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JapansImprobableMilitaryResurgence|TheDiplomat

Image Credit: Flickr/JSDF

Japan's Improbable Military Resurgence

Japanese militarism was buried for good in August 1945 and likely will not rise again.
By Franz-Stefan Gady
September 18, 2015

In2004,JapanesePrimeMinisterShinzoAbemadeacaseforJapantorestoreitsmilitarycapabilities,writinginhis
book,DeterminationtoProtectThisCountry,thatifJapanesedontshedblood,wecannothaveanequalrelationship
withAmerica.Sincethen,Abehassoughttorevivethecountrysdefensivecapabilities,mostlytowardfortifyingits
claimoverthedisputedSenkaku/DiaoyuIslands,anislandchainintheEastChinaSeathatBeijingsaysbelongsto
China.Hehasrequestedarecordfivetrillionyen($42billion)defensebudgetforfiscalyear2016(ifapproved,itwillbe
Tokyoslargestin14years)andreinterpretedtheconstitutiontoallowJapantoexercisetherightofcollectiveself
defense.Theeffortshaveprovokedgrowingalarm.
AJune2015surveyfoundthat57percentofSouthKoreansbelievethatJapanisinamilitaristicstate,and58percent
saidthatTokyoposesamilitarythreat.Incomparison,only38percentsurveyedthoughtthatChinawasthebigger
threat.China,too,isworried.IthasrepeatedlywarnedthatAbeisleadingthecountrydownamoredangerouspath
towardmilitarization.
WhateverAbesintentions,however,JapanesemilitarismwasburiedforgoodinAugust1945andwillnotlikelyrise
again.Thereason:theJapanesepeople.
DefeatSuits
AftertheatomicbombingsofHiroshimaandNagasaki,EmperorShowa,popularlyknownasHirohito,gavearadio
addressexplainingtohispeoplethatcontinuingthefightagainsttheAllieswouldresultinanultimatecollapseand
obliterationoftheJapanesenation.
AndsoJapansurrendered.UnliketheGermans,though,theJapanesepeoplehadnoAdolfHitlerorNaziPartytoblame
forawarthathadkilledatleast2.7millionJapaneseservicemenandciviliansanddestroyed66majorcities.Although
theJapaneseemperorhadbeenaccusedofoverseeingwarcrimesmassrapesandkillingsinChinaandSoutheastAsia
U.S.GeneralDouglasMacArthurthoughtitpoliticallyexpedienttokeephiminpowerandsuccessfullyrana
campaigntoexonerateHirohito.TheJapanesepeoplecametoregardHirohitoasinnocentandsubsequentlyturned
againstthemilitary,accusingtheservicesofdeceivingthemanddrawingthecountryintoaperilouswar.Japanese
policereportsimmediatelyafterthesurrendernotethepeoplesgravedistrust,frustration,andantipathytoward
militaryandcivilianleadersandgeneralhatredofthemilitary.

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Civiliancontemptforthemilitaryquicklyspreadtotherankandfileofthe3.5millionstrongImperialJapaneseArmy.
Andso,afterthewar,Japanesesoldierswerebothdefeatedanddespised.Inaletterfromananonymousformersoldier
datedMay9,1946,Notasinglepersongavemeakindword.Rather,theycasthostileglancesmyway.Military
uniformswerenicknameddefeatsuits,andmilitarybootswerecalleddefeatshoes.
Evenoneofthemostreverentexpressionsofgratitudeduringthewaryearsthankstoourfightingmen(heitaisanno
okagedesu)turnedintoanexpressionofcontempt.Thankstoourfightingmen,livesandpropertyhadbeen
destroyed.Thankstoourfightingmen,Japansoveralleconomicandpoliticalsituationwasabsymal.Asthehistorian
JohnW.DoweroutlinesinEmbracingDefeat:JapanintheWakeofWorldWarII,noonelistenedtothereturning
soldierswhospokeoutaboutthedifferencesbetweenthemilitaryleadershipandcommonservicemen.
TheTokyoWarCrimesTrials,whichlastedfrom1946to1948,revealedtheextentoftheatrocitiescommittedbythe
JapanesemilitaryduringWorldWarIIandalsotheextremeantipathythattheJapanesepeoplefeltforthemilitary.For
example,duringthe1945BattleofManila,theJapanesemilitarymutilatedandmassacredbetween100,000and
500,000Filipinocivilians.ShortlyafterthenewsreachedTokyo,aJapanesewomanwrotealettertotheJapanese
nationalpaperAsahiShimbunexpressingherrevulsion.Evenifsuchanatrocioussoldierweremyson,shewrote,I
couldnotaccepthimbackhome.Lethimbeshottodeaththere.ThepoetSaekiJinzaburoalsopennedafewlines
expressinghisdisgustwiththearmyafterthewarcrimesrevelations:Seizingmarriedwomen,rapingmothersinfront
oftheirchildrenthisistheImperialArmy.
In1947,aJapanesepoetrymagazinepublishedthefollowingverseaftertheendoftheTokyotribunal:Thecrimesof
Japanesesoldiers,whocommittedunspeakableatrocitiesinNanking[China]andManila,mustbeatonedfor.Former
PrimeMinisterHidekiTojo,anarmygeneral,wasopenlyridiculedforabotchedsuicideattemptinSeptember
1945.OneJapanesenovelistandpoet,TakamiYoshio(whowentbythepennameJunTakami),wroteatthetime,
Cowardlylivingon,andthenusingapistollikeaforeigner,failingtodie.Japanesecannothelpbutsmilebitterly....
WhydidGeneralTojonotuseaJapaneseswordasArmyMinisterAnamidid?Thesepostwarsentimentsagainstthe
militaryweresostrongthateventextbooksduringthatperiodsystematicallyskippedoveranyreferencestopast
Japanesevictoriesandmilitaryheroes.Andtheyremainabsentfromschoolbookstothisday.
AshesofHiroshima
Distrustandridiculeofallthingsmilitarydidnotabateinthepostwaryears.Afterthewar,theSelfDefenseForces
(SDF),JapansdefactopostwararmycreatedatthebehestoftheUnitedStates,weregenerallyaccepted.Inthe1960s,
though,newrecruitswereoccasionallypeltedwithstoneswhilewalkingdownthestreet,andwhentheyappearedin
publicspaces,peoplewouldgetupandleave.ThroughouttheColdWar,Japansmilitarywasseenasservingnoreal
purposeandofferinglittleprotection.Then,asnow,thepublicfeltthattheU.S.Japanesesecuritytreatyofferedabetter
guaranteeofsecuritythantheSDF.Afterall,sinceitsfounding,theSDFhadneitherachievedasinglemilitaryvictory
noreverengagedincombatoperations.
AlthoughtheendoftheColdWarbroughtanewraisondtretotheSDFUNPeacekeepingoperationstheJapanese
stillregardtheforceasusefulprimarilyfordisasterreliefratherthandefense.Accordingtoa2015publicopinionpoll
conductedbyJapansCabinetOffice,82percentofJapanesethinkthattheSDFsprimaryroleisdisasterrelief,and72.3
percentbelievethatthisshouldremainitsmaindutyinthefuture.Perhapsthatiswhy,tothisday,theSDFreferstoits
weaponsasequipmentandartillerybrigadesastechnicalbrigadesinordertodownplaythemilitaryaspectsof
Japansarmedforces.Tanksevenusedtobecalledspecialvehicles,althoughtheyarenowreferredtoastanksagain.
Inthesamepoll,92percentofthosesurveyedhadapositiveimpressionoftheSDF,butapositiveimpressiondoes
notmeansupportorapproval.AccordingtoThomasBerger,aprofessorofinternationalrelationsatBostonUniversity,
Japansbestandbrightestdonotflocktojointhearmedforces,andtheSDFishardlycelebratedinJapanesesociety.
Indeed,accordingtothesame2015publicopinionpoll,lessthanhalfofpeoplequestionedthoughtthatbeingasoldier
wasarespectableoccupation,andonly25.4percentperceivedthejobtobeachallengingone.
AsBergerexplainedtome,Internal[SDF]surveysshowedthatthemajorityjoinedtheforcesbecausetheyhopedfor
materialbetterment.Itisasafe,reliablejob,andthelegalstatusisthesameasbeingapostofficeclerk.
TheSDFalsohasthereputationofbeingaholdingcenterforhighschoolandcollegedropouts.Itrecruitsheavilyfrom
Japansbackwaters,suchassouthernKyushuandnorthernHonshuandespeciallyfromAkitaprefectureandHokaido,
whereyoungpeoplefacelimitedjobprospects.Mostofthoseenlistedbelongtothelowerandlowermiddleclasses,
althoughtheofficercorpsisstaffedprimarilybythosefromthemiddleclass.Oncetheseyoungmenandwomenhave
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joined,theytendtoserveuntilquietretirementintheirearly50s.Japandoesnthavethesortofheroworshipof
militarythingsthatcanboostthecareerofaretiredofficer,accordingtoRobertDujarric,directoroftheInstituteof
ContemporaryAsianStudiesatTempleUniversityinJapan.
ThatiswhytheJapanesehaveresistedAbesattemptstorevivethemilitary.InAugust2015,inoneofthelargest
demonstrationsinTokyoagainstAbe,tensofthousandshitthestreet.OneprotestertoldtheFinancialTimes,Thisis
thelastchancewehavetopreserveJapansworldwidereputationasacountryofpeace.Inreality,however,Japanese
militaryradicalizationcouldbetriggeredonlybyafundamentalchangeinthesecurityarchitectureofEastAsia,suchas
aunilateralU.S.withdrawalfromJapanoraNorthKoreannuclearmissileattack.Botharefarfetchedscenarios.
Butgiventhecurrentpoliticalclimate,itwasnotsurprisingthatanAugust2015publicpollfoundonly11percentofthe
JapaneseweresupportiveofAbespolicytoreinterpretthepowerthattheconstitutiongivesitsmilitary.Hispersonal
ratingshavealsoslipped,withsomeanalystspredictinghisresignation.
ThemoralandmilitarydefeatoftheJapanesearmyinWorldWarIIwassototalthatitechoestothisday.DespiteAbes
historicalrevisionismandfearmongering,theJapanesepublicappearsunwillingtotrustanothermilitaryclique.Thats
why,forallthetalkofJapanesemilitarism,arelativelypacifistcountryisheretostay.
ThisarticlehaspreviouslybeenpublishedinForeignAffairsMagazine.

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