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| Imperial Rule Assistance Association 大政翼贊會Taisei Yokusankai | |
|---|---|
|  | |
| President | 
 | 
| Deputy President | 
 | 
| Founder | Fumimaro Konoe[2] | 
| Founded | 12 October 1940; 85 years ago (12 October 1940) | 
| Dissolved | 13 June 1945; 80 years ago | 
| Merger of | |
| Headquarters | Chiyoda,Tokyo,Empire of Japan[3] | 
| Youth wing | Great Japan Youth Party | 
| Women's wing | Greater Japan Women's Association [ja][4][5] | 
| Paramilitary wing | Young Men's Corps[6][7] | 
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right[12][13][n 1] | 
| Religion | State Shintō | 
| National affiliation | League of Mobilization (Korea) Imperial Subject Public Service Association (Taiwan) | 
| Political wing | Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association[18] | 
| Colours | Red White (Flag of Japan) | 
| Anthem | Taisei Yokusan no Uta [ja][19] | 
| Imperial Rule Assistance Association | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese name | |||||
| Kana | たいせいよくさんかい | ||||
| Kyūjitai | 大政翼贊會 | ||||
| Shinjitai | 大政翼賛会 | ||||
| 
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TheImperial Rule Assistance Association (Japanese:大政翼贊會/大政翼賛会,Hepburn:Taisei Yokusankai), orImperial Aid Association, was theEmpire of Japan's ruling political organization during much of theSecond Sino-Japanese War andWorld War II. It was created byPrime MinisterFumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940, to promote the goals of hisShintaisei ("New Order") movement. It evolved into astatist,para-fascist[14]rulingpolitical party which aimed at removingsectionalism andfactionalism from politics and economics in the Empire of Japan, creating atotalitarianone-party state in order to maximize the efficiency of Japan'stotal war effort againstChina and laterthe Allies.[20] When the organization was launched officially, Konoe was hailed as a "political savior" of a nation in chaos; however, internal divisions soon appeared.
Based on recommendations by theShōwa Kenkyūkai (Shōwa Research Association), Konoe originally conceived of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association as areformist political party to overcome the deep-rooted differences and political cliques betweenbureaucrats,politicians and the military. During the summer of 1937, Konoe appointed 37 members chosen from a broad political spectrum to a preparatory committee which met inKaruizawa, Nagano. The committee included Konoe's political colleaguesFumio Gotō, CountYoriyasu Arima and entrepreneur andright-wing spokesmanFusanosuke Kuhara. A radical wing of the military was represented byKingoro Hashimoto, while thetraditionalist military wings were represented bySenjūrō Hayashi,Heisuke Yanagawa andNobuyuki Abe.
Konoe proposed originally that the Imperial Rule Assistance Association be organized alongnational syndicalist lines, with new members assigned to branches based on occupation, which would then develop channels for mass participation of the common population to "assist with the Imperial Rule".[21]
However, from the start, there was no consensus in a common cause, as the leadership council representedall ends of the political spectrum, and in the end, the party was organized along geographic lines, following the existing political sub-divisions. Therefore, all local government leaders at each level of village, town, city and prefectural government automatically received the equivalent position within their local Imperial Rule Assistance Association branch.[22]
Prior to creation of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, Konoe had already passed theNational Mobilization Law, which effectivelynationalized strategic industries, thenews media, andlabor unions, in preparation fortotal war withChina.
Labor unions were replaced by the Nation Service Draft Ordinance, which empowered the government to draft civilian workers into critical war industries. Society was mobilized and indoctrinated through theNational Spiritual Mobilization Movement, which organized patriotic events and mass rallies, and promoted slogans such as"Yamato-damashii" (Japanese spirit) and"Hakkō ichiu" (All the world under one roof) to supportJapanese militarism. This was urged to "restore the spirit and virtues of old Japan".[23]
Some objections to it came on the grounds thatkokutai, imperial polity, already required all imperial subjects to support imperial rule.[24]
In addition to drumming up support for the ongoingwars in China and in thePacific, the Imperial Rule Assistance Association helped maintain public order and provided certain public services via thetonarigumi neighborhood association program.[25] It also played a role in increasing productivity, monitoring rationing, and organizingcivil defense.
The Imperial Rule Assistance Association was also militarized, with its members donning khaki-colored uniforms. In the last period of the conflict, the membership received military training and was projected to integrate with theVolunteer Fighting Corps in case of the anticipatedAllied invasion.
As soon as October 1940, the Imperial Rule Assistance Association systemized and formalized theTonarigumi, a nationwide system of neighborhood associations. The 6 November 1940 issue ofShashin Shūhō (Photographic Weekly Report) explained the purpose of this infrastructure:
TheTaisei Yokusankai movement has already turned on the switch for rebuilding a new Japan and completing a new Great East Asian order which, writ large, is the construction of a new world order. TheTaisei Yokusankai is, broadly speaking, the New Order movement which will, in a word, place One Hundred Million into one body under this new organisation that will conduct all of our energies and abilities for the sake of the nation. Aren't we all mentally prepared to be members of this new organization and, as one adult to another, without holding our superiors in awe or being preoccupied with the past, cast aside all private concerns in order to perform public service? Under theTaisei Yokusankai are regional town, village, andtonarigumi; let's convene council meetings and advance the activities of this organization.[26]
The Imperial Rule Assistance Association was formed in October 1940. It was modelled on the mass party model found in Germany with theNazi Party and Italy'sNational Fascist Party but was not as successful in mobilizing the public as Germany and Italy were. Compared to Germany and Italy got its support from the top and not the bottom as it was created by the government along with Japanese elites.[27][28]
In February 1942, all women's associations were merged into theGreater Japan Women's Association which joined the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in May. Every adult woman in Japan, excepting the under twenty and unmarried, was forced to join the Association.[29]
Likewise, in June, all youth organizations were merged into theGreater Japan Imperial Rule Assistance Youth Corps (翼賛青年団,Yokusan Sonendan), based on the model of the GermanSturmabteilung (stormtroopers).[6]
In March 1942, Prime MinisterHideki Tōjō attempted to eliminate the influence of elected politicians by establishing an officially sponsored election nomination commission, which restricted non-government-sanctioned candidates from the ballot.[30] After the1942 Japanese General Election, all members of Diet were required to join theImperial Rule Assistance Political Association (Yokusan Seijikai), which effectively made Japan a one-party state.
The Imperial Rule Assistance Association was formally dissolved on 13 June 1945, around three months before theend of World War II in thePacific Theater. During the Alliedoccupation of Japan, theAmerican authoritiespurged thousands of government leaders from public life for having been members of the Association. Later, many of them returned to prominent roles inJapanese politics after the end of the occupation on 28 April 1952 by theTreaty of San Francisco.
| No. | Leader (birth–death) | Portrait | Constituency ortitle | Took office | Left office | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fumimaro Konoe (1891–1945) |  | House of Peers | 12 October 1940 | 18 October 1941 | 
| 2 | Hideki Tojo (1884–1948)[1][31][32] |  | Military (Army) | 18 October 1941 | 22 July 1944 | 
| 3 | Kuniaki Koiso (1880–1950) |  | Military (Army) | 22 July 1944 | 7 April 1945 | 
| 4 | Kantarō Suzuki (1868–1948) |  | Military (Navy) | 7 April 1945 | 13 June 1945 | 
| Election | Leader | Seats won | Position | Status | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Hideki Tojo | 381 / 466 | 1st | Government | 
Conservatives such as Hiranuma Kiichiro, who served as prime minister for eight months in 1939, objected that the proposed totalitarian IRAA was nothing but a "new shogunate" that would usurp the power of the emperor's government, and Japanists declared that the national polity, the hallowed kokutai, already united the emperor with subjects who naturally fulfilled their sacred obligation to "assist imperial rule." On a more mundane plane, senior officials within the Home Ministry feared the loss of bureaucratic turf and complained that the proposed network of occupationally based units would interfere with local administration at a particularly crucial time in the nation's history.
Known as Konoe's 'brains trust', the Showa Kenkyukai was a source of inspiration for the New National Structure Movement (also known as the New Order Movement, or Shin Taisei Undo), which aimed to overhaul the political system, to purge Japan of conflicting interests and to promote a totalitarian national The Imperial Rule Assistance Association (IRAA or Taisei Yokusankai), intended as the controlling organisation of the 'new order', was launched in October 1940 in the hope of liberating Japan once and for all from the perennial 'sectionalism' that deprived the empire of its full potential.
.2 All existing political parties "voluntarily" dissolved themselves, replaced by a single authorized political body, the ultranationalist Imperial Rule Assistance Association.
Para-fascist 'single-party' organisation established in Japan in 1940.
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 Media related toImperial Rule Assistance Association at Wikimedia Commons