A Brief History of the Japanese State and its Politics
Created | Updated Oct 28, 2008
The archipelago nation of Japan has, throughout its history, shown several particular traits in relation to its politics. The country tended to remain in “relative political isolation and homogeneity” (Meyer 5). This led to an extremely independent culture that borrowed, but was never forced to take, ideas from Korea and China. This cultural identity, hand in hand with economic necessity, provoked the meteoric rise in power seen in Japan in later years. Yet, the government of Japan helped shape these very same factors and, thereby, altered this country’s affairs with the world.
The Beginning of Civilization
The earliest culture on the Japanese home islands likely came with immigrants from Korea. These people, the Yayoi-Japanese, spread from the island Kyushu. Initially, the forms of government were brought over as well. The state of Yamato in southern Japan and the Mimana area of Korea was set up under the supposedly divine emperor Jimmu Tenno. In the Asuka and Hakuho periods, a borrowed Chinese system of government was installed to strengthen the centralized government over the clans. Reforms, such as the Seventeen Article Constitution of 604 CE and embassies to Sui China, kept the link between these cultures alive. Gradually, the strength of the imperial system began to fade and interest in the outside world waned.
The gradual erosion of imperial power took place amid the growth of internal politics. The increasing number of factions in Buddhism and among certain clans turned the political focus inward during the 8th to 12th centuries. Contact virtually ended with the termination of missions to China in 838 CE. A strange balance rose between the Fujiwara family, who dominated court politics, and increasingly militant local lords, or daimyo. The creation of the military commission titled Shogun would have lasting future effects. Internal wars between rival groups, both religious and secular, occurred in these tumultuous times.
Feudal Japan
The feudal period of Japan, from 1185 to 1868 CE, was characterized by the supremacy of the Shogunate. The Shogun Yoritomo blatantly created a government that, while paying homage to the divine emperor, was completely independent. Power in Japan now rested solely on the title of Shogun. The emperor was hidden away in Kyoto while the Shogun installed tax collectors in a feudal system that formed an atmosphere of obedience in Japanese culture and formed a powerful warrior tradition based on the bushido, or warrior code. The attempt of the Mongol empire under Kublai Khan to invade Japan just heightened the isolationism. The rule of the last Shoguns, the Tokugawa family, finally installed a peaceful, if harsh, order.
Opening Japan
Attempts to open Japan to the world by Europeans had largely failed. The once successful Portuguese, whose Jesuits had converted around a million Japanese, had been driven out. Only a small Dutch trading post remained to tell Japanese society of impending change. This finally occurred with the arrival of Admiral Perry’s small American fleet in Edo Bay in 1853. The treaties gained by diplomat Townsend Harris and the naval chastisements of several nations against belligerent clans immediately showed the need for change. In 1868, the Shogun was overthrown and the Emperor installed in Tokyo in a rapid bid to strengthen the country in the changing times.
Afterward, a constitutionally-based government, using a parliamentary system, was created to rule for the emperor who was again just a figurehead. The military, now arranged along national and not feudal lines, increases in influence during a growing period of nationalism. This was manifested by the incredible increase in shipbuilding and the navy. The state , as ever, dictated the country’s development in all areas. This included an industrial expansion that led to the policy of empire building similar to that of European nations. In just a few decades, Japan had defeated both unmodernized China and Imperial Russia for control of lucrative Korea as well as moving into Manchuria.
Expansion not only increased, but began to encourage conflicts. During World War I, Japan seized Germany’s Pacific and Chinese holdings. Their naval and economic might increased. conflicts with the expanding United States, a nation that Japan had an emigration-based resentment against. These conflicts were only temporarily halted by the Washington Conference of 1921, a treaty that gave Japan a military advantage in the Pacific. Continuing to expand into China by way of Manchuria, the puppet-state of Manchukuo was setup. Strife with the rest of the world began to reach a critical juncture after the League of Nations condemns Japan’s actions in Manchuria in 1933.
Rising fears of American intervention caused the pinnacle of Japanese expansionism. After allying with Germany in 1936 and being threatened with a trade embargo by the United States, Japan embarked upon a war to gain mastery of the Pacific. Japan suffered defeat in World War II. For the first time since the Mongols, Japan was invaded.
A Modern, Peaceful Japanese Nation
Modern Japan, based on a constitution created by Douglas MacArthur, had begun. Massive governmental reforms took place. The emperor renounced his divinity. With the military gutted, the focus of the country shifted to the economy. Using Japanese centralism, in such forms as a no-strike law and the American need for an ally in the Cold War, the industrial base of Japan quickly recovered. Generally shunning foreign affairs for domestic improvements, Japan rigorously promoted exportation in order to promote growth at home instead of military conquest. By backing the corporate zaibatsu, Japan’s influence began to spread throughout the rest of the world.
Underneath all these economic agendas, Japan has slowly been reasserting itself on the international scene. American troop strength has gradually been reduced and several island chains have been returned to Tokyo’s control. Additionally, Japan has sought to improve its image to its neighbors with apologies and reparations for wartime actions.
Sources:
Meyer, Milton W. Japan, A Concise History. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. Lanham, Maryland. 1993.
Smitha, Frank. World History. <http://www.fsmitha.com/index.html>
World History. Glencoe McGraw-Hill Company, 2003.
(This paper's factual data is based solely on the sources cited here. They were corollated and paraphrased into an original essay by the writer. Standard methods of obtaining this information legally were maintained at all times.)
The Beginning of Civilization
The earliest culture on the Japanese home islands likely came with immigrants from Korea. These people, the Yayoi-Japanese, spread from the island Kyushu. Initially, the forms of government were brought over as well. The state of Yamato in southern Japan and the Mimana area of Korea was set up under the supposedly divine emperor Jimmu Tenno. In the Asuka and Hakuho periods, a borrowed Chinese system of government was installed to strengthen the centralized government over the clans. Reforms, such as the Seventeen Article Constitution of 604 CE and embassies to Sui China, kept the link between these cultures alive. Gradually, the strength of the imperial system began to fade and interest in the outside world waned.
The gradual erosion of imperial power took place amid the growth of internal politics. The increasing number of factions in Buddhism and among certain clans turned the political focus inward during the 8th to 12th centuries. Contact virtually ended with the termination of missions to China in 838 CE. A strange balance rose between the Fujiwara family, who dominated court politics, and increasingly militant local lords, or daimyo. The creation of the military commission titled Shogun would have lasting future effects. Internal wars between rival groups, both religious and secular, occurred in these tumultuous times.
Feudal Japan
The feudal period of Japan, from 1185 to 1868 CE, was characterized by the supremacy of the Shogunate. The Shogun Yoritomo blatantly created a government that, while paying homage to the divine emperor, was completely independent. Power in Japan now rested solely on the title of Shogun. The emperor was hidden away in Kyoto while the Shogun installed tax collectors in a feudal system that formed an atmosphere of obedience in Japanese culture and formed a powerful warrior tradition based on the bushido, or warrior code. The attempt of the Mongol empire under Kublai Khan to invade Japan just heightened the isolationism. The rule of the last Shoguns, the Tokugawa family, finally installed a peaceful, if harsh, order.
Opening Japan
Attempts to open Japan to the world by Europeans had largely failed. The once successful Portuguese, whose Jesuits had converted around a million Japanese, had been driven out. Only a small Dutch trading post remained to tell Japanese society of impending change. This finally occurred with the arrival of Admiral Perry’s small American fleet in Edo Bay in 1853. The treaties gained by diplomat Townsend Harris and the naval chastisements of several nations against belligerent clans immediately showed the need for change. In 1868, the Shogun was overthrown and the Emperor installed in Tokyo in a rapid bid to strengthen the country in the changing times.
Afterward, a constitutionally-based government, using a parliamentary system, was created to rule for the emperor who was again just a figurehead. The military, now arranged along national and not feudal lines, increases in influence during a growing period of nationalism. This was manifested by the incredible increase in shipbuilding and the navy. The state , as ever, dictated the country’s development in all areas. This included an industrial expansion that led to the policy of empire building similar to that of European nations. In just a few decades, Japan had defeated both unmodernized China and Imperial Russia for control of lucrative Korea as well as moving into Manchuria.
Expansion not only increased, but began to encourage conflicts. During World War I, Japan seized Germany’s Pacific and Chinese holdings. Their naval and economic might increased. conflicts with the expanding United States, a nation that Japan had an emigration-based resentment against. These conflicts were only temporarily halted by the Washington Conference of 1921, a treaty that gave Japan a military advantage in the Pacific. Continuing to expand into China by way of Manchuria, the puppet-state of Manchukuo was setup. Strife with the rest of the world began to reach a critical juncture after the League of Nations condemns Japan’s actions in Manchuria in 1933.
Rising fears of American intervention caused the pinnacle of Japanese expansionism. After allying with Germany in 1936 and being threatened with a trade embargo by the United States, Japan embarked upon a war to gain mastery of the Pacific. Japan suffered defeat in World War II. For the first time since the Mongols, Japan was invaded.
A Modern, Peaceful Japanese Nation
Modern Japan, based on a constitution created by Douglas MacArthur, had begun. Massive governmental reforms took place. The emperor renounced his divinity. With the military gutted, the focus of the country shifted to the economy. Using Japanese centralism, in such forms as a no-strike law and the American need for an ally in the Cold War, the industrial base of Japan quickly recovered. Generally shunning foreign affairs for domestic improvements, Japan rigorously promoted exportation in order to promote growth at home instead of military conquest. By backing the corporate zaibatsu, Japan’s influence began to spread throughout the rest of the world.
Underneath all these economic agendas, Japan has slowly been reasserting itself on the international scene. American troop strength has gradually been reduced and several island chains have been returned to Tokyo’s control. Additionally, Japan has sought to improve its image to its neighbors with apologies and reparations for wartime actions.
Sources:
Meyer, Milton W. Japan, A Concise History. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers. Lanham, Maryland. 1993.
Smitha, Frank. World History. <http://www.fsmitha.com/index.html>
World History. Glencoe McGraw-Hill Company, 2003.
(This paper's factual data is based solely on the sources cited here. They were corollated and paraphrased into an original essay by the writer. Standard methods of obtaining this information legally were maintained at all times.)
