The was the official code of ethics for military personnel, and is often cited along with the ''

Imperial Rescript on Education The , or IRE for short, was signed by Emperor Meiji of Japan on 30 October 1890 to articulate government policy on the guiding principles of education on the Empire of Japan. The 315 character document was read aloud at all important school events, ...

'' as the basis for Japan's pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

national ideology. All military personnel were required to memorize the 2700 ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

'' document. The ''Rescript'' was issued by

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on 4 January 1882. It was considered the most important document in the development of the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

and

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

Description

The ''Imperial Rescript'' was primarily written by

Inoue Kowashi Viscount Inoue Kowashi was a Japanese statesman of the Meiji period. Biography Early life Inoue was born into a ''samurai'' family in Higo Province (present-day Kumamoto Prefecture), as the third son of ''Karō'' Iida Gongobei. In 1866 Kow ...

and

Yamagata Aritomo ''Gensui (Imperial Japanese Army), Gensui'' Prince , also known as Prince Yamagata Kyōsuke, was a senior-ranking Japanese people, Japanese military commander, twice-elected Prime Minister of Japan, and a leading member of the ''genrō'', an � ...

(two of the Meiji Oligarchs), along with some stylistic flourishes added by the pro-government journalist Fukuchi Gen'ichiro. The ''Rescript'' was presented to Army Minister

directly by Emperor Meiji in person in a special ceremony held at the

Tokyo Imperial Palace The is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda district of the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo and contains several buildings including the where the Emperor has his living quarters, the where va ...

. This unprecedented action was meant to symbolize the personal bond between the Emperor and the military, making the military in effect, the Emperor's personal army. Coming shortly after the

Satsuma Rebellion The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government, nine years into the Meiji Era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in the Restoration and beca ...

, the ''Rescript'' stressed absolute personal loyalty of each individual member of the military to the Emperor. The ''Rescript'' also cautioned military personnel to avoid involvement with

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

or politics in general, and to avoid being influenced by current opinions in the newspapers, reflecting Yamagata's distrust of politicians in particular and democracy in general. The ''Rescript'' also advises military personnel to be frugal in their personal habits (reflecting back to the

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

tradition), and respectful and benevolent to civilians (reflecting on European traditions of

chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric code, is an informal and varying code of conduct developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It was associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood; knights' and gentlemen's behaviours we ...

). However, a clause that the military was subordinate to civilian authority did not make it into the final draft. The ''Rescript'' also contains a number of

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

themes including "proper respect to superiors," and also draws upon

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

influences in that, "The soldier and the sailor should make simplicity their aim." A precept in the ''Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors'' states that "duty is heavier than a mountain; death is lighter than a feather";Tsunoda, et al. Sources of Japanese Tradition II (Columbia University Press, 1958) this was later used by

Robert Jordan James Oliver Rigney Jr. (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007), better known by his pen name Robert Jordan,"Robert Jordan" was the name of the protagonist in the 1940 Hemingway novel ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', though this is not how the na ...

in his book series ''

The Wheel of Time ''The Wheel of Time'' is a series of high fantasy novels by American author Robert Jordan, with Brandon Sanderson as a co-author for the final three novels. Originally planned as a six-book series, ''The Wheel of Time'' spans 14 volumes, in a ...

''.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Empire of Japan Emperor Meiji Military history of Japan Imperial Japanese Army Imperial Japanese Navy Warrior code 1882 documents Japanese Imperial rescripts