Domestic Issues
Reasons for the WWI Boom
Greatest increase in exports
Japan's Determination to become 'Rich Country, Strong Army'
Consequences / Significance
Greatest increase in exports
- 1920s WWI led to a fall in European textile exports
- Japanese goods were inferior to their European counterparts the demand for them increased as a substitute to the Europeans
- Europe at the time suffered huge labour loss and huge economic loss - Japan was required very little military operation from the allied countries during WWI
- Led to the advancement of technology and the domestic price level more than doubled and GNP surged an annual growth close to 10%
- In terms of GNP expenditure composition, exports rose while import suppressed due to global economic loss after WWI
- Export-led boom was broad-based - All industries benefited
- Marine transportation and shipbuilding was extremely profitable and the most strongly expanded - Led to the ability to capture overseas markets under the special condition of the War, artificially boosted both the demand for and the prices of Japanese ecports
- Only temporary, quick substitution was possible because European goods didn't arrive - Made most business expansion during WWI inefficient, excessive and unsustainable
Japan's Determination to become 'Rich Country, Strong Army'
- Financially rich, rich ideas and population, rich agriculture, rich civilisation, urbanisation, maintain a strong sense of agriculture
- Belief in strength and intelligence
- Colonisation for further enhancement of the strength and to gain more resources
Consequences / Significance
- Ultra-nationalism - Japan should be the strongest power in the world, superior to their competitors
- Proved not only dominant in Asia but the world
- Clear vision and goals
- Realistic targets were aimed for
- Successful establishment of the process of restoration
- Represented an effort to modernise and industrialise the country
The Economic Depression
- 1927 Investigations led to the discovery that banks had incurred huge debt that was the result of inflation and weakening of the Yen - Caused by immense cost recovery after the 1923 Kanto earthquake
- Over twenty banks collapsed from the debts
- 1929 Financal crisis became worse after the Wall Street Crash which, led to the Great Depression
The Social Aftermath of the Financial Crisis
- The economic situation causes political tension between the leftists and radicals - Caused Prime Minister Tanaka Giichi to invoke the Peace Preservation Law to prevent leftist influence in the government
- March 1928 Next, there was a mass clean up of any known leftists, over 1000 arrests were made, including a Marxist economist Kyoto University, Kawakami Hajime, police maintained surveillance throughout the country to root out any leftist influence
Invocation of the Peace Preservation Law
- Began in 1925
- December 1923 Assassination attempt on Prince Hirohito - Badly shook the government and prominent members of the Diet, there were many more demands that led to increasing vigilance against 'dangerous thought'
- The Peace Preservation Law was passed shortly after Universal Manhood Suffrage Law - Gave the police special powers to end any organisation that advocated for the end of the private property system or altered the imperial state of government, led to the arrest of many political opponents such as, the communists, decreased the power of trade union sand parties opposed to the government
- Used to make sure that the government would not be overthrown and to show a zero-tolerance when it came to Japanese government and racial thought
- The Universal Manhood Suffrage Law increased the amount of voters for government elections - More people became involved in politics which, posed danger to the current government
Effects of the Global Depression on Exports
- The Global Depression heavily effected Japan and led to falls in main exports, textiles and silk
- Japan's exports relied mainly on silk, 1920 silk prices fell 70% and caused an economic crisis for Japan
- Led to the fall of the Narikin, a class of nouveau rich people
- Led to bailouts to bankrupt banks and government intervention in struggling companies
- Global Depression led to an increase in Heavy and Chemical Industry (HCI) - Production of artificial silk
- Depression formed new Zaibatsus - Different because mostly they were HCI based and didn't own banks
- Japan tried to return the Yan to a fixed gold exchange rate - Yan value fell every time the policies failed
Social Effects of the Economy
Starvation
Rural to Urban Migration 1920s
Starvation
- Hardship for agricultural farmlands lead to the rural to urban migration
Rural to Urban Migration 1920s
- First social effect of the economy
- Due to the better living conditions and the metropolitan area advantage - Cities at the time such as, Tokyo and Osaka had more employment opportunities because industry required high amounts of labour due to booming demand of manufactures exported goods from the global economy
- For several reasons for being a higher income than a farmer/tenant - Belief that it was much easier to work in factories than working in agriculture
- Urban life was more colourful and there was a higher education and quality of life
Routes to Military Services
- Meiji willingness
- Rural and urban migration led to opportunities to make weapons
- Technology - Exploration of Western cities due to higher income with shorter working hours
- Starvation led to the Japanese's determination to find out external fields of products making agricultural
Growth of Ultra-Nationalism
- 1924 Kokuhonsha formed - Group was open to totalitarian ideologies but wanted the Japnese to embrace a national spirit and push away all foreign-'isms' for example, Communism
- Helped ultra-nationalism spread - Rejected ideologies in favour of Japanese nationalism
- Imperial Military Reserve Association was formed in Japan to integrate Japanese society with military values - Impressed military values on their members, the members had no history of military service
- Helped spread the growth of ultra-nationalism and members pledged their lives to the Emperor and their country
- The Black Dragon Society - Oldest out of the mentioned societies, used for espionage, sabotage and assassination
Kita Ikki
- Influential writer, Kita Ikki was vocal about his radical, nationalist and socialist views
- Distrusted the West and believed in Japanese self-sufficiency
- Believed in democracy but it was an ineffective system
- Wanted the Emperor to have more direct authority by removing the Emperor's obstructive advisors
- The 'Outline Plan' but Kita Ikki, influenced an attempted military coup in 1936 - He was arrested by the Kempeitai (secret police)
Economic Impact on Japan of Manchuria
Hopes
A Partial Success
Hopes
- Japan wanted Manchuria to be the heartland of the Japanese empire
- Collapse trade with the West after the depression, other Asian countries were suspicious of Japan which meant, the had to find economic opportunity elsewhere
- Hoped that Manchuria would ensure that self-sufficiency of Japan and fuel its economic recovery
- Many were dissatisfied by Japan's lack of natural resources - Saw Manchuria as a way of addressing the balance between Japan and more resource-rich nations like the UK
A Partial Success
- Manchuria provided Japan with important agricultural and industrial resources, included cooking oil, soybean and salt, aluminium and iron
- Production of oil and coal wasn't as significant as expected - Japan was still partially reliant on foreign imports
- The increasing amount of Japan relying on Manchurian goods meant that Japan wasn't self-sufficient
- Conquest is overall a mixed result and seemed to prove to expansionists in Japan that there was need for further expansion in Asia
The Belief in Japan's Role in Asia
- Ultra-nationalism was within many organisation that promoted the belief that Japan's unique character and its 'mission in Asia'
- The Meiji Restoration had promoted traditional Japanese values to encourage discipline and self-sacrifice - Necessary to accomplish the goals of rapid industrialisation and Japan itself
- 1890 Imperial Rescript on Education, based on educational values of Confucian thought such as, filial, harmonious, modest and moral - Encouraged people to put their state in front of themselves
- 1930s Education reform had formed a rapid and radical form of nationalism within the youth of Japan
- The 'kokutai', imperial system of government, stressed the unique nature of the Japanese state and the close relationship between the people and the Emperor
- Individuals in the state should act like individuals in the family, suppressing their own personalities and offering themselves in service to the state
- 1930s Service to the state meant pursuing and promoting Japan's special mission as the leader of Asia - Japan was the only Asian nation that had successfully resisted Western imperialism due to its successes in industrialisation
- Ultra-nationalism was especially strong in lower - middle classes and provided a strong base of military support for military adventurism such as, the Manchurian Incident
Tanaka Giichi's Policies vs Shidehara Diplomacy
- Tanaka Giichi employed aggressive anti-China foreign policy, heavily oppressed leftists and socialists in Japan, urged Manchuria to be separated from inner Mongolia
- Giichi didn't respect China's sovereignty
- Relied heavily on military, used it to suppress dissent both at home and abroad - Very different from Shidehara diplomacy which, was more liberal and aimed to improve relations between Japan and China
- Shidehara diplomacy was more compliant to foreign powers - 1930 London Naval Conference
Rural-Urban Tensions
- People who lived in urban areas benefitted from industrialisation and economic development, people in rural areas didn't see much influence from this and were dissatisfied with how people in the city lived
- Cities gave higher wages, had more consumer goods and a higher quality and varied foodstuff
- People in rural areas felt that city people were snobbish and looked down on them as peasants, the poverty they suffered was ignored
- Rural people felt that city people were also abandoning their traditions in favour of a new urban lifestyle that continued to grow in cities
- Rural people made a large percent of Japan's population and their dissatisfaction was their position in society compared to the city people was problematic