Emperor-system fascism (天皇制ファシズム,Tennōsei fashizumu)[1][2] is the view thatultranationalistic politics, society, and ideas based on theEmpire of Japan's "Emperor system" were a kind offascism until theend of World War II in Asia.
TheNew Political Order [ja] movement was influenced byItalian fascism andNazism that led to the "statist"Imperial Rule Assistance Association.
Kinzō Gorai [ja] touredItaly,France,Germany,United Kingdom, andRussia in 1931 and delivered a lecture entitled "Fascism or Communism?" (ファッショか共産主義か) in 1932, the transcript of which was published in 1933. In this lecture, he cited the failure of Soviet communism, i.e., theselfishness of the classless, and the rise offascio (unity) in United Kingdom, Italy, and Germany, saying, "it can be said thatfascio is the suppression of class selfishness, the unification of national economies, and theharmonization of classes.", "In Europe, the selfishness of the proletarian class, that is, the power of the workers and the proletarian class has grown so strong since the World War that it has finally reached a dead end, devouring capital. The reactionary response to this is today'sfascio movement. In this sense, thefascio movement is advocating a people-oriented politics, that is, totalitarianism, as opposed to class selfishness.", and "We see in Russia the fact that the interests of one class alone can lead to national deprivation, and that the working class itself can finally become destitute of food and clothing.".[3]
After theMay 15 Incident in 1932,Emperor Shōwa expressed his request to Gen.Saionji Kinmochi, who was recommending a successor to Prime MinisterInukai Tsuyoshi, that "anyone close to the fascist is absolutely impossible."[4]
In October 1932, Ogasawara Naganari stated the following in his bookHistory of Assassinations in theShōwa era (昭和大暗殺史): "In each country, fascism must arise in accordance with the national conditions of each country. In other words, in our country, a Japanized fascism will be born. ... The world's celebrated fascism must be fabricated by Japan's Bushido."
In 1946, inThe Logic and Psychology of Ultranationalism (超国家主義の論理と心理),Masao Maruyama defined "fascism" as “the most radical and most militant form of counterrevolution", and stated thatItalian fascism andNazism was "fascism from below" by mass movements under parliamentary society, whileJapanese fascism was "fascism from above" by the military and bureaucracy. This "theory of Japanese fascism" was widely influential, especially from the 1940s to the 1970s, when many similar or related views appeared.[5]
Masao Maruyama first attracted attention from the scholarly community immediately following the war with his famous essay on wartime Japanese fascism,The Logic and Psychology of Ultranationalism, first published in the widely-read journalSekai in 1946; the term "Emperor-system fascism" was used in essay. Analysis of Japanese Empire as an "Emperor-system fascism" occupied a significant position in academia until the 1970s, but since the 1980s, objections have continued.[7][8][9][10]
As of 21st century, the views of modern Japanese historians and political scientists are generally negative on whether the Japanese society and system up to the end of World War II could be considered "Emperor-system fascism" or "Japanese fascism". In the case of Japan, the prevailing view is that it was at best a “wartime regime” ormilitarism, and that fascism as a political system was never established.[9]
The mainstream view amongJapanese studies scholars in Western countries also denies the establishment of fascism in Japan.[9] American historianRobert Paxton argues that with the absence of a mass revolutionary party and a rupture from the incumbent regime, Imperial Japan was merely "an expansionist military dictatorship with a high degree of state-sponsored mobilization [rather] than as a fascist regime";[11] British historianRoger Griffin, calledPutin's Russia and World War II-era Japan "emulated fascism in many ways, but was not fascist".[12]
