tōseiha saw that a future war would be a total war, and maximizing Japan's industrial and military capacity would require the cooperation of Japan's bureaucracy and the zaibatsu unions which the Kōdōha despised. The Toseiha rivaled the radical Kodoha for influence over the army until the Kodoha's de facto dissolved after the February 26th Incident, as for the Toseiha, became the dominant influence in the Japanese military but lost most of its raison d'être and gradually disbanded.

Totalitarian Period (1940-1945)

WIP

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere

The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere is a concept used to justify the Empire of Japan's imperialism. It promoted the cultural and economic unity of East Asians, Southeast Asians, South Asians, and Oceanians. It saw for its Pan-Asian ideals of freedom and independence from the control of western powers. In practice, it was often used by militarists and nationalists, who saw an effective way to strengthen Japan and advance its superiority within Asia.

Korea

From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Upon its annexation, Japan declared that Korea would be officially named Chōsen.

Taiwan

The island of Taiwan was once a part of the Qing Dynasty, however, was ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895 after the Japanese victory in the First Sino-Japanese war. Taiwan was Japan's first colony and Japanese intentions were to turn Taiwan into a model colony with much effort made to improve Taiwan's economy, public works, industry, cultural Japanization, and to support the essentials of Japanese militarism in the Asia-Pacific.

Manchukuo

Manchukuo officially known as the State of Manchuria, also known as the Empire of (Great) Manchuria was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan from 1932 to 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria (On September 18th, 1931, they invaded Manchuria prior to the Mukden Incident. The war ended in 1932 and the Japanese established a puppet state of Manchukuo), and in 1934 it became a constitutional monarchy under the control of Japan. Puyi was the Emperor of Manchukuo and was formerly the last Emperor of China and the Qing Dynasty. Their occupation lasted until the success of the Soviet Union and Mongolia with the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation in August 1945.

Philippines

WIP

India

The Provisional Government of Free India or, Azad Hind, was an Indian provisional government established in Japanese-occupied Singapore during World War II. Azad Hind was recognized as a legitimate state by only a small number of countries limited solely to Axis powers and their allies. This government participated as an observer in the Greater East Asia Conference in November 1943.

Burma

The State of Burma was a Japanese puppet state created by Japan in 1942 during the Japanese occupation of Burma in World War II. As the war situation gradually turned against the Japanese, the Japanese government decided that Burma and the Philippines would become fully independent as part of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, contrary to the original plan that independence only be granted after the completion of the war.

Thailand

WIP

Vietnam

The Empire of Vietnam is a Japanese puppet state. Japan would invade Vietnam, which was originally a colony of France (Later under Vichy France) and was called French Indochina. The Imperial Japanese Army invaded Vietnam in September 1940 which would result in the Japanese occupation of French Indochina. The Japanese tendered an official apology for the incident at Lạng Sơn on 5 October 1940. The Japanese-occupied towns were returned to Vichy French control and all French prisoners were released. They would occupy French Indochina until 1945. When the Allies invaded France in 1944, Japan suspected that the French authorities in Indochina might assist Allied operations in the region. Therefore, Japan deposed the French authorities in the spring of 1945, imprisoning the French administrators and taking direct control of Indochina until the end of the war while took Kingdom of Kampuchea and Kingdom of Luang Phrabang under their direction. At that point, Vietnamese nationalists under the Viet Minh banner took control in the August Revolution and issued a Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The Japanese occupation of Indochina helped strengthen the Viet Minh and contributed to the outbreak of the First Indochina War in 1946 against French rule.

Malaysia and Singapore

British Malaya, which compromised the Straits Settlements, Federal Malay States and Unfederated Malay States was a British dependency in present-day Malaysia and Singapore. In December 1941, Japanese forces began their offensive via Kota Bharu and Songkhla, contrary to British estimates that the Japanese will attack Singapore first (which is proven by the construction of Fort Siloso in Sentosa Island, Singapore for that purpose). The British military attempted to launch a defensive naval force, which compromises of battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battle cruiser HMS Repulse, code-named "Task Force Z" which later failed followed by the sinking of both capital ships by Japanese aerial torpedo attacks. The defeat of Allied troops at the Battle of Jitra by Japanese forces, supported by tanks moving south from Thailand on 11 December 1941 and the rapid advance of the Japanese inland from their Kota Bharu beachhead on the north-east coast of Malaya overwhelmed the northern defenses and the Japanese gradually taking over the Malay Peninsula. During the Battle of Singapore, British and Australian forces, including the Malayan People's Anti-Japanese Army, Dalforce and the newly established Malay Regiment fought Japanese advances until their defeat on 15 February 1942. After the surrender of Singapore, Singapore was then renamed "Syonan" (昭南) while the northern states of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu are later handed over to Thailand for a brief period of time alongside of the utilization of the ports in Singapore and Brunei as a naval base for the Imperial Japanese Navy until at the time of Japan's surrender in August 1945.

Indonesia

Indonesia was once a Dutch colony that was called the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese conquered the Dutch East Indies rather quickly, and their invasion of the Dutch East Indies would begin on 10 January 1942, and the Imperial Japanese Army overran the entire colony in less than three months. The Dutch surrendered on 8 March. Originally, most Indonesians welcomed the Japanese as liberators from their Dutch colonial masters. However, this would change as the Japanese recruited between 4 and 10 million Indonesians as forced laborers on economic development and defense projects in Java. In 1944–1945, Allied troops largely bypassed the Dutch East Indies and did not fight their way into the most populous parts such as Java and Sumatra. As such, most of the Dutch East Indies were under occupation at the time of Japan's surrender in August 1945.

Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China against the the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Theater of the Second World War. The start of the war is historically dated to the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on 7 July 1937, when a dispute between Japanese and Chinese troops in Peking escalated into a full-scale invasion. It is not known who fired the first shots at this event. This war is often regarded as the start of the Second World War in Asia. Following the Marco-Polo Bridge Incident, the Japanese were able to score major victories such as capturing large cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and the Chinese capital of Nanjing in 1937. Prior to failing to stop the Japanese forces in the Battle of Wuhan, the Chinese government was relocated to Chongqing. While Japan ruled the large cities, it lacked the adequate manpower to control China's vast countryside.

The National Revolutionary Army under the command of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and other regional Warlords fought against the Japanese in 22 major battles. By 1939, after Chinese victories in Changsha and Guangxi, the war reached a stalemate. The war would end on September 2nd, 1945, resulting in the Japanese surrendering to the Allies.

After the war, the Chinese economy collapsed due to the lack of American foreign aid in the war, unlike most other counties like Britain, Free France, and the USSR. The inflation rate skyrocketed, and corruption became extremely rampant. The CPC after receiving the arms and munitions from the USSR, was able to take advantage of this and launched a major “offensive” after Japan surrendered and controlled 2/3 of the territories occupied by Japan. Many historians assess that this war destroyed the popularity and stability Nationalist Government and paved the way for the communist takeover as the communists made minimum efforts to resist Japan, but instead focused on expanding its troops to turn on the nationalists.

Beliefs

Due to the fact that Showa Japan was militarily allied with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy and shared ideological similarities, Showa Statism is usually taken to be a type of Fascism, although this is disputed by some. Showa Statism is a syncretism of extremist ideologies. Some believed to unify the Asian race under the sacred rule of the emperor, some believed it was their destiny to liberate Asia from Western powers. Showa Statism is anti-western, anti-liberal, anti-communist, and anti-capitalist.

Nationalism

WIP

Religion

State Shinto, is the official religion of Japan from 1868 through World War II. It implemented the ideals of Shinto into a political system. State Shinto strongly encourage Shinto practices that emphasized the Emperor as a divine being.

Zaibatsu oligopoly

The military often criticized political parties under a liberal democracy and the complicity of the politicians with the zaibatsu corporate monopolies. The military and zaibatsu favored the state controlling the market, to reduce the attraction of leftist ideologies like communism and socialism. This led to the rise of monopolies being formed during the Meiji Restoration, and some of those monopolies were owned by the state itself and the zaibatsus. This economic arrangement was in ways similar to the Corporatocracy model.

Comparisons with European Fascism

WIP

Militarism

Japanese militarism refers to the belief that militarism should control the political and social life of the nation, and that the strength of the military is the same as the strength of a nation.

Views on Race and Ethnicity

WIP

Neo-Showaism

Nippon Kaigi

The Nippon Kaigi (日本會議, "Japan Conference") is an ultranationalist, militarist and historical revisionist non-government organization who seek to "change the postwar national consciousness based on the Tokyo Tribunal's view of history as a fundamental problem" and to revise Japan's current Constitution. Most of the members of Nippon Kaigi viewed the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan as their political partner, as the movement is influential in the legislative and executive branches of the Japanese government through its affiliates. They are critical of progressivism, especially having anti-feminist and anti-LGBT sentiments in general.

Japanese Fourth Theory

The name is because it wants to unite Asia under its beliefs. It is also there because of the Pan-Asianism it believes in. It does not mean Eurasianism or Dugin's specific ideology geared towards Russia. Ikki Kita can be considered a Japanese fourth positionist.

Netto-uyoku

The Netto-uyokus (網絡右翼, Japanese Internet rightists, sometimes shortened to Netouyo or ネトウヨ) are netizens who embrace ultranationalist far-right views on Japanese social media. The netto-uyoku are individuals with xenophobic and racist views and they generally convey support for historically revisionist views that portray the former Empire of Japan in a positive way. They are compared with the western Alt-Right due to their similarities

Tatenokai

Tatenokai, or Shield Society (1968-1970), was a private militia formed by author Yukio Mishima. Mishima was very proud of the traditional culture of Japan, and opposed western-style materialism. globalism, and communism, worrying that by embracing these ideas the Japanese people would lose their distinctive cultural heritage to become a "rootless" people. On 25 November 1970, Mishima and four members of his militia entered a military base in central Tokyo, took its commandant hostage, and unsuccessfully tried to inspire the Japan Self-Defense Forces to rise up and overthrow Japan's 1947 Constitution. After his speech and screaming of "Long live the Emperor!", he committed seppuku.

How to Draw

[!] Note: This flag can be considered shocking content in China, Taiwan and Korea. Be vary on this.
The flag of Showa Statism is based on the war flag of the Imperial Japanese Army, and therefore not to be mistaken with the ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces
Flag of Showa Statism
  1. Draw a ball
  2. Fill in with white
  3. Draw a red circle in the middle
  4. Add sixteen red beams radiating from the circle
  5. Draw slanted eyes
  6. (Optional) Draw a "Kanmuri", a Japanese hat worn by Japanese Emperors throughout history.
Color Name HEX RGB
White #FFFFFF 255, 255, 255
Red #B22D3D 178, 45, 61


Relationships

大東亞共榮圈 (Co-Prosperity Sphere)

中立 (Neutral)

  • 上院主義 - Just like any other polcompball, I reject him too because I don't know what he is.

西洋帝國主義のスカム (WESTERN IMPERIALIST SCUM)

Further Information

Literature

Wikipedia

Videos

Gallery

Comics

Portraits and Artwork

Alternative designs

References

  1. [1], JSTOR.org.
  2. [2]
  3. https://www5.cao.go.jp/j-j/wp/wp-je00/wp-je00-0020j.html
  4. Hostile language is a social movement and censorship that emerged as part of the growing nationalism (nationalism, Japanism) and national control during the protracted China Incident and in the run-up to the Pacific War. Some movements arose spontaneously from private groups and neighborhood associations, while others were censored or guided by law by the Japanese Government (e.g. Ministry of Education and Ministry of Home Affairs).
  5. Refers to Showaists and foreign sympathizers with socialist views and genuinely motivated by Pan-Asianism and opposition to Western imperialism
  6. Refers to Japanese Showaists and foreign collaborators that were inspired by European colonialism and collaborated with the US and Chiang Kai-shek's KMT during the Cold War e.g. Nobusuke Kishi, Masanobu Tsuji, Yoshio Kodama, Matsutarō Shōriki, Yasuji Okamura, Hiroshi Nemoto, Ryochi Sasakawa, etc.
  7. [3]
  8. [4]
  9. [5]
  10. [6]
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Japanese_Neutrality_Pact
  12. https://fascio.substack.com/p/park-chung-hee-the-korean-tiger
  13. https://www.bitchute.com/video/6R3kd7pPyZGb/, https://www.bitchute.com/video/6D75abaexy2J/ https://fascio.substack.com/p/north-korea-the-truth-about-juche these video explains juche ideology and its relation to japan, "It is worth noting that many fail to mention the fact that Imperial Japanese Korean collaborators played a foundational role in the early Korean Worker's party and the development of its doctrine, despite the party's superficial anti-Japanese rhetoric. While the United States executed Japanese collaborators in South Korea, Joseph Stalin, instead of punishing them, granted them prominent positions within the North Korean regime. They became instrumental in shaping the Juche ideology, which, at its core, bears resemblance to Imperial Japan's ideology. This occurred at a time when General Douglas MacArthur denied Japanese collaborators any influence in their own country, Korea. The Japanese Korean collaborators had more influence in North Korea than their counterparts in the South. Historian Cho Kwan Ja remarked that these collaborators considered themselves "pro-Japanese Korean nationalists," exemplified by figures like dancer and actress Choi Seung-Hee. One notable ethnic Japanese individual involved in the creation of North Korea was Osamu Hatanaka, an intelligence officer in the Japanese Army. Hatanaka was considered one of Kim Il Sung's aides and a close friend of Kim Chaek. There are even allegations that Hatanaka governed North Korea in its early years. B. R. Myers, in his book The Cleanest Race, suggests that the ideology of Juche bears closer resemblance to Imperial Japanese Fascism than Communism. The military is portrayed as a classless entity, acting as the synthesis of the people with the supreme leader, akin to the traditional emperor worship in Japan. Juche positions the supreme leader as a divine entity and the symbol of the state and unity of the people, similar to the aspirations of Japanese National Socialist theoretician Ikki Kita, who advocated for the synthesis of the masses with the Emperor."

Navigation