Japan

I.
Overview of the Country
a. Topography/ Geography
Area 377,837 sq km
145,884 sq mi
Coastline 29,751 km
18,486 mi
Highest point Fuji 3,776 m/12,387 ft
According to legend, the Japanese islands were created by gods, who dipped a
jeweled spear into a muddy sea and formed solid earth from its droplets. Scientists
now know that the islands are the projecting summits of a huge chain of undersea
mountains. Colliding tectonic plates lifted and warped Earth’s crust, causing volcanic
eruptions and intrusions of granite that pushed the mountains above the surface of the
sea. The forces that created the islands are still at work. Earthquakes occur regularly
in Japan, and about 40 of the country’s 188 volcanoes are active, a number
representing 10 percent of the world’s active volcanoes
Japan’s total area is 377,837 sq km (145,884 sq mi). Honshū is the largest of the
Japanese islands, followed by Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, and Shikoku. Together the four
main islands make up about 95 percent of Japan’s territory. More than 3,000 smaller
islands constitute the remaining 5 percent. At their greatest length from the northeast
to southwest, the main islands stretch about 1,900 km (about 1,200 mi) and span
1,500 km (900 mi) from east to west.
Japan’s four main islands are separated by narrow straits: Tsugaru Strait lies
between Hokkaidō and Honshū, and the narrow Kammon Strait lies between Honshū
and Kyūshū. The Inland Sea (Seto Naikai), an arm of the Pacific Ocean, lies between
Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū. The sea holds more than 1,000 islands and has two
principal access channels, Kii Channel on the east and Bungo Strait on the west.
Japan also includes more distant island groups. The Ryukyu Islands (Nansei
Shotō), made up of the Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima island chains, extend
southwest from Kyūshū for 1,200 km (700 mi). The Izu Islands, the Bonin Islands,
(Ogasawara Shotō), and the Volcano Islands (Kazan Rettō) extend south from Tokyo
for 1,100 km (700 mi).
Japan also claims ownership of several islands north of Hokkaidō. These include
the two southernmost Kuril Islands, Iturup Island (Etorofu-jima) and Kunashir Island
(Kunashiri-jima), as well as Shikotan Island and the Habomai island group. The
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) took control of these islands from Japan
after World War II ended in 1945. Since the USSR dissolved in 1991, Russia has
administered the disputed islands.
b. Population
c. Religion
The dominant religions in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto is native to
Japan. Generally translated as “the Way of the Gods,” Shinto is a mixture of religious
beliefs and practices, and its roots date back to prehistory. It was first mentioned in
720 in the Nihon shoki, Japan’s earliest historical chronicle. Unlike most major world
religions, Shinto has no organized body of teachings, no recognized historical
founder, and no moral code. Instead, it focuses on worship of nature, ancestors, and a
pantheon of kami, sacred spirits or gods that personify aspects of the natural world.
From 1868 to 1945, under the Japanese imperial government, Shinto was Japan’s
state religion. After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the occupation government
separated Shinto from state support.
d. Main City
Japan’s largest city is Tokyo, the national capital. Tokyo ranks as the most
populated metropolitan area in the world, with about 35 million inhabitants in 2003.
In addition to being the center of government, Tokyo is Japan’s principal commercial
center, home to most of the country’s largest corporations, banks, and other
businesses. It is also a leading center of manufacturing, higher education, and
communications. Japan’s second largest city is Yokohama, located near Tokyo in
Kanagawa Prefecture. Originally a small fishing village, the settlement became a
major port and international trade center after it was opened to foreign commerce in
1859. It grew quickly and continues to be Japan’s largest port, a busy commercial
center, and along with Tokyo and neighboring Kawasaki, a hub of Japan’s preeminent
Keihin Industrial Zone (an area of industrial concentration). The third largest city in
the country is Ōsaka. Even in Japan’s feudal era, Ōsaka was an important commercial
center and castle town, and it was known as “Japan’s kitchen” because of its role in
warehousing rice for the nation. Today it is the leading financial center of western
Japan and the principal city of the Hanshin Industrial Zone.
e. Currency
Japan’s largest city is Tokyo, the

national capital. Tokyo ranks as the
most populated metropolitan area in
the world, with about 35 million
inhabitants in 2003. In addition to
being the center of government,
Tokyo is Japan’s principal
commercial center, home to most of
the country’s largest corporations,
banks, and other businesses. It is also a leading center of manufacturing, higher
education, and communications. Japan’s second largest city is Yokohama, located
near Tokyo in Kanagawa Prefecture. Originally a small fishing village, the settlement
became a major port and international trade center after it was opened to foreign
commerce in 1859. It grew quickly and continues to be Japan’s largest port, a busy
commercial center, and along with Tokyo and neighboring Kawasaki, a hub of
Japan’s preeminent Keihin Industrial Zone (an area of industrial concentration). The
third largest city in the country is Ōsaka. Even in Japan’s feudal era, Ōsaka was an
important commercial center and castle town, and it was known as “Japan’s kitchen”
because of its role in warehousing rice for the nation. Today it is the leading financial
center of western Japan and the principal city of the Hanshin Industrial Zone
f. Flag/ Anthem
Japan. “Kimigayo” (“His Majesty's Reign”). Music by Hiromori Hayashi,

probably 1880. Words taken from an ancient poem. Unofficially adopted 1893;
formally adopted 1999.
g. Language/s
Japanese Language, official language of Japan, spoken by virtually all of the

nation's approximately 130 million inhabitants, and by people of Japanese heritage
living in Hawaii, the Americas, and elsewhere. It is also spoken as a second language
by Chinese and Korean people who lived under Japanese occupation during the first
half of the 20th century.
Because the Japanese language seems to have developed in virtual isolation from
other languages, there is no conclusive evidence relating Japanese to a single family
of languages and to that family's common ancestor language. The most prominent
hypothesis places Japanese in the family of Altaic languages—which include Turkish,
Mongolian, and Korean (although the membership of Korean in the Altaic family is
also uncertain)—and relates Japanese most closely to the Korean language. However,
because elements of this hypothesis are inconsistent with some of the Japanese
language's major characteristics, especially its basic system of sounds, some scholars
have turned to the languages of the South Pacific, in the family of Austronesian
languages, to find the Japanese language's genetic heritage. A current hypothesis
among some Japanese historical linguists is a hybrid theory that accepts the
fundamental relationship between Japanese and the Austronesian family, but that also
hypothesizes that the Altaic family influenced Japanese, possibly through heavy
borrowing of sentence structures and vocabulary. It is also important to note that on
Japan's northern island of Hokkaidō, the Ainu people, who are genetically and
culturally different from the rest of the Japanese, speak a language that has proven
even more difficult to relate to any known language family.
A large number of dialects are spoken throughout Japan's four main islands
(Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū), as well as on the smaller islands, such as
the Ryukyu Islands. Some dialects—for instance, those spoken in the southern parts
of Japan, notably on the islands of Kyūshū and Okinawa—are virtually
incomprehensible to the speakers of other dialects. As a result of this diversity of
dialects, the Japanese use standard, or common, Japanese to facilitate communication
throughout the nation. The two dialect families with the largest number of speakers
are those spoken in and around Tokyo, which is regarded as common Japanese, and
the dialects of the Kansai region in western Japan, spoken in cities such as Kyōto,
Ōsaka, and Kōbe. Due to the spread of common Japanese through television and
other mass media, most people outside the Tokyo region speak common Japanese as
well as a local dialect.
II. Government- Form/ History
Form of government Constitutional monarchy

Head of state Emperor
Head of government Prime minister
Bicameral legislature (Diet):
Legislature House of Representatives, 480 members
House of Councillors, 247 members
Voting qualifications Universal at age 20
Constitution 3 May 1947
Highest court Supreme Court
Japan is a parliamentary democracy. An emperor acts as functional head of state,

although his official status under the constitution is the “symbol” of the Japanese
nation and its people. Japan is a unitary state, in which the authority of the central
government is superior to that of the country’s prefectural governments. However,
Japan’s 47 prefectures and several thousand city, town, and village governments
enjoy a significant degree of autonomy over local affairs.
Human beings may have inhabited the Japanese island chain as early as 200,000
years ago. Very little is known about where these people came from or how they
arrived on the islands. However, during the ice ages of the Pleistocene Epoch (1.6
million to 10,000 years before the present) sea levels were lower than they are today,
and a land bridge temporarily linked the Japanese islands to the Korea Peninsula and
eastern Siberia on the Asian continent. Historians theorize that successive waves of
Paleolithic hunters from the Asian mainland may have followed herds of wild animals
across these land routes. The Paleolithic culture of Japan’s earliest inhabitants
produced rough stone tools and articles of bone, bamboo, and wood.
The Paleolithic culture of prehistoric Japan gave way to a Neolithic culture

around 10,000 BC. Archaeological evidence suggests that a large number of Neolithic
hunter-fisher-gatherers migrated to Japan before sea levels rose at the end of the last
ice age. Known as the Jōmon people (after the cord markings that decorated their
pottery), these immigrants used more sophisticated bone and stone tools and low-fired
clay pots, but they did not know how to work metals.
The Constitution of Japan became effective in 1947 as an amendment to the 1889

Constitution of the Empire of Japan (also called the Meiji constitution for the emperor
Meiji, who promulgated it). The 1947 constitution was created during the military
occupation of Japan by the Allied Powers following World War II and reflects
reforms proposed by the occupation authorities. Occupation officials produced a draft
constitution, which was revised by American and Japanese officials. The draft was
then debated in Japan’s parliament, where Japanese legislators added nearly four
dozen amendments. The resulting constitution made several fundamental changes to
Japan’s government, the most significant of which involved the structure of
government.
The Meiji constitution was adopted not long after Japan opened its borders to the
West. It attempted both to preserve the authority of the centuries-old imperial line and
to introduce a parliamentary government, which necessarily limited the power of the
emperor. The result was a sometimes-ambiguous delegation of powers. The Meiji
constitution enshrined the emperor at the top of government, granting him the
authority to declare war, make peace, conclude treaties, command the military, and
promulgate all laws. However, in practice and by tradition, the emperor remained
passive, allowing others to act in his name.
The Meiji constitution also failed to provide an effective mechanism for resolving
conflicts between the executive and legislative branches of government. Any new
legislation, including the annual budget, required the approval of both the emperor’s
executive cabinet of ministers and the legislature. Yet the politically powerful cabinet
was not responsible to the relatively weak legislature. This situation led to frequent
battles between the branches, as lawmakers used their power over the budget to
obtain leverage in other matters. The constitution did not contain express limitations
on the legislature’s powers, so the judiciary had no occasion to review statutes for
their constitutionality—and thereby to check legislative overreaching. The
constitution did, however, significantly restrict the scope and substance of
administrative enactments. Thus the courts, which were fully independent of the
political branches, played an important role in enforcing these constraints. The
military was able to exploit this standoff between the branches to take effective
control of the government during the years leading up to World War II. Military
leaders claimed that they were not subject to civilian control because the emperor—
the nation’s absolute sovereign—was the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
The postwar constitution corrected most of these structural shortcomings. The

emperor continues to function as head of state, but only as a symbol of the nation. His
duties now are primarily ceremonial, such as receiving ambassadors and convening
legislative sessions. All law-making authority is vested in the Diet, a bicameral (two-
house) legislature. The executive cabinet is fully accountable to the legislature, with
the majority party (or coalition) in the Diet selecting a prime minister, who then
appoints a cabinet. The judiciary has the authority to rule on the constitutionality of
all legislation.
The postwar constitution also expanded and more fully protected the political and
social rights of Japanese citizens. The Meiji constitution had granted a number of
rights to subjects of the emperor, including the right to trial by judges and freedom of
religion, speech, and assembly. None of these rights were absolute, however. All
could be modified by statute. By contrast, the postwar constitution guarantees more
than 25 specific rights and freedoms of Japanese citizens. Among the rights protected
by the constitution are the rights to minimum standards of living and equal education,
the right to work, and the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively.
Constitutionally protected freedoms include freedom from discrimination on the basis
of “race, creed, social status or family origin,” freedom of occupation, and academic
freedom. Most of these rights and freedoms can be limited by legislation if necessary
for the public welfare.
The most controversial aspect of the postwar constitution is Article 9, which

demilitarized Japan. By its provisions, Japan renounces war or the threat of war as a
means of settling international disputes and is prohibited from maintaining military
forces. Although its origins are disputed, Article 9 was included in the constitution at
the insistence of the occupation authorities.
Japan’s constitution has not been amended since 1947, although from time to time
proposals are introduced to revise some of its provisions, particularly those on
demilitarization and the status of the emperor. Public support for constitutional
revision is weak, as acceptance of the constitution and its fundamental principles has
broadened over time.
Japan is divided into a total of 47 prefectures. In addition to 43 regular

prefectures, including Okinawa, there are four special prefectures: Tokyo, which
constitutes a metropolitan prefecture; Kyōto and Ōsaka, both urban prefectures; and
Hokkaidō, a special prefectural district. Below the prefectural level are cities, towns,
and villages.
Under the postwar constitution, local units of government have significantly

greater autonomy than they did under the prewar system. Each prefecture is governed
by a popularly elected governor and a unicameral (single-house) prefectural
assembly. Cities, towns, and villages also have popularly elected mayors and
legislative assemblies. Local governments have authority to levy taxes, but they still
depend on the national government for grants and subsidies. The national government
exercises control over local governments through their fiscal dependency and through
national legislation, which local authorities must implement.
Despite such signs of imperial power, the political role of the emperor shrank in
importance during the 9th century. Often the emperor was a child or youth, without
the personal character, skills, and experience needed to play a strong political role.
Emperors thus became figureheads whose main function was to preside over official
ceremonies and religious rituals. Political power in the imperial court shifted into the
hands of influential aristocratic families, most of whom descended from the clan
chieftains who had been allied with the Yamato rulers in the 6th and 7th centuries.
The aristocrats held the highest official ranks and occupied the most important
bureaucratic offices. They usually inherited their positions, and they paid no taxes. In
place of a salary, aristocratic officials were given official land, residences, household
servants, and agricultural workers. Secure in their inherited wealth and position,
aristocratic families accumulated huge amounts of land and power over the
generations. They dominated both the politics and cultural activities of the imperial
court until the 12th century.
The most powerful of the aristocratic families were the Fujiwara, descendants of a
clan chieftain who had played a central role in the Taika reforms. Beginning in 858
the heads of the Fujiwara family married their daughters into the imperial family, then
served as regents (kampaku) or chancellors (sesshu), exercising powers delegated to
them by infant or minor emperors. The most successful of the Fujiwara leaders was
Fujiwara Michinaga, who married four daughters to successive emperors in the late
10th and early 11th centuries. Two emperors were his nephews and three were his
grandsons. The influence of the Fujiwara family remained strong until the middle of
the 11th century, when Fujiwara regents were displaced by retired emperors who
dominated their minor successors. Thereafter, the Fujiwara continued to hold high
office, but their power diminished.
Culture flourished in the era of aristocratic rule, a period often considered Japan’s
classical age. After 838 the court no longer sent diplomatic missions to China, and
with the end of direct contacts, the Japanese developed their own forms of artistic and
literary expression. In literature, the development of kana, a new phonetic writing
system, encouraged new forms of poetry and a native prose literature. In painting, a
style depicting scenes of court life, landscapes, and literary works became popular.
(For more information, see the Culture section of this article.)
Aristocratic domination of the imperial court signaled the decline of the Chinese-
model state. The official bureaucratic structure ceased to have anything to do with the
actual functioning of government. Rank and office were sold to aristocrats hungry for
more land or prestige, and eventually most positions became purely hereditary. The
elaborate land and tax system instituted in the 8th century fell into decay as regular
population censuses, land surveys, and land redistribution were abandoned because
the imperial government lacked the number of educated people needed to manage
such a system. Provincial officials stopped forwarding tax revenues to the capital and
instead used their official powers to enrich themselves. At the same time, more and
more landholdings escaped the public tax registers, reducing the inflow of official
income.
The imperial family, the aristocratic families, and the great Buddhist temples at
the capital gradually came to depend on a system of private estates (shōen) for
revenue. These large hereditary estates, located in every part of Japan, were tax-free.
Many peasants and small landholders commended their land to such estates to escape
the heavy burden of taxes levied on public land. The estates’ aristocratic proprietors
shared the income from the land with local estate managers, who supervised the
peasant farmers.
As the effective influence of the imperial court gradually waned from the 9th
century through the 12th century, power in the provinces devolved to local warriors
(bushi or samurai). The warriors were typically landholders, usually small estate
proprietors or estate managers. They lived in small, fortified compounds, surrounded
by palisades or earthen fortifications, and they dominated the surrounding peasant
communities. Often warriors served as local district officials, responsible for
collecting taxes on remaining public lands. Much of their time was devoted to the
cultivation of martial skills—archery, horsemanship, and swordsmanship. With their
land holdings, military skills, and access to local office, the warriors constituted a
powerful local elite.
Local warrior families often banded together for protection into larger groups
based on kinship ties. These warrior bands were effective in settling disputes over
land and protecting their local communities from brigands and bandits. The imperial
court, which maintained no standing army of its own, often relied on regional
alliances of warrior bands to put down local rebellions or to deal with piracy. The
court appointed members of distinguished provincial families, many of them
descended from the imperial family or aristocratic families, to command these
regional alliances. Particularly important were two warrior families descended from
early 9th-century emperors: the Seiwa Minamoto, based in eastern Japan, and the Ise
Taira, based in the southwest.
By the mid-12th century the Minamoto and the Taira had been drawn into
political disputes at the capital. In 1156 an attempt by a Fujiwara official to regain
power sparked an imperial succession dispute at the court, with each faction
recruiting military leaders to its cause. The Taira and one branch of the Minamoto
together defeated the Fujiwara faction, but Taira Kiyomori emerged as the dominant
figure at court. His authority was briefly and unsuccessfully challenged in 1160 by an
alliance between the Minamoto and the Fujiwara. Thereafter, Kiyomori continued to
build his influence at court, placing relatives in key offices at the capital and in the
provinces, and marrying one of his daughters into the imperial family. His infant
grandson became emperor in 1180.
That same year Minamoto Yoritomo, a Minamoto leader, led an uprising against
the Taira. The ensuing civil war, known as the Gempei War, ended five years later in
1185 when the Taira forces were finally defeated at the Battle of Dannoura near the
modern city of Shimonoseki on the Inland Sea.
Meanwhile, during the era of warring states the Japanese had their first contacts
with Westerners. In 1543 Portuguese traders arrived at Tanegashima, a small island
off the southern coast of Kyūshū, and in 1549 Francis Xavier, a Jesuit missionary,
brought Roman Catholicism to Japan. With the arrival of the Portuguese, the Japanese
learned the use of firearms, which they soon began to manufacture themselves.
Firearms decisively changed the face of Japanese warfare, rendering obsolete the
horse-riding warrior who had dominated the battlefield for centuries. The Portuguese
traders were also an important source of goods from China, Southeast Asia, and other
parts of Asia, and they introduced the Japanese to the practices of smoking tobacco
and deep-frying foods. The Jesuit missionaries, offering the lure of trade as bait, were
extremely successful in making converts. By the time of the Battle of Sekigahara,
several hundred thousand Japanese, including a number of daimyo in Kyūshū and
western Japan, had become Roman Catholics.
The Tokugawa shogunate consolidated its power during the reigns of Ieyasu
(1603-1605), his son Hidetada (1605-1623), and his grandson Iemitsu (1623-1651).
The Tokugawa shogunate was the most effective government that Japan had
experienced so far in its history, but it was not a centralized monarchy like the old
imperial government at Kyōto. The shogun shared power and authority with the local
daimyo in a system known as bakuhan (a combination of the bakufu, which
functioned as the central government, and the han, feudal domains under the control
of the daimyo). The Tokugawa family had direct control over only about one quarter
of the productive land in the country. The rest was dominated by the daimyo, who
had their own governments, castle towns, warrior armies, tax and land systems, and
courts. Altogether there were about 250 to 300 daimyo. The emperor continued to
rule as the civil monarch in Kyōto, but he had little actual power.
Many daimyo had survived military unification with their existing domains intact,
while other domains were newly created by Ieyasu and his heirs. In redistributing
land, Ieyasu made a distinction between the daimyo who had fought with the
Tokugawa at the Battle of Sekigahara (known as fudai, “hereditary vassals”), and
those who had fought against them (known as tozama, “outside lords”). The tozama
were assigned domains on the periphery of the islands and were generally excluded
from positions in the central government. All daimyo, however, were required to
pledge their personal feudal loyalty to the shogun in return for the right to rule their
domains.
As a feudal ruler, the shogun imposed many duties on the daimyo to keep them in
line. First, the daimyo were required to spend half their time in Edo and to keep their
wives and children there all the time. This practice, known as the sankin kōtai
(“alternate attendance”) system, enabled the shogunate to keep the daimyo under
constant surveillance. Second, the daimyo were required to provide materials, labor,
and funds for the construction of large public works, such as the shogun’s castles and
the mausoleum for Ieyasu at Nikkō. Finally, the daimyo had to secure the shogun’s
permission to build new castles, repair military fortifications, or contract marriages
with other daimyo families. If a daimyo committed some infraction of bakufu laws or
died without an heir, the shogun had the right to confiscate his land or reassign him to
a new domain. Under the first three shoguns, such transfers and confiscations were
quite common.
While consolidating their domestic position, the first three shoguns also restricted
Japan’s contacts with the outside world. The Tokugawa welcomed foreign traders but
were concerned about the spread of Christianity. They feared that the missionaries
were simply a prelude to European conquest. Further, they regarded Christianity,
which demanded that the highest loyalty be given to God, as a subversive religion
that would undermine authority within society and the family. In 1614 Ieyasu,
announcing that Christianity was a “pernicious doctrine,” ordered the expulsion of
Christian missionaries, and in the 1620s Japanese converts to Christianity endured
persecutions and massacres.
In the 1630s the shogunate issued a series of decrees forbidding imports of

Christian books, prohibiting travel or trade outside the country, and forbidding the
construction of ocean-going vessels. The only Westerners permitted to trade in Japan
were the Dutch, who were confined to Deshima, an artificial island in the harbor of
Nagasaki on Kyūshū. But the Japanese continued to trade with their Asian neighbors.
Chinese merchants were permitted to live in their own quarter in Nagasaki, and the
Japanese carried on trade with the Ryukyu Islands and with Korea through the island
of Tsushima in the Korean Strait.
The Tokugawa political system, bolstered by its policy of limited isolation from
the outside world, successfully maintained domestic peace until the mid-19th century.
Several major local rebellions occurred in the 17th century, but none threatened the
existence of the regime.
The Tokugawa shoguns also attempted to impose a rigid status system on the
country that made a sharp distinction between the samurai warrior elite, who
constituted between 5 and 6 percent of the population, and the commoners—peasant
farmers, town merchants, and artisans—who made up the rest. The samurai, who
wore two swords as a mark of status, enjoyed the highest prestige in Tokugawa
society and were subject to different laws and punishments than were the commoners.
Society did not remain rigidly frozen, however. On the contrary, domestic peace
set in motion forces of social change. With the endemic warfare of previous centuries
at an end, the samurai class underwent a transformation. The daimyo, seeking to
prevent their vassals from plotting against them, had already begun to move the
samurai off the land into castle towns in the 16th century, and they completed the
process in the 17th. The samurai were no longer a landed class but an urbanized one.
Their income came not from rents collected from peasant cultivators but from
stipends paid by the daimyo. No longer needed as warriors, the samurai instead
served as officials in the shogunal or daimyo governments, where reading, writing,
and arithmetic were more important skills than horsemanship, swordsmanship, and
archery.
Even though the samurai were now civil bureaucrats rather than battle-scarred
warriors, they set themselves apart from the commoners by maintaining a different set
of values, later known as Bushido. Young samurai were trained to prize not only the
martial values of physical courage and loyalty to their lord but also the social values
of obedience to superiors, piety toward parents, personal self-control, frugality, and
hard work. Many of these values rested on the older warrior tradition, but they were
also influenced heavily by Confucianism, the major source of elite political and social
ideas during the Tokugawa period.
Peace also brought in its wake a spurt of economic development. The daimyo and
the shogun were able to devote their human and material resources toward
reconstruction, and a burst in population growth in the 17th century stimulated
production and trade. Under the impact of the sankin kōtai system, the shogun’s
capital and local castle towns grew rapidly. By the end of the 17th century Japan was
probably one of the most urbanized societies in the world. To meet growing urban
demand, agricultural production grew steadily, as did the production of many
consumer goods. Even in rural villages, many peasant farmers began to buy goods
and utensils that they had once made for themselves.
The growth of the economy brought with it changing patterns in the distribution
of wealth. While the daimyo and samurai class remained dependent on agricultural
taxes collected from the peasants, many commoners became more affluent through
the expanding commercial market. By the 18th century a class of wealthy merchants
had emerged in Japan’s major cities and castle towns. The shogunate and the daimyo,
who borrowed heavily from merchants to finance their elegant lifestyles, found
themselves increasingly burdened with debt, and in some domains merchants served
as financial advisers to the daimyo. As a result, the boundaries of the official status
hierarchy began to blur.
Affluent merchants and commoners in the cities patronized a new urban culture
centering on theaters and pleasure quarters (entertainment districts). In the late 17th
and early 18th centuries, the kabuki and puppet (bunraku) theaters flourished, and
short stories about denizens of the pleasure quarters proliferated. Poets perfected a
new form of poetry, the 17-syllable haiku, and by the early 19th century readers
devoured popular novels and stories. In the realm of visual arts, woodblock prints
portraying courtesans, actors, and other scenes from urban life became extremely
popular (see Ukiyo-e). Urban commoners, particularly the wealthy merchant class,
consumed all these new art forms, which also found an audience among the samurai
elite.
Economic growth brought increasing unrest in the countryside. A gap developed

between the mass of the peasantry, who were either small landholders or tenant
farmers, and a well-to-do landlord class. The landlords, who used their wealth to
invest in activities such as money-lending and rural industry, took advantage of their
less fortunate neighbors. More and more land became concentrated in landlords’
hands.
Beginning in the 18th century, peasant riots became more and more frequent,
especially in times of bad harvest, such as the 1780s and the 1830s. The samurai elite,
who saw the rural wealthy class beginning to copy their own lifestyle, were deeply
disturbed by this social turmoil. By the early 19th century many conservative samurai
scholars and intellectuals called for a return to the good old days, when everyone
knew his or her proper place in society.
Internal social changes might eventually have brought about the downfall of the
Tokugawa shogunate, but they were overtaken by new pressures from the outside. In
the late 18th century Westerners began to challenge the Tokugawa policy of limiting
trade and other contacts. The first to do so were Russians, who made probes into the
northern island of Hokkaidō (then called Ezo) in the 1790s hoping to open up trade.
Further breaches of the seclusion policy soon followed, as British, French, and other
foreign ships began to appear in Japanese harbors with increasing frequency.
Although the shogunate issued orders to rebuff any attempt by the ships to land,
Japanese defenders, with their outdated weapons and organization, could offer little
resistance to modern warships.
The threat to the shogunate from foreign intrusion was twofold: On one hand, the
central government’s power and authority had been maintained for more than two
centuries through the policy of seclusion, and to abandon it now would place the
shogun’s dominant position at risk. On the other hand, predatory Western powers
presented a real danger to Japan’s sovereignty. Britain’s victory over China in the
first Opium War in the early 1840s and the subsequent forced opening of Chinese
trading ports provided an alarming example of what might happen to Japan. Many
daimyo were not sympathetic to the shogunate’s predicament, however. They wanted
to maintain the policy of seclusion at all costs.
The arrival of a United States gunboat expedition led by Commodore Matthew

Calbraith Perry in 1853 threw Japan’s leadership into turmoil. The United States had
become interested in opening Japan to normal trading and diplomatic relationships in
the 1840s, largely in order to secure good treatment for U.S. whalers plying the
northwest Pacific and U.S. merchants involved in the China trade. Now Perry used
the implied threat of his warships to pressure the shogunate to sign a treaty of
friendship with the United States. Failing to achieve consensus after unprecedented
consultations with the daimyo, the shogunate reluctantly agreed to sign the treaty in
1854.
Foreign demands for further concessions followed rapidly. In 1858 the United
States, represented by Townsend Harris, successfully negotiated a second,
commercial treaty that opened more Japanese ports to trade, fixed tariffs (government
taxes on trade), and guaranteed Americans extraterritorial rights (which extended
U.S. laws and jurisdiction to U.S. citizens in Japan). Other Western powers soon
followed suit by demanding similar treaties, which came to be called “unequal
treaties” because they placed Japan in a subordinate diplomatic position.
The opening of the country under foreign pressure undermined the authority and
legitimacy of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Tokugawa leaders had shown themselves
to be too weak to fend off the “Western barbarians,” and they had defied the wishes
of the emperor at Kyōto, who opposed the 1858 trade treaty. In the late 1850s and
early 1860s, antiforeign sentiments swept through the samurai class. Antiforeign
activists sought to rally the country around the emperor under the slogan “Revere the
emperor, expel the barbarians” (sonnō jōi). Foreign residents in the newly opened
ports were attacked, and in 1863 the domain of Chōshū fired on foreign vessels
sailing through the Straits of Shimonseki. Although it was obvious that the
Westerners could not be expelled by military force, this did not prevent the
antiforeign movement from further eroding the position of the shogunate.
The antiforeign movement was particularly strong in the large domains of the
tozama daimyo of western Japan, who as “outside lords” had always resented
Tokugawa rule. During the 1860s many of these domains, including Satsuma,
Chōshū, Tosa, and Saga, began to build up their own military strength by importing
Western weapons and ships, hiring Western military instructors, and training
Western-style military units. The shogunate, which had sent an unsuccessful military
expedition against Chōshū to punish its antiforeign activities, began its own military
modernization program as well.
Leaders of the western domains, however, feared that the shogunate’s main goal
was not to protect the country but to preserve its own dynastic interests. Chōshū and
Satsuma, coming together through the mediation of Tosa, agreed to put an end to the
shogunate and establish a new imperial government in its place. In late 1867 leaders
from Tosa convinced the shogun to resign in order to assume a leading role in a
restructured government. Before this government could be established, however, in
January 1868 a palace coup in Kyōto, backed by the military forces of Satsuma and
Chōshū, brought to power the young emperor Meiji. The emperor abolished the office
of shogun, ordered the Tokugawa family to surrender their ancestral lands, and
announced the creation of a new imperial government. The following month, in a
brief battle outside of Kyōto, the new imperial army rolled back the only serious
military challenge made by Tokugawa forces. Sporadic fighting followed in isolated
pockets of Japan. Known as the Boshin Civil War, the conflict ended with the
surrender of pro-Tokugawa forces in Hokkaidō in 1869.
The overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate was described as a restoration of

imperial authority, but the new imperial government soon launched a sweeping
program to transform Japan into a modern nation state. The core government leaders
were younger samurai from Chōshū, Satsuma, Tosa, and Hizen who had plotted to
bring down the Tokugawa. These leaders were united in their belief that the
shogunate was not up to the task of strengthening the country or renegotiating the
unequal treaties imposed by the foreign powers. However, they were divided in their
views of what kind of change was needed. Some, like Saigō Takamori of Satsuma,
wished to preserve as much of the old social and political order as possible; others,
such as Ōkubo Toshimichi of Satsuma and Kido Takayoshi of Chōshū, advocated
more radical reform. The radicals prevailed. In April 1868 the new regime proclaimed
its reform goals in the Charter Oath, promising to base its decisions on wide
consultation, to seek knowledge from the outside world, and to abandon outmoded
customs. The emperor’s main function was to legitimate the new regime and
symbolize a united nation.
The division of Japan into independent domains made it difficult to deal with
foreigners in a concerted way or to fully mobilize national resources. Thus, the Meiji
government’s first task was to unify the country territorially. In late 1868 the imperial
capital was moved to Edo (which was renamed Tokyo), where the emperor took up
residence in the shogun’s former castle. In 1869 the daimyo of Chōshū, Satsuma,
Tosa, and Hizen surrendered their lands and census records to the imperial
government and asked that their domains’ laws, institutions, and regulations be
placed under unified control. Other domains soon followed suit. In 1871 all the
daimyo domains were abolished by imperial decree and were replaced by a system of
centrally administered prefectures governed by imperially appointed officials.
From 1871 to 1873 the new Meiji leaders felt confident enough to send half of
their number on a diplomatic mission around the world. Under the leadership of
Iwakura Tomomi, they were to learn about the institutions, laws, and customs of
economically and technologically advanced countries of the West, such as the United
States and Britain. The Iwakura mission’s direct observation of the West left them
feeling challenged but hopeful. Much of the progress that Western countries had
made in military science, industry, technology, education, and society had occurred
only within the past two generations, and a number of the European nations, such as
Germany and Italy, were quite new themselves. It did not seem impossible that Japan
could catch up with the Western nations very quickly.
During the 1870s the imperial government enacted reform after reform to
dismantle the Tokugawa system. The goal was to create a new population of imperial
subjects who all shared the same obligations to the state, regardless of their social
origins. Laws enforcing the status system were abolished between 1869 and 1871,
elementary education was made compulsory in 1872, a military conscription system
requiring service of young adult males was promulgated in 1873, and new national
land and tax laws replaced the old domain-based tax system in 1873. The final blow
to the old order came in 1876, when the government stopped paying stipends to the
former samurai class and abolished their privilege of carrying swords. The result was
a series of local samurai rebellions, culminating in the Satsuma (or Kagoshima)
Rebellion led by Saigō Takamori in 1877. The government’s new conscript army
successfully crushed all of the uprisings.
In the 1870s the Meiji government also consolidated and expanded its control
over outlying islands. It launched a program to colonize Hokkaidō, asserted control of
the Ryukyu; and Bonin islands to the south, and made an agreement with Russia for
control of the Kuril Islands to the north.
During the 1880s a new emperor-centered state structure took shape. After the
Satsuma Rebellion, disgruntled former samurai started a popular rights movement,
demanding a national legislature. Meiji leaders were not opposed to constitutional
government; indeed, their contacts with the West had convinced them that it would
unify and strengthen Japan as well as improve its international standing by
conforming to Western ideas of “civilized” government. Thus, in 1881 the emperor
declared his intention to grant the country a constitution. In preparation, the
government leadership created a strong executive branch run by professional
bureaucrats dedicated to the national good rather than to sectional or partisan
interests. During the 1880s the government made several steps in this direction. It
created a new nobility of five ranks from the former court aristocracy and daimyo,
established a cabinet system modeled on that of imperial Germany, created a new
privy council of imperial advisers, and instituted a civil service examination system
for recruiting high officials.
The constitution, drafted by a small bureaucratic committee working under

statesman Itō Hirobumi, was promulgated in 1889 as a “gift of the emperor” to the
people. It came into effect the following year. The constitution placed most of the
powers of state in the hands of the emperor, who was declared “sacred and
inviolable.” It guaranteed the emperor’s subjects certain basic political and religious
freedoms “within the limits of the law.” It also established a bicameral (two-chamber)
national legislature, the Imperial Diet. The upper chamber, called the House of Peers,
was composed of members of the newly created nobility and imperial appointees. The
lower chamber, the House of Representatives, was elected by a small percentage of
the population—only adult males paying more than 15 yen (Japan’s basic unit of
currency) in taxes could vote. While a relatively conservative document, very similar
to the constitution of imperial Germany, the Meiji constitution was a remarkable
departure from a long tradition of authoritarian politics in Japan. It provided a
foundation for the eventual development of representative government.
Nevertheless, for many years a small ruling group made up of the Satsuma and
Chōshū leaders continued to monopolize executive power. The emperor, although
constitutionally the country’s highest political authority, did not participate in
administration. Until the late 1910s, prime ministers and most cabinet members were
drawn from the ranks of the Satsuma-Chōshū clique, their protégés, and members of
the civil and military bureaucracies. However, political parties gradually grew
stronger during this period, eventually winning positions in the cabinet.
In addition to restructuring the government, the Meiji leaders worked diligently to

build up a modern economic sector by acquiring new manufacturing technology. In
the 1870s the government imported a mechanized silk-reeling mill, cotton-spinning
mills, glass and brick factories, cement works, and other modern factories. They also
brought in foreign workers and technicians to get the factories started and train
Japanese workers. The government hired hundreds of foreign teachers, engineers, and
technicians to build up modern infrastructure, such as railroads and telegraph lines,
and dispatched hundreds of bright ambitious young men to study science,
engineering, medicine, and other technical specialties in the United States and
Europe. In the 1880s the government set up a modern banking system.
By the 1890s the beginnings of industrialization were well underway. A railroad

network linking the major cities of Honshū had expanded into Kyūshū and Hokkaidō;
coal mines were producing fuel needed for new steam-driven factories; the cotton-
spinning industry had reduced the country’s dependence on foreign imports; and a
domestic shipbuilding industry was developing. Except for the railroad system,
however, the government no longer played a direct role either in financing or
managing these enterprises. It had sold off its imported factories to private
entrepreneurs and had adopted a policy of encouraging private enterprise.
The dramatic changes during the three decades after the Meiji government took
power were driven by government initiatives from above, but other classes of society
were not simply passive recipients of change. Many former samurai, although
stripped of their traditional privileges, made a successful transition to the new society.
Highly educated, trained for public service, and imbued with the values of ambition,
hard work, and perseverance, they played an important role in many areas, including
government, business, science, education, and culture. The same was true of the well-
to-do elements in the countryside, who introduced innovations in agriculture, worked
to develop local schools, and were active in the movement to establish a national
legislature. Even the sons of poor peasant farmers conscripted into the army returned
home with new skills, ideas, and habits that they spread to fellow villagers. And by
the 1890s, when most school-age children were attending elementary school, Japan’s
educational system became a formidable vehicle to promote enthusiasm for change.
Japan joined World War I (1914-1918) on the side of Britain and its allies.
Japan’s military actions were limited to taking over the German-leased territory of
Jiaozhou, located on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern China, and its industrial
port city of Qingdao, and occupying the German-held Marshall, Caroline, and
Mariana islands in the western Pacific. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 ended
the Russian Empire and destabilized Russia, Japan also joined an Allied
expeditionary force to aid anti-Bolshevik forces in Siberia in 1918. Contrary to Allied
agreement, Japan maintained troops in Siberia until 1922.
Despite the country’s limited participation, the war in Europe brought economic
boom times to Japan, as Japanese industry sold munitions and other goods to the
Western countries fighting the war and advanced into Asian markets left open by the
decline of Western trading activity. Nearly every sector of the Japanese economy
expanded, but heavy industry grew especially fast, creating a new and increasingly
large male industrial labor force. The war also brought with it social unrest, as rapid
inflation sparked wage disputes between management and workers.
In 1918 an outbreak of nationwide rioting over inflated rice prices, along with
calls for political reform, forced the sitting cabinet to resign, and for the first time a
commoner and political party leader, Hara Takashi, became prime minister. An astute
former official, Hara built political power by catering to local economic interests. For
the next decade and a half, except for the years from 1922 to 1924, political parties
based in the lower house of the Imperial Diet dominated the political scene. Just as it
did in Britain, power in Japan passed back and forth between two major political
parties, the Seiyūkai (Liberal Party) and the Rikken Minseitō (Constitutional
Democratic Party). Many observers concluded that an era of “normal constitutional
government” based on parliamentary control had arrived in Japan.
Public demands for democratic reforms became increasingly vocal at the end of
World War I. The outbreak of democratic revolutions in Germany and Russia
signaled a change in world trends. At first the public drive for democratization in
Japan centered on expanding the right to vote to include all adult males. In 1925, after
several years of debate, a universal manhood suffrage law finally passed the Imperial
Diet, and the electorate expanded from 3 million to nearly 14 million.
But radical political elements in Japan, including an emerging Marxist left,

demanded more sweeping social reforms, including protection for labor unions, laws
guaranteeing improved working conditions, public health insurance, and other social
welfare laws. By the late 1920s representatives from a small group of left-wing
parties had been elected to the Diet. The demand for more social legislation had
support from liberal-minded government bureaucrats and from moderate party
politicians, but conservative forces blocked passage of such sweeping social reforms.
Japan’s foreign policy became less expansionist after World War I, also in
response to trends among the Western powers. Japan joined the League of Nations
(an international alliance for the preservation of peace) at its founding in 1920 as one
of the “big five” most powerful nations. At the Washington Conference of 1922,
Japan agreed with other major naval powers in the Pacific to respect one another’s
colonial territories and to limit naval development at a fixed ratio of ships. Nine
countries, including Japan, also agreed to respect the territorial integrity and
sovereignty of China, ruled since 1911 by a republican government. Finally, in 1928
Japan, along with 14 other countries, signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, which
denounced war as a means of solving international disputes.
In 1920 Japan’s wartime economic boom collapsed, and the country suffered a
series of recessions. Bad economic conditions were aggravated by the great Kantō
earthquake of 1923, which devastated the Tokyo-Yokohama region. Agricultural
prices plunged, and the rural economy stagnated. A major bank panic in 1927 set off
alarm bells, but conditions grew much worse with the onset of the Great Depression
—the global economic slump that began at the end of 1929. Japan’s manufacturing
production fell, workers were laid off, a new wave of strikes began, and the rural
economy went into a tailspin.
These deteriorating economic conditions undercut the fragile growth of Japan’s

democracy. Public opinion laid blame for the country’s economic troubles at the door
of the political party leaders, who reacted slowly and conservatively to the economic
crisis. Public distrust of the parties was heightened by revelations of political scandals
involving the bribery of Diet members, cabinet members, and other leading
politicians. Tight links between political parties and big business firms, known as
zaibatsu, also deepened public suspicions.
By the early 1930s radical right-wing groups had formed, seeking to end party
rule through terrorism. Extreme nationalists, these radicals sought to preserve
traditional Japanese values and culture and eradicate what they saw as Western
influences: party government, big business, and recent cultural imports. Many junior
military officers, often from conservative rural backgrounds, shared these
ultranationalist views. To achieve their aims, the radicals, with their sympathizers in
the military, plotted to assassinate leading business and political figures. In May 1932
the era of party cabinets ended when a terrorist group assassinated Prime Minister
Inukai Tsuyoshi. From 1932 until 1945, Japan was governed by military and
bureaucratic cabinets whose members claimed to stand above partisan politics.
Against a background of economic distress, social discontent, and political

instability, the Japanese military launched a new phase of political expansion on the
Asian continent in the early 1930s. Their primary motive was to protect Japan’s
existing treaty rights and interests in Manchuria and other parts of China against a
militant new Chinese nationalist movement. This movement, led by Chiang Kai-shek,
called for an end to foreign imperialist privileges. Because the Chinese nationalists
cooperated for a time with the Chinese Communist Party, many Japanese military
leaders feared an alliance between a radicalized China and the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR, the Communist successor to the Russian Empire). Others
saw Japan’s expansion into Manchuria as a way of dealing with economic crisis and
rural distress at home. Vast tracts of undeveloped land in the region offered
opportunities for Japanese rural migrants, and its natural resources could supply raw
materials, such as iron ore and coal, for Japanese industry.
On September 18, 1931, officers of Japan’s Kwangtung Army (the military force
stationed on the Liaodong Peninsula) blew up a section of track on the South
Manchuria Railway outside of Mukden (Shenyang). Claiming the explosion was the
work of Chinese saboteurs, Japanese forces occupied key cities in southern
Manchuria. Within a few months they controlled the entire region. Although the
Kwantung Army acted without authorization from the Japanese government, its
decisive action was popular at home, and political leaders accepted it as an
accomplished fact. Rather than create a new colony, the Japanese decided to set up
the nominally independent state of Manchukuo under Emperor Henry Pu Yi, who had
been the last emperor of China. Real control over Manchukuo remained in the hands
of Japanese advisers and officials.
The United States and Britain condemned Japan for its violation of the Kellogg-
Briand Pact but did little to stop the occupation. An inquiry commission dispatched
by the League of Nations placed blame for the so-called Manchuria Incident on
Japan, and in 1933 the League Assembly requested that Japan cease hostilities in
China. The Japanese government instead announced its withdrawal from the league.
Japanese military forces took over the Chinese province of Jehol as a buffer zone and
threatened to occupy the cities of Beijing and Tianjin, as well. Unable to resist the
superior Japanese forces, in May 1933 the Chinese signed a truce that established a
demilitarized zone between Manchuria and the rest of China.
Success in Manchuria emboldened the Japanese military to intervene in domestic
politics. In February 1936 young, ultranationalist army officers staged a military
insurrection in Tokyo to end civilian control of the government and put a military
regime in its place. Army leaders put down the coup but in its aftermath acquired
greater political influence as the country embarked on a new military buildup. In 1936
Japan signed an anti-Communist agreement with Germany, and one year later it
signed a similar pact with Italy. Aggression and expansion now seemed inevitable.
On July 7, 1937 a Chinese patrol and Japanese troops on a training exercise

clashed near the Marco Polo Bridge on the outskirts of Beijing. When the Chinese
nationalist government sent reinforcements to the area, the Japanese responded with a
mobilization of their own, launching the Second Sino-Japanese War. By the end of
1937 the Japanese had overrun northern China, capturing Shanghai, Beijing, and the
Chinese capital at Nanjing. The Chinese government under Chiang Kai-shek,
however, refused to negotiate an armistice. Instead it retreated to the interior province
of Sichuan (Szechwan), where high mountainous terrain protected it against Japanese
land attack. By the end of 1938 the Japanese had occupied northern China, the lower
valley of the Yangtze River beyond Hankou, and enclaves along the south China
coast, including Guangzhou (Canton). However, the fighting had reached a stalemate.
Instead of confronting regular Chinese forces, the Japanese army had to fend off
constant guerrilla attacks, even in territory they occupied.
The outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 encouraged the Japanese

leadership to consider expanding military and political influence into Southeast Asia.
Japan urgently needed the region’s natural resources, including oil and rubber, for its
war effort. In 1940, after France and the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and
Netherlands) had fallen to the Germans, the government of Prime Minister Konoe
Fumimaro announced Japan’s intention to build a “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity
Sphere,” a self-sufficient economic and political bloc under Japanese leadership. In
September 1940 the Konoe cabinet concluded the so-called Axis Pact, an alliance
with Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, and received permission from the Nazi-backed
Vichy government in France to move troops into northern French Indochina (the area
that is now Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos). The Japanese also tried to negotiate an
economic and political foothold in the Dutch East Indies, whose colonial government
had declared itself independent of the fallen home government of Netherlands.
Escalating Japanese aggression created friction with the United States, the only
major nation not yet involved in war. In 1937 U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt
called for a “quarantine” against the “disease” of international aggression. The United
States sympathized with the Chinese nationalists and wished to keep the resources of
Southeast Asia available for the embattled British. Japan was heavily dependent on
the United States for vital strategic material, such as petroleum, steel, and heavy
machinery, so the Roosevelt administration gradually imposed embargoes on such
goods. Negotiations aimed at settling differences between the two countries began in
April 1941, but when the Japanese moved troops into southern Indochina in July, the
United States responded by placing a complete embargo on oil. Britain, countries
belonging to the Commonwealth of Nations (an association of states that gave
allegiance to the British Crown), and the Dutch East Indies followed suit.
The U.S. oil embargo threatened to bring the whole Japanese military apparatus to
a halt when its limited oil reserves were used up. Rather than face the humiliation of
giving in to U.S. economic pressure, in early September the Konoe cabinet decided to
continue negotiations while at the same time preparing for war. All attempts to reach
a diplomatic accommodation with the United States failed, including a proposal for a
summit meeting between President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Konoe. In October
Konoe resigned, and General Tōjō Hideki, Japan’s minister of war, became prime
minister. Tōjō formed a cabinet in preparation for war.
On December 7, 1941 (December 8 in Japan), a Japanese naval and air task force
launched a devastating surprise attack on the major U.S. base at Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii. The Japanese also launched simultaneous attacks in the Philippines, Guam,
Wake Island, Midway Island, Hong Kong, British Malaya, and Thailand. The
following day the United States declared war on Japan, as did all the other Allied
powers except the USSR. Nevertheless, Japan maintained the offensive in Southeast
Asia and the islands of the South Pacific for the next year. By the summer of 1942,
Japanese forces had occupied the targets of their first attack, as well as Burma (now
known as Myanmar), Borneo, the Dutch East Indies, and several islands in the
Aleutians off Alaska. Japan’s forces were also striking toward Australia and New
Zealand through New Guinea, New Britain, and the Solomon Islands.
Japanese leaders were aware of America’s immense economic and technological

strength, but they gambled that the American public and politicians would not have
the stomach to fight to the finish. Japanese war plans envisaged a limited war that
would lead the United States to a negotiated peace that recognized Japan’s dominant
position and territorial gains in East Asia. The plans assumed that Japan would be
able to hold a strategic defensive perimeter of island bases stretching through the
central and South Pacific against American counterattack, and that Nazi Germany
would complete its military conquest of Europe. These sobering realities would then
force the United States to the negotiating table.
In actuality, the United States decided to wage an all-out “total war” that would
end only with Japan’s “unconditional surrender.” Although the U.S. Pacific Fleet had
been heavily damaged by the Pearl Harbor attack, American aircraft carriers had
escaped unscathed, and they inflicted heavy damage on the Japanese at the Battle of
Midway in June 1942. The Americans adopted an island hopping strategy of striking
behind bases on Japan’s outer perimeter and cutting them off from their logistical
support. The Americans also used submarine warfare to sink Japanese merchant
marine vessels and cut the sea lanes linking the Japanese home islands to the
resources of the Dutch East Indies and Southeast Asia. In July 1944 the American
capture of Saipan, a major Japanese base in the Mariana Islands, put the Japanese
home islands within range of American long-range B-29 Superfortress bombers.
Beginning in the early fall of 1944, Japanese cities and their civilian populations were
subjected to increasingly frequent bombing raids.
Beginning with Japan’s formal surrender on September 2, 1945, the Allies placed
the country under the control of a U.S. army of occupation. An international Allied
Council for Japan, sitting in Tokyo, was created to assist the Americans, who
presided over the dissolution of the Japanese colonial empire and the disbanding of
all Japanese military and naval forces. In 1946 an 11-nation tribunal convened in
Tokyo to try a number of Japanese wartime leaders, including Tōjō, for war crimes.
American occupation policy aspired to more than a simple demilitarization of Japan.
It aimed at destroying the social, political, and economic conditions that had made
Japan an aggressor nation, and transforming Japan into a peaceful democratic nation
that would never again threaten its neighbors or world peace. Under the guidance of
U.S. general Douglas MacArthur, the supreme commander for the Allied powers, the
Japanese were subjected to the most sweeping program of reform they had
experienced since the Meiji Restoration.
Political democratization centered on a revised constitution, promulgated in 1947.

The new constitution stripped the emperor of the enormous powers granted to him by
the Meiji constitution, making him instead the symbol of the Japanese nation and
restricting his official functions to largely ceremonial duties. It placed the National
Diet, formerly the Imperial Diet, at the center of the political process. The
constitution provided for a British-style parliamentary system, with a cabinet elected
by and responsible to the House of Representatives. The electorate was expanded to
include all adults, including women. The constitution also guaranteed basic civil and
political rights, including a number of rights not included in the U.S. constitution,
such as the right of labor to bargain collectively. But the most radical article of the
new constitution was Article 9, under which Japan renounced war and the use of
force to settle international disputes, and pledged not to maintain land, sea, or air
forces to that end. Although this “peace constitution” was originally drafted in
English by American occupation officials, it was debated and ratified by the Japanese
Diet.
To build a rural base for democracy, occupation officials promoted a land reform
program that allowed tenant farmers to purchase the land they farmed. In cities, the
occupation encouraged the growth of an active labor union movement. By the end of
1946 about 40 percent of Japan’s industrial labor force was unionized. To weaken the
power of big business, the occupation adopted a program of economic
deconcentration, breaking up the large conglomerates known as zaibatsu. Occupation
authorities also purged the business community of those leaders thought to have
cooperated with wartime militarists.
On the whole, the Japanese population welcomed these changes. The Americans
encouraged an atmosphere of free public debate and discussion on nearly every kind
of issue, from politics to marriage to women’s rights. After years of wartime
censorship and thought control, most Japanese appreciated their new freedom. At first
the Americans also encouraged the emergence of a vital and active left wing,
including a legal Japanese Communist Party, in the hopes that it would play the role
of a strong democratic opposition.
Nevertheless, conservative parties, with agendas aimed at rebuilding Japan’s
economy and strengthening its international position, dominated domestic politics in
postwar Japan. After the first postwar elections, held in 1946, conservative politician
Yoshida Shigeru became prime minister. Divisiveness within the conservative ranks
gave an election victory to the Japan Socialist Party in 1947, but in 1948 Yoshida
returned to power, continuing to serve as prime minister until 1954.
With the rise in the late 1940s of the Cold War (the struggle between the United
States and its allies and the USSR and its allies), the American desire to reform Japan
was overtaken by a desire to turn the country into a strong ally. The resulting change
in occupation policy is often called the “reverse course.” In 1947 and 1948 the U.S.
government in Washington decided to actively promote the recovery of Japan’s
devastated economy. The American occupation reversed its policy of breaking up big
business concerns, and it encouraged the Japanese government to adopt anti-inflation
policies and to stabilize business conditions through fiscal austerity. Conservative
political leaders like Yoshida, who hoped to restore Japan’s position in the world as
an economic power, welcomed the change in direction. With assistance from the
United States, the Japanese government also began to crack down on the domestic
Communist movement and curb the activities of radical labor union groups.
In September 1951, after more than a year of consultation and negotiation, Japan,
the United States, and 47 other countries signed a peace treaty in San Francisco
returning Japan to full sovereign independence. Japan renounced all claims to Korea,
Taiwan, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, and the country’s former mandates in the Pacific,
as well as all special rights and interests in China and Korea. The treaty also
established U.S. trusteeship of the Ryukyu Islands, including the island of Okinawa,
which the United States had occupied during the war. In return, Japan was not
subjected to punitive economic restrictions. In light of its fragile economic position, it
was permitted to make reparation payments to the countries it had invaded and
occupied in goods and services rather than in cash.
The San Francisco treaty, however, failed to resolve Japan’s relations with the
Communist adversaries of the United States—the USSR and China. The USSR
refused to sign the peace treaty, maintaining that it would lead to a resurgence of
Japanese militarism. And neither the government in Beijing, ruled by the
Communists, nor the Nationalist government on Taiwan, ruled by the Kuomintang
(which had retreated to the island after the Communists gained control of the Chinese
mainland in 1949), were invited to the peace conference because of international
dissent over which government legitimately ruled China. Nevertheless, the United
States made Japan’s recognition of the government on Taiwan as China’s legitimate
government a condition of its own acceptance of the treaty; thus, in a separate
agreement Japan promised to deal only with the Nationalists.
Finally, to ensure Japan’s defense and secure it as an ally of the United States, the
two countries signed a bilateral mutual security treaty that allowed the United States
to maintain military bases and forces in Japan. The peace treaty and the collateral
agreements had the effect of aligning Japan firmly with the Western bloc of nations.
On April 28, 1952 the peace treaty became effective, and full sovereignty was
restored to Japan.
In the latter half of the 1980s Japan experienced a period of financial euphoria
that came to be known as the bubble. The bubble was triggered in 1985 by a sudden
rise in the value of the yen. As Japanese goods became more expensive overseas,
Japan’s exports decreased and its economy slowed. To stimulate economic growth,
the LDP government increased public spending and eased interest rates. Real estate
and stock prices soared, and even middle-class Japanese began to speculate. In
addition, the high value of the yen encouraged Japanese investment overseas. In
Southeast Asia, where labor costs were lower, Japanese companies built new
production facilities. In the United States they invested not only in electronics
factories and automobile assembly plants but also bought highly visible assets such as
Rockefeller Center in New York City. In early 1990, however, the economic bubble
burst suddenly when the government raised interest rates to dampen speculation.
The collapse of the bubble ushered in a period of prolonged economic slowdown.

Large corporations attempted to deal with the slowdown through downsizing, but
many large banks and financial institutions remained saddled with huge amounts of
bad loans left over from the economic boom period. In 1997 an economic downturn
in Southeast Asia harmed Japanese trade and investment in the region and further
undermined the strength of Japan’s economy. Public confidence in the economy
steadily deteriorated as the economic bureaucracy appeared unable to deal with the
country’s economic problems. By the early 2000s Japan remained mired in its longest
recession since World War II.
Blame for the continuing economic slowdown was laid at the door of the MOF,
which did little despite strong domestic and foreign demands for economic
deregulation and greater market freedom. In May 1997 the MOF announced plans for
a “Big Bang” to deregulate banking and finance, but daily newspaper and television
news continued to headline stories about bureaucratic inflexibility, incompetence, and
corruption. In 1998 the Diet passed a series of bills intended to initiate economic
recovery by increasing government spending and authorizing measures to address the
banking problem. By late 2002, however, a decade of massive stimulus packages and
emergency measures had failed to stimulate Japan’s stagnant economy. Signs of an
economic turnaround began to appear late in 2005.
III. Economic Background
a. Resources
Japan has had to build its enormous industrial output and high standard of living
on a comparatively small domestic resource base. Most conspicuously lacking are
fossil fuel resources, particularly petroleum. Small domestic oil fields in northern
Honshū and Hokkaidō supply less than 1 percent of the country’s demand. Domestic
reserves of natural gas are similarly negligible. Coal deposits in Hokkaidō and
Kyūshū are more abundant but are generally low grade, costly to mine, and
inconveniently located with respect to major cities and industrial areas (the areas of
highest demand). Japan does have abundant water and hydroelectric potential,
however, and as a result the country has developed one of the world’s largest
hydroelectric industries.
Japan is also short on metal and mineral resources. It was once a leading producer
of copper, but its great mines at Ashio in central Honshū and Besshi on Shikoku have
been depleted and are now closed. Reserves of iron, lead, zinc, bauxite, and other ores
are negligible.
While the country is heavily forested, its demand for lumber, pulp, paper, and
other wood products exceeds domestic production. Some forests in Hokkaidō and
northern Honshū have been logged excessively, causing local environmental
problems. Japan is blessed with bountiful coastal waters that provide the nation with
fish and other marine foods. However, demand is so large that local resources must be
supplemented with fish caught by Japanese vessels in distant seas, as well as with
imports. Although arable land is limited, agricultural resources are significant.
Japan’s crop yields per land area sown are among the highest in the world, and the
country produces more than 60 percent of its food.
b. Main Industry
Japan’s rail system is highly oriented toward passenger service, with over 80
percent of revenues coming from passenger operations and a major part of that from
the Shinkansen lines. The Shinkansen lines represent the single most important
development in Japanese railway history and encouraged the development of similar
systems in Europe. Japan pioneered the modern high-speed passenger railway with
the opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen line between Tokyo and Osaka in 1964. These
highly successful high-speed services have an excellent safety record and continue to
be extended and developed. Shinkansen lines now operate at speeds of 300 km/h (190
mph).
In addition to the JR Group of companies, there are over 125 private and joint
private-government financed railways in Japan. These railways range from major
private interurban and suburban systems to individual rural and tourist lines. Japan
produces its own rail equipment and exports rail, cars, and locomotives.
IV. Socio- Cultural Background
a. National Dress
The kimono, a robelike dress, is the traditional

garment of Japan. Though most Japanese now wear
Western-style clothing, they wear kimonos on holidays
and other special occasions. These women have wrapped
their kimonos with a sash called an obi.
b. Food
The Japanese diet consists largely of rice, vegetables, seafood, fruit, and small
portions of meat. Rice and tea are part of almost every meal. The diet has been
changing in recent decades, however, as the Japanese have begun to consume more
red meat and milk. The additional meat and dairy have contributed to a growth spurt
—young people are taller, on average, than are members of their parents' generation.
Popular Japanese foods include miso (bean paste) soup, noodles (ramen, udon,
and soba), curry and rice, sashimi (slices of raw fish served with soy sauce and
wasabi, a pungent form of horseradish), tofu, and pork. Sushi is cold rice, flavored
with vinegar, and served with fish (usually raw). Norimaki is a similar dish, with rice,
fish, and/or vegetables wrapped in dried seaweed.
In a traditional meal, the Japanese typically eat from their bowl while holding it at
chest level instead of bending down to the table. Chopsticks (hashi) are used to eat
most meals, but people generally use forks and knives when eating non-Asian food.
Fast food is popular among the young. The main meal is eaten in the evening.
When being entertained, it is polite to follow the lead of one’s host. The ability of
a visitor to use chopsticks will help create a favorable impression, but it is important
not to point them at anyone or leave them crossed. An empty glass will usually be
refilled, and it is polite to fill others’ glasses before one’s own.
c. Entertainment
The music of Shinto, the ancient Japanese religion, is called kagura (“god
music”). It is used on formal occasions at shrines or imperial functions and at Shinto
folk festivals. Shinto prayers (norito), recited by a priest, seek purification and
blessings. Festival songs and dances add entertainment for the gods. Shinto ritual
music characteristically includes an instrument called the suzu, a cluster of shaken
pellet bells. Drums, flutes, and handheld kane gongs are typical in festival music.
Dancers at these festivals perform inside and outside the shrines, and their
performances are interspersed with chants to the gods.
The earliest reported form of music and dance in Japan was gigaku, imported
from China by a Korean performer sometime in the early 6th century. In gigaku,
masked dancers performed dramas to the accompaniment of flute, drum, and gong
ensembles.
The origins of ancient Japanese court music (gagaku) were noted by the 6th
century or earlier and were categorized in the 9th century as komagaku (Korean and
Manchurian music) and tôgaku (Chinese and Indian music). Performances vary from
small ritual ensembles to orchestras of musicians playing woodwind, plucked-string,
and percussion instruments. The winds include flutes—the ryūteki, komabue, or
kagurabue; short double-reed hichiriki pipes; and the shō, a mouth organ consisting
of 17 bamboo pipes inserted into a wooden bowl with a mouth hole. The flute and the
double-reed pipe play the melody while the mouth organ provides a cluster of
background tones. The stringed instruments are not played in dance music (bugaku).
Japanese theatrical music during the early Middle Ages was influenced by earlier
Buddhist music and consisted of lute accompaniments to narrations called heikebiwa
and of music for nō dramas (see Japanese Drama). The lute accompaniments consist
of set melodic and rhythmic patterns often representing specific emotions or
situations. The nō music contains parts for voices as well as for instruments. The
actors or a chorus sing while instrumentalists accompany them on the shoulder drum
(ko tsuzumi) and hip drum (ō tsuzumi). The entire instrumental ensemble (called
hayashi) also includes a flute (nōkan), which signals formal divisions within the
drama, adds color to lyric moments, and accompanies dances, for which the taiko
stick drum may also be used. Nō music uses named, conventional melodic and
rhythmic patterns within prescribed forms. The drummers’ vocal calls (kakegoe) are
part of each pattern and may influence the timing of the music.
The most popular form of traditional Japanese theater is kabuki, which began in
the early 17th century and was well established by the mid-17th century. Kabuki
music makes use of instrumentalists and singers, most of whom sit at the back of the
stage; others remain offstage to provide sound effects and special incidental music.
The main form of dance music in kabuki is nagauta, performed by the nō
instrumental group and the shamisen. Among other kabuki narrative shamisen genres
is gidayû, derived from the famous bunraku puppet-play tradition (also called jōruri).
Western music became a strong influence in Japan after the Meiji emperor took
power in 1867, and new forms based on Western models were developed by both
traditional and Western-trained composers. Western music dominated Japanese music
education. Many excellent orchestras, opera companies, and music schools appeared
while traditional music (hôgaku) survived independently. In 1946 Suzuki Shin’ichi
combined Japanese and Western teaching methods and business acumen to create an
internationally famous music lesson industry. At the same time, modernized
traditional drum ensembles and shamisen performers entered the world market.
Among modern Japanese composers, Tōru Takemitsu is best known for using
Japanese instruments in a Western manner. His November Steps (1967) is a double
concerto for biwa, shakuhachi, and orchestra. The electronic piece Vocalism AI
(1956) evokes the textures of nō drama, while the film music for Kwaidan (1964)
abstracts the sounds of a biwa-playing narrator.
Japanese folk music shares with the world the need for religious festivals, work,
dance, love, and regional songs. Japan is especially rich in folk theatricals that reflect
the history of ancient rituals and dramas. The Ainu, an indigenous tribe based in
northern Japan, maintain traditions like throat games (rekkukara) that relate to
cultures of Siberia and Alaska, while Okinawan music to the south contains elements
of Chinese and Southeast Asian music. By the 1920s radio had increased the
knowledge of regional folk music in Japan and generated not only “stars” but also
folk song preservation societies (hozonkai) whose goals are to sing the “perfect”
version of a given song, even competing with other clubs from around the country.
The rise of karaoke in Japan created new competitions for singing all kinds of music.
The constant interplay of new and old Japanese music never stops.
Japanese folk music shares with the world the need for religious festivals, work,
dance, love, and regional songs. Japan is especially rich in folk theatricals that reflect
the history of ancient rituals and dramas. The Ainu, an indigenous tribe based in
northern Japan, maintain traditions like throat games (rekkukara) that relate to
cultures of Siberia and Alaska, while Okinawan music to the south contains elements
of Chinese and Southeast Asian music. By the 1920s radio had increased the
knowledge of regional folk music in Japan and generated not only “stars” but also
folk song preservation societies (hozonkai) whose goals are to sing the “perfect”
version of a given song, even competing with other clubs from around the country.
The rise of karaoke in Japan created new competitions for singing all kinds of music.
The constant interplay of new and old Japanese music never stops.
d. Tourist Spots
In 2006, 7.3 million foreigners visited Japan, spending $8.5 billion. Popular
destinations include Tokyo and the historic capitals of Nara and Kyōto, with their
many ancient temples. The bulk of Japan’s foreign visitors come from South Korea,
the United States, China, and the United Kingdom.
Awaji, island in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. It is the largest island in the Inland Sea,
between the main islands of Shikoku and Honshū. Farming, fishing, and pottery
making are the chief occupations. The island is a tourist destination known for the
tidal whirlpools in Naruto Straits, between Awaji and Shikoku, and for the traditional
puppet theater, a 400-year-old folk art said to have originated there. Awaji Island is
the midpoint of the Seto Ohashi bridge connecting Honshū to Shikoku, part of which
opened in 1988. The largest city and administrative center of the island is Sumoto.
Area, 591 sq km (228 sq mi); population (1990) 166,218.
Also part of Fukuyama is the island of Sensuijima. With its sea coves molded by
waves from the ocean and its bathing beaches, the island is a popular destination for
tourists.
e. Flora/ Fauna
More than 17,000 species of flowering and nonflowering plants are found in
Japan, and many are cultivated widely. Azaleas color the Japanese hills in April, and
the tree peony, one of the most popular cultivated flowers, blossoms at the beginning
of May. The lotus blooms in August, and in November the blooming of the
chrysanthemum occasions one of the most celebrated of the numerous Japanese
flower festivals. Various types of seaweed grow naturally or are cultivated in offshore
waters, adding variety to the Japanese diet. The most common varieties of edible
seaweed are laver (a purple form of red algae also known as nori), kelp (a large, leafy
brown algae also called kombu), and wakame (a large brown algae).
Forests cover 66 percent of Japan’s land area. Forests are concentrated on
mountain slopes, where trees are important in soil and water conservation. Tree types
vary with latitude and elevation. In Hokkaidō, spruce, larch, and northern fir are most
common, along with alder, poplar, and beech trees. Central Honshū’s more temperate
climate supports beech, willows, and chestnuts. In Shikoku, Kyūshū, and the warmer
parts of Honshū, subtropical trees such as camphors and banyans thrive. The southern
areas also have thick stands of bamboo. Japanese cedars and cypress are found
throughout wide areas of the country and are prized for their wood. Cultivated tree
species include fruit trees bearing peaches, plums, pears, oranges, and cherries;
mulberry trees for silk production; and lacquer trees, from which the resins used to
produce lacquer are derived. Potted miniaturized trees called bonsai are popular
among hobbyist gardeners in Japan and are a highly evolved art form.
f. Prominent People/ Personalities
Abe Kōbō (1924–1993), Japanese novelist and playwright, a leader of the avant-
garde. His familiarity with Western literature, existentialism, surrealism, and
Marxism influenced his distinctive treatment of the problems of alienation and loss of
identity in postwar Japan. Abe’s books include the claustrophobic novel Suna no
onna (1962; Woman of the Dunes, 1964) and minimalist plays such as Bo ni natta
otoko (The Man Who Turned into a Stick, 1969).

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I.

Overview of the Country

Highest point Fuji 3,776 m/12,387 ft

Japan’s largest city is Tokyo, the

Japan. “Kimigayo” (“His Majesty's Reign”). Music by Hiromori Hayashi,

Japanese Language, official language of Japan, spoken by virtually all of the

Form of government Constitutional monarchy

Japan is a parliamentary democracy. An emperor acts as functional head of state,

The Paleolithic culture of prehistoric Japan gave way to a Neolithic culture

The Constitution of Japan became effective in 1947 as an amendment to the 1889

The postwar constitution corrected most of these structural shortcomings. The

The most controversial aspect of the postwar constitution is Article 9, which

Japan is divided into a total of 47 prefectures. In addition to 43 regular

Under the postwar constitution, local units of government have significantly

In the 1630s the shogunate issued a series of decrees forbidding imports of

Economic growth brought increasing unrest in the countryside. A gap developed

The arrival of a United States gunboat expedition led by Commodore Matthew

The overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate was described as a restoration of

The constitution, drafted by a small bureaucratic committee working under

In addition to restructuring the government, the Meiji leaders worked diligently to

By the 1890s the beginnings of industrialization were well underway. A railroad

But radical political elements in Japan, including an emerging Marxist left,

These deteriorating economic conditions undercut the fragile growth of Japan’s

Against a background of economic distress, social discontent, and political

On July 7, 1937 a Chinese patrol and Japanese troops on a training exercise

The outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 encouraged the Japanese

Japanese leaders were aware of America’s immense economic and technological

Political democratization centered on a revised constitution, promulgated in 1947.

The collapse of the bubble ushered in a period of prolonged economic slowdown.

III. Economic Background

IV. Socio- Cultural Background

The kimono, a robelike dress, is the traditional

f. Prominent People/ Personalities

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