Founding_of_the_Nation_by_Kawamura_Kiyoo

is a concept in the

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ...

translatable as " system of government", "

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

", "national identity, essence and character", "national polity;

body politic The body politic is a polity—such as a city, realm, or state—considered metaphorically as a physical body. Historically, the sovereign is typically portrayed as the body's head, and the analogy may also be extended to other anatomical parts ...

; national entity; basis for the Emperor's sovereignty; Japanese constitution" or

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by th ...

. The word is also a short form of the (unrelated) name for the National Sports Festival of Japan.

Etymology

''Kokutai'' originated as a Sino-Japanese loanword from Chinese ''guoti'' (; "state political system; national governmental structure"). The Japanese compound word joins and . According to the ''

Hanyu Da Cidian The ''Hanyu Da Cidian'' () is the most inclusive available Chinese dictionary. Lexicographically comparable to the '' Oxford English Dictionary'', it has diachronic coverage of the Chinese language, and traces usage over three millennia from Ch ...

'', the oldest ''guoti'' usages are in two Chinese classic texts. The 2nd century BCE ''Guliang zhuan'' () to the

Spring and Autumn Annals The ''Spring and Autumn Annals'' () is an ancient Chinese chronicle that has been one of the core Chinese classics since ancient times. The '' Annals'' is the official chronicle of the State of Lu, and covers a 241-year period from 722 to 481 ...

glosses ''dafu'' () as ''guoti'' metaphorically meaning "embodiment of the country". The 1st century CE '' Book of Han'' history of Emperor Cheng of Han used ''guoti'' to mean "laws and governance" of Confucianist officials.

Pre-1868

The historical origins of ''kokutai'' go back to pre-1868 periods, especially the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was character ...

ruled by the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

(1603–1868). Aizawa Seishisai (会沢正志斎, 1782–1863) was an authority on

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, and originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) ...

and leader of the Mitogaku (水戸学 "Mito School") that supported direct restoration of the

Imperial House of Japan The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

. He popularized the word ''kokutai'' in his 1825 ''Shinron'' (新論 "New Theses"), which also introduced the term ''

Sonnō jōi was a '' yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement s ...

'' ("revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians"). Aizawa developed his ideas of ''kokutai'' using the idea that the Japanese national myths in the ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and '' Nihon Shoki'' were historical facts, believing that the Emperor was directly descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu-ōmikami. Aizawa idealized this divinely-ruled ancient Japan as a form of ''saisei icchi'' (祭政一致 "unity of religion and government") or theocracy. For early Japanese Neo-Confucian scholars, linguist Roy Andrew Miller (1982:93) says, "''kokutai'' meant something still rather vague and ill defined. It was more or less the Japanese "nation's body" or "national structure".

From 1868 to 1945

From 1868 to 1890

Katō Hiroyuki (1836–1916) and

Fukuzawa Yukichi was a Japanese educator, philosopher, writer, entrepreneur and samurai who founded Keio University, the newspaper '' Jiji-Shinpō'', and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. Fukuzawa was an early advocate for reform in Japan. Hi ...

(1835–1901) were

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

scholars who analyzed the dominance of Western civilization and urged progress for the Japanese nation. In 1874, Katō wrote the ''Kokutai Shinron'' (国体新論 "New Theory of the National Body/Structure"), which criticized traditional Chinese and Japanese theories of government and, adopting Western theories of natural rights, proposed a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

for Japan. He contrasted between ''kokutai'' and ''seitai'' (政体 "government body/structure"). Brownlee explains.

The ''Kokutai-seitai'' distinction enabled conservatives to identify clearly as ''Kokutai'', National Essence, the "native Japanese", eternal, and immutable aspects of their polity, derived from history, tradition, and custom, and focused on the Emperor. The form of government, ''Seitai'', a secondary concept, then consisted of the historical arrangements for the exercise of political authority. ''Seitai'', the form of government, was historically contingent and changed through time. Japan had experienced in succession direct rule by the Emperors in ancient times, then the rule of the
Fujiwara Fujiwara (, written: 藤原 lit. "''Wisteria'' field") is a Japanese surname. (In English conversation it is likely to be rendered as .) Notable people with the surname include: ; Families * The Fujiwara clan and its members ** Fujiwara no Kamatari ...
Regents, then seven hundred years of rule by ''
shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamaku ...
s'', followed by the allegedly direct rule of the Emperors again after the
Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
. Each was a ''seitai'', a form of government. In this understanding, the modern system of government under the Meiji Constitution, derived this time from foreign sources, was nothing more than another form of Japanese government, a new ''seitai''. The Constitution was nothing fundamental. (2000:5)

was an influential author translator for the

Japanese Embassy to the United States (1860) The was dispatched in 1860 by the Tokugawa shogunate (bakufu). Its objective was to ratify the new Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation between the United States and Japan, in addition to being Japan's first diplomatic mission to the ...

. His 1875 "Bunmeiron no Gairyaku" (文明論の概略 "An Outline of a Theory of Civilization") contradicted traditional ideas about ''kokutai''. He reasoned that it was not unique to Japan and that every nation could be said to have a ''kokutai'' "national sovereignty". While Fukuzawa respected the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the ...

, he believed ''kokutai'' did not depend upon myths of unbroken descent from Amaterasu.

Meiji Constitution

The Constitution of the Empire of Japan of 1889 created a form of constitutional monarchy with the ''kokutai'' sovereign emperor and ''seitai'' organs of government. Article 4 declares that "the Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in Himself the rights of sovereignty", uniting the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, although subject to the "consent of the Imperial Diet". This system utilized a democratic form, but in practice was closer to an absolute monarchy. The legal scholar Josefa López notes that under the Meiji Constitution, ''kokutai'' acquired an additional meaning.

The Government created a whole perfect new cultural system around the Tennou mperor and the ''kokutai'' was the expression of it. Moreover, the ''kokutai'' was the basis of the sovereignty. According to Tatsukichi Minobe, ''kokutai'' is understood as the "shape of the Estate" in the sense of "Tenno as the organ of the Estate", while the authoritarians gave the ''kokutai'' a mystical power. The Tennou was a "god" among "humans", the incarnation of the national morals. This notion of ''kokutai'' was extra-juridical, something more cultural than positive. (2006:n.p.)

This stemmed from drafter

Itō Hirobumi was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the '' genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated sa ...

's rejection of some European notions as unfit for Japan, as they stemmed from European constitutional practice and Christianity. The references to the ''kokutai'' were the justification of the emperor's authority through his divine descent and the unbroken line of emperors, and the unique relationship between subject and sovereign. The "family-state" element in it was given a great deal of prominence by political philosophy.W. G. Beasley, ''The Rise of Modern Japan'', p 80 Many conservatives supported these principles as central to ''Nihon shugi'' (''Nihon gunkoku shugi'', Japanese militarism), "Japanism", as an alternative to rapid Westernization.

Taishō Democracy

From the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of ...

to the enactment of the

Peace Preservation Law The was a Japanese law enacted on April 22, 1925, with the aim of allowing the Special Higher Police to more effectively suppress socialists and communists. In addition to criminalizing forming an association with the aim of altering the ''kokuta ...

(1911–1925), the most important pre-World War II democracy movement " Taishō Democracy" occurred. During the Taishō Democracy, the political theorist Sakuzō Yoshino (1878–1933) rejected Western democracy ''minshu shugi'' (民主主義 lit. "people rule principle/-ism") and proposed a compromise on imperial democracy ''minpon shugi'' (民本主義 "people based principle/-ism"). However, as Japanese nationalism grew, questions arose whether the ''kokutai'' emperor could be limited by the ''seitai'' government. The

of 1925 forbade both forming and belonging to any organization that proposed altering the ''kokutai'' or the abolishment of private property, effectively criminalizing socialism, communism,

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. ...

, democracy and other anti-Tenno ideologies. The Tokkō ("Special Higher Police") was established as a type of Thought Police to investigate political groups that might threaten Tenno-centered social order of Japan.W. G. Beasley, ''The Rise of Modern Japan'', p 184

Under the Public Safety Preservation Law

Tatsukichi Minobe (1873–1948), a professor emeritus of law at Tokyo Imperial University, theorized that under the Meiji Constitution, the emperor was an organ of the state and not a sacrosanct power beyond the state. This was regarded as '' lèse-majesté''. Minobe was appointed to the House of Peers in 1932 but forced to resign after an assassination attempt and vehement criticisms that he was disloyal to the emperor.Andrew Gordon, ''A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa to the Present'', p199, , Great efforts were made to foment a "Japanese spirit" even in popular culture, as in the promotion of the "Song of Young Japan." Piers Brendon, ''The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s'', p441

Brave warriors united in justice In spirit a match for a million – Ready like the myriad
cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...
s to scatter In the spring sky of the Shōwa Restoration.

The national debates over ''kokutai'' led the Prime Minister Prince

Fumimaro Konoe Prince was a Japanese politician and prime minister. During his tenure, he presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World W ...

to appoint a committee of Japan's leading professors to deliberate the matter. In 1937, they issued the ''Kokutai no Hongi'' (国体の本義, "Cardinal Principles of the National Body/Structure," see Gauntlett and Hall 1949). Miller gives this description.

The document known as the ''Kokutai no Hongi'' was actually a pamphlet of 156 pages, an official publication of the Japanese Ministry of Education, first issued in March 1937 and eventually circulated in millions of copies throughout the home islands and the empire. It contained the official teaching of the Japanese state on every aspect of domestic policy, international affairs, culture, and civilization. (1982:92)

It clearly stated its purpose: to overcome social unrest and to develop a new Japan. From this pamphlet, pupils were taught to put the nation before the self, and that they were part of the state and not separate from it.W. G. Beasley, ''The Rise of Modern Japan'', p 187 It also instructed them in the principle of hakkō ichiu ("eight cords, one roof"), which would be used to justify imperialism. Brownlee concludes that after the ''Kokutai no Hongi'' proclamation,

It is clear that at this stage in history, they were no longer dealing with a concept to generate spiritual unity like Aizawa Seishisai in 1825, or with a political theory of Japan designed to accommodate modern institutions of government, like the Meiji Constitution. The committee of professors from prestigious universities sought to define the essential truths of Japan, which might be termed religious, or even metaphysical, because they required faith at the expense of logic and reason. (2006:13)

The Ministry of Education promulgated it throughout the school system. By 1937, "election purification", originally aimed at corruption, required that no candidate set the people in opposition to either the military or the bureaucracy.Andrew Gordon, ''A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa to the Present'', p196, , This was required because voters were required to support imperial rule. Some objections to the founding of the ''Taisei Yokusankai'' or Imperial Rule Assistance Association, came on the grounds that ''kokutai'' already required all imperial subjects to support imperial rule. Conservative thinkers voiced concerns that the establishment of an empowered class of aides to the emperor was akin to the creation of a new shogunate. For the leaders of Japan's "fascist-nationalist clique", writes Miller (1982:93), "''kokutai'' had become a convenient term for indicating all the ways in which they believed that the Japanese nation, as a political as well as a racial entity, was simultaneously different from and superior to all other nations on earth." This term, and what it meant, were widely inculcated in propaganda. The final letters of

kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending ...

pilots expressed, above all, that their motivations were gratitude to Japan and to its Emperor as the embodiment of ''kokutai''. A sailor might give his life to save the picture of the Emperor on a submarine. During World War II, intellectuals at an "overcoming modernity" conference proclaimed that prior to the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, Japan has been a classless society under a benevolent emperor, but the restoration had plunged the nation into Western materialism (an argument that ignored commercialism and ribald culture in the Tokugawa era), which had caused people to forget their nature, which the war would enable them to reclaim. "Japanist" unions endeavoured to win support by disavowing violence and pledging support for nation and emperor. Nevertheless, because of the mistrust of unions in such unity, the Japanese went to replace them with "councils" in every factory, containing both management and worker representatives to contain conflict. Like the Nazi councils they were copying, this was part of a program to create a classless national unity. Because many religions had figures that distracted from the central emperor, they were attacked, such as the Oomoto sect condemned for worshipping figures other than

Amaterasu Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the '' K ...

, and in 1939, the Religious Organization authorized the shutting down of any religion that did not conform to the Imperial Way, which the authorities promptly used. Hirohito evoked the ''Kokutai'' in his surrender broadcast, which announced the Japanese acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration (unconditional surrender).

Post-1945

By the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Na ...

in 1945, the significance of ''kokutai'' diminished. In autumn 1945, GHQ forbade circulation of the ''Kokutai no Hongi'' and repealed the

(15 October 1945). By the enactment of the Constitution of the State of Japan (3 May 1947),

Tenno The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his position is derived from "the wi ...

's sovereignty and the ''lèse-majesté'' were repealed. Nevertheless, some authors, including Miller (1982:95), believe that traces of Japanese ''kokutai'' "are quite as vivid today as they ever were". In the 21st century, Japanese nationalists, such as those affiliated with the

Nippon Kaigi The Right side up ...

lobby, have begun using the phrase "kunigara" (国柄, "national character").

Notes

:1.In the illustration is the "Tokoyo no Naganakidori" (常世之長鳴鳥), a long-singing

cockerel The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

from the which appears in the

as the herald of Amaterasu.

References

* Brownlee, John S.
Four Stages of the Japanese Kokutai (National Essence)
, 2000. * Daikichi, Irokawa. ''The Culture of the Meiji Period''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970. * Gauntlett, John Owen and Hall, Robert King. ''Kokutai no hongi: cardinal principles of the national entity of Japan''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University press, 1949. * Kitagawa, Joseph M. "The Japanese ''Kokutai'' (National Community) History and Myth", ''History of Religions'', Vol. 13.3 (Feb., 1974), pp. 209–226. * Valderrama López, Josefa.
Beyond words: the "kokutai" and its background
. ''Història Moderna i Contemporània'', 2006. ISSN 1696-4403. * Miller, Roy Andrew. ''Japan's Modern Myth''. New York: Weatherhill, 1982. * Antoni, Klaus ''Kokutai – Political Shintô from Early-Modern to Contemporary Japan''. Eberhard Karls University Tuebingen, Tobias-lib 2016. . Open Access publication

{{Authority control Japanese nationalism Japanese historical terms Politics of the Empire of Japan Japanese words and phrases Japanese mythology