H381 "Imperial Democracy"

 

Background: Who are the players and how did things become as they were? For more information on Taisho politics and society, click here.

 

 

Why would we say that the Taisho Era was "democratic" or liberal?

 

Smith's Critique of Taisho Democracy's limits:

i.e., Taisho society was increasingly democratic but not especially liberal. . .It was for the most part in the structural rather than the attitudinal sense that Japan was becoming more and more democratic in the early twentieth century.

1. It's liberal character is exaggerated. The Parties were too pragmatic and realistic in their quest for power. Never were oriented towards "ideals," principles, or ideology.

Hara was known for ably recruiting "up-and-coming" buearucrats into the party, getting them to run for office, funding that run, and then using their votes to pass legislation that he wanted to see passed. The main program of the Seiyukai under Hara was called the

"Positive Policy" of the Seiyukai. The main, overarching goal over time was to replace hanbatsu (clique) government with political party-based cabinets and achieve the goals of fukoku-kyohei. So his policies were expressed in a 4-point platform:

1. Educational Reform = new schools, books, construction contracts, etc.

2. Transportation and Communication Networks = RR, telegraph, telephone lines

3. National Defense = ships, guns, ammunition, unforms, troops, bases, training academies

4. Industrial Growth = fukoku kyohei, encouragement of trade and industry

 

2. The period is too short--really only 1918-1923. Inspired by wartime Allied propaganda, but buttressed by the Rice Riots and growing Labor Unrest at home. The labor movement in general, and the whole spectrum of leftwing activity, were given a boost by the success of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917.

 

3. Most liberal part of Taisho came from outside--international. Wilsonian influence was real but remained in an imperialistic framework which was rarely called into question (except by Yoshino Sakuzo). Smith sees Japan's commitment to this experiment was as much pragmatic as idealistic.

 

4. "True" liberals existed but were few and far between. Ozaki Yukio, Ishibashi Tanzan, Yoshino Sakuzo. But they were often isolated and not tyical of the Taisho period in general. Even the socialists seemed to prefer a strong state.

 

Four Varieties of Taisho Non-Liberalism

1. The bureaucracy = elitist, hostile to politics in liberal sense of open conflict and competition among divese interest groups. Bureaucrats were willing to champion government programs on behalf of poor and working classes, but did not want to empower them to participate. So opposed local autonomy and party rule.

 

2. Socialist Post-Liberalism = true bourgeois liberals were to be found in the socialist movement rather than established parties. But Smith claims they favored a strong central state as a mechanism to achieving socialism. So they were statist and collectivists rather than true liberal egalitarians.

 

3. Grass Roots Il-Liberalism = local organizations like

--chonaikai - urban neighborhood associations

--seinendan - rural youth groups

--dosokai - school alumni associations

--labor and tenant unions

--urban prefectural clubs

--village shrine/religious associations

--patriotic ceremonies held at shrines and villages

--New Religions like Omotokyo

--Not to mention the Imperial Military Reserve Association--a powerful agent for focusing loyalty up toward the emperor and the state, and reinforcing patriotism, service, respect for leaders and social superiors, traditional values like consensus and social harmony, etc.

were all in their various ways conservative, particularistic, nationalistic, and supportive of the state

 

4. Nationalism was prevalent and hostile to liberalism. Right-wing nationalism was a small but significant voice in the 1920s that continued to grow.

 

Two other limitations:

1. Parties were never mass-based organizations.

 

2. One of the political parties' major weaknesses was that they never justified themselves in terms of core Japanese values (harmony, selflessness, dedication). So they came out being vulnerable to charges of representing narrow, selfish, "private" interests of businessmen, professional politicians, lobbyists, bankers, capitalists, etc.

 

Andrew Gordon's notion of "Imperial Democracy"

1. We need to lengthen out our view of Taisho so that we don't limit it to 1912-1926, but go back to 1905 and stretch it up to 1932. Then we would see:

 

 Why "Imperial Democracy"? Because we start with Imperial Bureaucracy, i.e., the early Meiji OLIGARCHIC STRUCTURE of Government where the Restoration Leaders and their subordinates are in charge with little or no power sharing. But out of this initial arrangement is carved "Imperial Democracy"--enabled by the PRM and the Meiji Constitution-- embodying powerful forces for change.

 

Two versions of Imperial Democracy existed:

 1. SEIYUKAI = the Conservative version:

Bureaucrats in the Ministries and managers in large-scale Industries who cooperated to make Social Policies aimed at restoring social order and harmony--i.e., the JES for example--through, especially, the Home Ministry which reached out to the cities, urban neighborhood associations, and DOWN to Village Youth Groups, the Reserve Associations, orchestrated Shrine mergers and consolidations of 190,000 shrines to create a state-centered network of shrines.

Meanwhile, the Military had its Imperial Reserve Associations in every village where they could "reinforce the social order" and be called out in an emrgency. Some 2 million reservists belonged by 1918. "If we correctly guide the reservists. . .we can completely control the ideals of the populace and firm up the nation's foundation.' (Gen. Tanaka Giichi, 1913; see Gordon, p. 136-37).

And, further, the Education System, was doing its part adjusting the curriculum to being more nationalistic and emperor-focused while adding two more years of compulsory education.

So the object was to get down to villages and local neighborhood, organize citizens into groups, diffuse nation-centered information and patriotic rituals, and mobilize the populace for social control purposes.

But Workers and Tenant farmers got very little out of this version. Workers had neither the Economic Protection from the state nor the Political Means to Protest or claim rights for themselves. So the question was, should imperial Japan be a democracy just for men of capital and landed property only? Or should society and the political process be more open and allow all men--and women!--to participate in the political process? Hara Kei could not agree. "It's too soon to abolish the property tax," he would say. "It's a dangerous idea. I cannot agree."

In 1919, Hara helped found a think tank to study social problems and promote harmony among capital and labor called "the Harmonization Society" with state and corporate financial support. He also wanted the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce to study tenant farming issues but landlords objected so that had to be shelved. In 1920 he moved harshly against a strike by steelworkers. So it's pretty clear where his orientation was.

Cautiously and gradually, Seiyukai broadened scope of legal participation in national politics, and accepted controlled labor organization in the workplace. But the bottom line was always: How will it benefit the Seiyukai? Universal Manhood Suffrage, though, was too radical for Hara in 1919, 1920, and even later after his death.

 

2. KENSEIKAI = a more Liberal version of Imperial Democracy

Supported such things as:

 

But both accepted Imperialism, Capitalism and Parliamentary Government. See the PPL-- the Peace Preservation Law. In the meantime, a Marxist movement contesting Capitalism, Imperialism and Parliamentary Politics emerged in the early 1920s.

Hence, Japan in the 1920s was LURCHING back and forth between different stances appearing unstable and fragile in social cohesion and unity.

See also an interesting essay by Tetsuo Kogawa on Japan as a manipulated society focusing on the tennosei or emperor system at: http://anarchy.k2.tku.ac.jp/non-japanese/manipulated.html