The ten years comprised between 1939 and
1949 saw the transformation of Japan from a militarist Empire towards a more
stable and just society. Also it saw the transformation of Japan from an
aggressive nation to East Asia’s benign hegemon.
The final months of the war and the
immediate postwar
The month of August 1939 was completely
chaotic in Japan. The Konoye Cabinet tried to maintain order amidst thousands of
refugees coming from southern Korea and Port Arthur, unrest among the lower
classes, the uncertain future of the Japanese troops still deployed in China,
and the worrisome problem of what to do with the disgraced Imperial Japanese
Army leadership.
The Imperial Japanese Navy addressed the
latter problem ruthlessly just after the repatriation of the Kwantung Army’s
last units from Fusan (today Pusan) in December 1939. Heavily armed units of
the Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF) stormed the general headquarters of the
IJA and the Kempeitai in Tokyo, and the regional headquarters in Osaka, Nagoya,
Fukuoka and Toyohara, and after some pitched battles in
those cities, immediately executed most of the officers above the rank of
colonel, and imprisoned the rest. Some generals, among them Tojo Hideki, were
captured and kept in jail until trial. The IJN needed them because it wanted to
show the remnants of the IJA – and the rest of the population – who was in
charge now. Fortunately, Lt. Gen. Yamashita Tomoyuki was in Taiwan in
charge of the colonial garrison in Taiwan, and was spared the grim destiny of
his foe, General Tojo.
After crushing its domestic opposition,
the IJN decided to finish the China Incident for good, and on 2
September, representatives of the Japanese government and the Japanese armed
forces formally devolved all occupied territory in China to the Nationalist
Chinese government by signing the Treaty of Peace and Reconciliation in Tokyo.
The Japanese troops was repatriated and most were demobilized, excepting the
SNLF, who, along with the rump Kempeitai, took charge of internal security
matters.
The Imperial Rule Committee and the
“Negative Equalization”
Until 1939, the Emperor was a virtual
prisoner of the militarists. They, from 1931, effectively seized power and led
Japan on its expansionist march toward the Soviet-Japanese War. The Emperor was a
passive, withdrawn monarch and a marine biologist, who was kept inadequately
informed of his government's decisions and was, in any case, unable to control
the military. The military, while invoking the imperial will, were in fact
imposing their own. Hirohito was the focus and symbol of Japanese patriotism,
but did not exercise any power of his own, merely ratifying the decisions of
his ministers.
But this state of affairs ended in
February 1940, when the Imperial Japanese Navy, under the command of Admiral
Yamamoto Isoroku, took over control of the government. With the hearty approval
of His Imperial Majesty, Yamamoto and then Prime Minister Prince Konoye
formally inaugurated a “totalitarian party”, the Imperial Rule Committee
(I.R.C.). By this ruling, all other political parties were abolished and its
authoritarian rule was extended to the entire Empire.
The I.R.C. was a political movement
directed by the Imperial Japanese Navy with the approval of the Emperor and
other prominent Japanese. Its principal purpose was perpetuating the Imperial
Government, because they were inspired by fears that their defeat in the war
could result in a revolution. Concerns that the Soviet-Japanese War’s outcome
was working to the advantage of Japanese Communists were widespread among the
country's population. It was very clear the growing influence of Communism, and
their successful infiltration of all sectors of society, as the street battles
between the battered remnants of the IJA and a number of socialist and
communist organizations in the main cities attested.
Communist influences were notable in all
the government organizations established during the late 1930s. The time was
fast approaching for a revolution that would have destroyed the Japanese
society and turned the country in another Soviet satellite, as Korea and
Manzhouguo. Prince Konoye, who was in daily contact with a number of
high-ranking officials, including Imperial Prince Takamatsu and Lord Keeper of
the Privy Seal Kido Koichi also believed that Japanese Communists constituted a
considerable force. Although the atomization of these revolutionary
organization made hard to know the exact nature and causes of the growing
Communist threat, such concerns were granted their most public expression on 14
February 1940 when Prime Minister Konoye Fumimaro delivered his now famous memorial
to the throne. Prince Konoye, during his audience with the Emperor, declared
the following:
|
What we must be most concerned about
from the standpoint of preserving the Kokutai [the fundamental structure of the
nation] is the communist revolution which may accompany defeat . . . I see all the conditions necessary to
bring about a communist revolution being prepared day by day: the
impoverishment of daily life; an increase in the level of labor’s voice; a
pro-Socialist mood, which is the other side of a rise in hostile feelings
toward Great Britain and the United States; the reform movements of a ring
within the military; the movement of the so-called "new
bureaucrats" who ride on this; and the secret maneuvers of leftist
elements who are manipulating this from behind . . . |
Prince Konoye and those who shared his
concern was preoccupied by the signs of declining morale and antigovernment
sentiments among the people, and a growing Communist threat concerns were the product
of intelligent and accurate interpretations of both external and internal
developments. Prince Konoye, for example, feared that the post-war situation
was promoting changes that could work to the benefit of Communist agents.
The massive immigration of Japanese
refugees from Manchukuo, Korea and China; the loss of these markets, the cost
in lives and war materiel, were only some of the problems over the I.R.C. The
adaptation to these challenges constituted a force that was undermining the
prewar society that had protected the privileges of the elite. Scholars have
since argued that the war did indeed result in dramatic structural and social
changes. It has been suggested that the wartime and post-war system may have
contributed to social equalization through its impact on both the material
lives and attitudes of the people.
The I.R.C., in order to facilitate
adaptation to the new circumstances, carried out a wide array of legal, social,
economic, political, and cultural reforms - known as “peace-time
mobilization” - which promoted social mobility and political expression
among the lower classes. The post war emergency reforms, not only promoted the
growth of an urban proletariat through the transference of labor from the
agricultural to the industrial sector, but also broke down, to some degree, the
pre-existing social hierarchy. This trend continued unabated until the Great Reform of 1950.
The “Peace-Time Mobilization”: 1940-1944
The Peace-Time Mobilization was in no way
resisted. The objectives of the I.R.C policy were declared to be, basically,
the conservation of the Imperial Japanese government and the reestablishment of
a peacetime industrial economy sufficient for the Japanese population, after
the terrible dislocation of Japanese economy caused by the lost of Manchukuo
and Korea. The I.R.C. was directed to exercise his authority through the
emperor and existing government machinery as far as possible. Among other
I.R.C. objectives were the dissolution of the great industrial and banking
trusts entangled with the IJA, the assets of which were seized in 1940 and
later absorbed mostly by the IJN through I.R.C.
The rehabilitation of the Japanese economy
was more difficult than the reorganization of the government. The scarcity of
food had to be offset by imports from the remaining colony of Taiwan and from
South East Asia. Beginning in May 1941
work stoppages took place in various Japanese industries, notably coal mining.
The government accused the Communist party of instigating the strike movement
for political purposes. Subsequently the government launched a large-scale investigation of Communist activities.
I.R.C.'s labor policies were sharply criticized in June 1941 by the Soviet
Union, and in his reply, Konoye accused the USSR of fomenting disorder in Japan
through the Communist party and of "callous indifference" in
repatriating Japanese prisoners of war. For the next year communism and
repatriation were dominant issues in national politics. The Soviet Union
announced in April 1942 that, excluding approximately 10,000 “war criminals”,
all prisoners (94,973) had been returned to Japan, but according to Japanese
records more than 300,000 prisoners were still in custody of the USSR.
Between 1940 and 1944, a system of
agricultural exploitation was organized, in order to create jobs for the
agricultural colonists expulsed from the former Japanese territories, numbering
almost 1.3 millions. In Taiwan, Nan-yô Gunto and Karafuto, new agricultural business subsided
by the government absorbed a good number of these colonists, but the sudden
increase of the Japanese population (returned colonist plus natural increasing)
wasn’t solved until the 1950s, when a sizable number of Japanese emigrated to
Latin America. An economic opportunity appeared in 1940, when the German-Soviet War breaks out. Suddenly
Germany and most East European countries needed weapons and other industrial
products. At first France and Britain maintained a mild pro-Soviet position, so
Japan could monopolize the weapons markets of the Axis countries. Also, the
simultaneous war between Nationalist China and Manzhouguo allowed Japan to
collocated almost its entire production of light weapons in the Chinese market.
Around 1944, Japan's booming exports in the spheres of machinery and naval
production have occupied a massive section of national economic activity. In
this year, over two hundred tanks were exported to China at a cost of
157,980,000 yen, one of the largest arms transfers in Japanese history, and a
great boom to Japanese businesses. Also, the sign of a formal economic and military pact between the Japanese and British empires stimulated
the economy. The pact granted Japan an ample access to the raw materials it
needed in exchange of military assistance in the Far East. Finally, the fear of
a U.S. sneak attack against Nan-yô Gunto forced the IJN to start a modest naval
buildup. This fortunate situation allowed the I.R.C. to maintain afloat the Japanese
economy.
In the other hand, the concentration of
the I.R.C.’s efforts in the economic stabilization of Japan forced an
isolationist posture in the international scene. Aside the British-Japanese alliance, the Empire
remained aloof in the events that kept the rest of the world aghast: the German debacle at Moscow, the murder of
Adolph Hitler, the Wehrmacht coup, the rout of the German armies, and finally,
the start of a period known as the Cold Peace. However, Japan continued to help
China against the Communists, and the naval clashes with the Soviet Union and
the decided stand against the Soviet intents to encroach upon more Chinese
territory serve to show that Japan was still a major player in Far Eastern
affairs.
The economic stabilization of Japan:
1945-1950
Japanese machine tool exports proliferated
in the year 1945, especially to China: by exporting textile machinery and then
subsidizing textile manufacturing at home, the Japanese government in effect
created competition for its own products, which had to be secured through
extensive and costly subsidies. Inasmuch these measures guaranteed a relatively
low rate of unemployment, the Japanese government continued to support
profitable equipment exports and also continue to subsidize its own producers
and tariff those of other nations.
Besides, by 1946, increasing numbers of
steel foundries, railway yards, textile workshops and machine shops balled up
between Tokyo and Osaka, and the fact that the Japanese worked then for low
wages, and so they presented stiff competition in the Chinese market to
struggling American manufacturers on the West coast. In 1947, the I.R.C.
recalled half of all extant government bonds, with an equivalent value of over
6,000,000,000 yen. In one masterful stroke, Japan repaid all debt that the
country incurred in fighting the Soviets. Another 60,000,000 yen were devoted
to development, with an emphasis on subsidies to businesses competing in China,
the British Empire, the United States and Germany. When Prince Konoye announced
in 1948 a tax rebate comprising over half of all people's incomes, massive
celebrations broke out in the street, with Japanese cheering and leaving
flowers at the steps leading into the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. A substantial
amount of the reparations money was handed over to the IJN, which arrested
dozens of members (and suspected members) of the Japanese Communist Party, who
had been planning to set up radical labor unions as well as stage protests in
the capital.
The end of the Showa Era and the expulsion
of the Koreans
Along these years, radical rightist and
leftist organization staggered terrorist attacks in Japan. Some of them wanted
the transformation of Japan into a Soviet-like communist society, others wanted
the end of the I.R.C. and then handle absolute powers to the Emperor, and there
were other marginal organizations. One of these terrorists groups was the
Yi-yul-dan. The Korean Kim Wong Bong established this secret Korean nationalist
group on October 10, 1919 in Kirin (Manchuria). Yi-yul-dan was responsible for
several bomb attacks and assassinations in Japan and China. Kim Won Bong
planned to blow up major railway stations, the Diet, police stations, banks and
pro-Japanese Koreans, but its main objective was the Emperor Himself. Kim Won
Bong recruited Sakakibara Goro (sub-chief of the Imperial Guard and fervent
Marxist) to smuggle in bombs into the Imperial Palace for –as he used to say-
the 'Big Bang'.
On February 7, 1949, Kim and his comrades
arrived safely at Niigata via Saishu-to with the bombs and small arms. Hong
Jong Wu (a reporter in a small Korean magazine) provided a safe house for the
would-be bombers. On February 12, they boarded a train and crossed Honshu into
Tokyo. They reached a safe house in Tokyo Bay undetected. Some of the bombs
were hidden at Shinyiki Hotel and there Sakakibara took 18 bombs with him.
On the following day (February 13),
Sakakibara sprang into action and introduced the terrorists - Cho Dong Gun,
Hong Jong Wu, Paik Yong Bu, and Cho Young Ja – into the Imperial Palace. There
they tried to reach the Emperor Showa, but His personal bodyguards intercepted
and stopped the terrorists. Lamentably, Kim detonated the bombs, blowing
himself, his fellow conspirators, many Imperial bodyguards, and severely maimed
the Emperor.
When the notice spread all around the
country, the people spontaneously started a rampage of killings and pillaging
against the Koreans. The police needed three days to control the mobs. The next
two weeks, the Koreans were rounded up and relocated into a safe location near
Kagoshima. On February 15, the police discovered Goto’s participation in the
attack, but he escaped. In June 1949, Sakakibara was found dead on a mountain
near his house. He "fell while climbing the mountain".
The Emperor Showa survived, but his wounds
disable him so badly he couldn’t continue to reign. After brief deliberation,
the I.R.C. decided to ask the Emperor to abdicate, petition that He accepted.
The Crown Prince, Naruhito, succeeded his father in February 23, 1949, and was
crowned in October 12, 1949. Exactly a month later, Emperor Showa died in
Tokyo. It was the end of the Showa Era, and the beginning of the Heisei Era.
But the Korean population remained a
problem. The enraged Japanese definitely could not forgive them, even when the
immense majority of the Koreans didn’t know nor participated in the attack. The
number of people asking for at least the expulsion of the Koreans grew every
day. The I.R.C., now with Naruhito heading it, decided that it was in the best
interest of the Empire and its population, to deport the Koreans en masse. The
withdrawal of all Koreans was completed on August 20, 1949. Each person was
only allowed to bring 1,000 yen in cash, foods for consumption on the way, and
two back sacks of personal belonging. Practically all properties, material or
immaterial, which they had built up by working hard for so many years, were
left behind. Eventually, most of the Koreans (460,000) ended in China,
Thailand, Australia and Philippines, but about 28,000 went to their homeland in
Korea.
The decision for reform
It was clear that the economic
stabilization of Japan didn’t placated the working class, when the I.R.C.
intervened in the labor disputes which caused a severe disruption to the
national commerce the year 1949. Soldiers
from the reconstituted IJA broke through picket lines in the manufacturing
cities of Osaka and Hiroshima, while lawyers used recently passed Imperial
ordinances to bring recalcitrant corporate leaders to justice. Using the stick
and the carrot, the I.R.C also introduced another tax break, the third one in
three years: Japanese workers saw a reduction of social spending by roughly
half, and the legislation prohibiting picketers from blocking scabs infuriated
the unions. Kempeitai agents arrested hundreds of labor union leaders, and some
industrialist saw their fortunes confiscated by the government; many of the
latter committed seppuku to purge their names of dishonor. After this
incident, the members of the I.R.C. saw that a series of patched reforms wasn’t
enough to placate the population, and that a broader, comprehensive
reform was needed.
