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Chapter 5: Modern Japan and the World (Part 2)– The Taisho Period and First Half of the Showa Period

Section 1 – World War I and its repercussions
Topic 67 – Japan's participation in World War I
Why did World War I begin and how did Japan become involved in it?
| 270
The outbreak of World War I
After the Russo-Japanese War, Russia gave up its ambition of advancing into East Asia andagain set its sights on Europe. Germany had already joined the Triple Alliance with Austria and
Italy, and soon proceeded to build up its naval strength and expand overseas. Fearing Germany's
growing power, Great Britain drew closer to Russia and France. In 1907 (Meiji 40), GreatBritain, Russia, and France concluded the Triple Entente in order to surround Germany.
Tensions rose as the nations of Europe divided themselves between these two camps.
During this time, national independence movements gained strength in the Balkan Peninsula.
The great powers with interests in the Balkans exploited this situation to increase their influence
over the region. Because the Balkan Peninsula was continuously on the brink of war, it came tobe known as "the powder keg of Europe". Russia backed Serbia and the other Slavic nations
against their neighboring rival, Austria.1*1=Austria, which was then referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was among fiveof Europe's strongest countries. Since medieval times, it was ruled by the German House of
Habsburg. Its eastern and southern territories were inhabited by a variety of ethnic groups,
mainly Slavs.
While on an official visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia, in 1914 (Taisho 3), the heir to the Austrian throne
and his wife were assassinated by a young, pro-Russian Serb. On the basis of their entangling
alliances, the nations of Europe's two camps responded by declaring war, one after another.
World War I had begun.
Japan's participation in the war and the Twenty-One Demands
As a party to the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, Japan sided with the Triple Entente nations anddeclared war on Germany. Japan occupied Qingdao, a German concession in China's Shandong

Peninsula, as well as Germany's island colonies in the Pacific Ocean north of the equator. When
German submarines started to attack merchant ships without warning, Japan also deployed afleet of destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea to defend shipping lanes.
| 271 China requested that Japan withdraw its troops from Qingdao, but Japan instead insisted in
January 1915 that China transfer Germany's interests in the Shandong Peninsula to Japan, one of
the so-called Twenty-One Demands. Though discussion of the demands between China andJapan was supposed to be confidential, Chinese President Yuan Shikai publicized them with the
expectation that the great powers would intervene. Great Britain and the United States
immediately lodged protests. Though Japan adamantly maintained its policy of preserving andexpanding its interests in China, it did shorten the list to sixteen demands, which China finallyaccepted.
Topic 67 Recap Challenge! – Using bullet points, list one reason why Japan entered World War I
and two contributions that Japan made to the war effort.
Excerpts from the Twenty-One Demands"-The Chinese Government engages to give full assent to all matters that the Japanese
Government may hereafter agree with the German Government respecting the disposition of all
the rights, interests and concessions, which, in virtue of treaties or otherwise, Germany possesses
vis-à-vis China in relation to the province of Shantung.""-The two contracting Parties mutually agree that the term of the lease of Port Arthur and Dairen
and the term respecting the South Manchuria Railway shall be extended to a further period of 99
years respectively.""-The Chinese Government grants to the Japanese subjects the right of mining in South Manchuria
and Eastern Inner Mongolia."

Topic 68 – The Russian Revolution and the conclusion of World War I
How did World War I change the world?

| 272 The Russian Revolution
In 1917 (Taisho 6), as World War I dragged on, the Russian Revolution broke out. Russian
civilians in the cities rioted in protest of chronic food shortages, and they were soon joined bydisaffected soldiers who overthrew Russia's ruling Romanov dynasty. This was known as the
February Revolution. It was followed by the October Revolution, in which Marxist
revolutionaries1 led by Vladimir Lenin staged an armed takeover in order to form a government
based on Russia's councils of laborers and soldiers, referred to as the “soviets”. Later, Lenin
eliminated the other political parties with military force and built a one-party communist
dictatorship, of which he was the helmsman. In 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR) was established.
*1=Marxism is the name of the political ideology proposed by German philosopher Karl
Marx. Marx argued that the workers should start a revolution to overthrow the capitalist
system and, after undergoing a phase of socialism, ultimately realize a classless, communist
society. Nonetheless, the words "socialism" and "communism" are often usedsynonymously.
The Soviet government ceased hostilities with Germany and plunged headlong into civil war
against internal forces opposed to the revolution. The communists executed Russia's royal family
as well as anyone else they perceived as enemies, including countless numbers of nobles,
landowners, capitalists, clerics, and intellectuals. There was also a massive famine that killed
millions of people in rural areas.
The Siberian Expedition
Having been threatened by southward Russian expansion for many years, Japan was even more
apprehensive about the effects of the communist revolution than most other countries. The
Western powers sent troops to Russia to quell the revolution.
In 1918 (Taisho 7), Japan and the United States launched their own joint excursion into Russia,
known as the Siberian Expedition,2 to protect Japanese interests in Manchuria and relieve theanti-communist Czechoslovak Legion that was stranded deep within Russian territory.

*2=In 1920, four thousand communist guerrillas attacked the Siberian town of Nikolayevsk
at the mouth of the Amur River and massacred about seven hundred Japanese people,
including civilian residents and members of the town garrison. The total number of victimsof the Nikolayevsk Incident was said to have reached six thousand. Outraged by this| 273
atrocity, Japan responded by extending its military mission in Siberia.
Total war
World War I, which lasted four years and was punctuated by the dramatic Russian Revolution,
was unlike any conflict the world had seen up to that point in time.
It was a total war, marshalling all the economic might of the belligerents and exploiting thelatest technologies. The new weapons of war caused unprecedented casualties on all sides.
Civilians, too, were caught in the maelstrom of war, suffered shortages of daily necessities, andwere mobilized to work in munitions factories. The combatant nations were compelled toexhaust their full national strength.
The end of World War I
Neutral United States eventually entered the war on the side of the Triple Entente, leading to thedefeat of Germany and its allies in 1918. The German Empire collapsed and was replaced by the
Weimar Republic. Europe had endured the horror of the first total war in human history.
By contrast, Japan joined the ranks of the victors relatively unscathed. World War I served toincrease the international clout of both Japan and its fellow Pacific power, the United States.
Topic 68 Recap Challenge! – Use the phrases "total war" and "new weapons" to explain how
World War I differed from previous wars.

Casualties of World War I(according to a February 1924 report of the US Department of War)
| 274

Allied Powers(Total of 24 nations)

Central Powers(Total of 4 nations)

Country

Casualties (number killed inaction)Russia9,150,000 (1,700,000)

France6,170,000 (1,360,000)

Great Britain

3,190,000 (910,000)

Italy

3,200,000 (650,000)

United States

360,000 (120,000)

Japan

1,210 (300)

Germany

7,140,000 (1,770,000)

Austria-Hungary

7,020,000 (1,200,000)

Ottoman Empire

980,000 (320,000)

Bulgaria

270,000 (90,000)

Total

37,910,000 (8,530,000)

Topic 69 – The Treaty of Versailles and postwar state of the world
How did the victor powers manage the aftermath of World War I?
The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations| 275 In 1919 (Taisho 8), the Paris Peace Conference convened. Japan attended as one of the "Big Five"
victor powers (Great Britain, the US, France, Italy, and Japan), and signed the Treaty of
Versailles. According to the terms of this treaty, Germany was to accept responsibility for starting
the war, surrender its colonies and parts of its own territory, and pay steep war reparations.1
Germany's struggle to cope with the harsh reparations would later pave the road to World War II.
*1=The amount of reparations to be paid by Germany was subsequently set at 132 billion
marks. Because Germany's government revenue was only 5.2 billion in 1921, this amounted
to twenty-five times Germany's annual budget. That year, Germany was beset withdevastating hyperinflation.
At the Paris Peace Conference, United States President Woodrow Wilson proposed theestablishment of an international organization that would transcend national self-interest in
pursuit of world peace and cooperation. In 1920, Wilson's vision was realized in the form of the
League of Nations, but his own country refused to join it due to opposition in the US Congress.
The League of Nations never exercised significant international power over the international
system.
Japan's rejected racial equality proposal
Japan submitted a resolution at the Paris Peace Conference to include an article in the Covenant of
the League of Nations forbidding discrimination on the basis of race. The non-white peoples of theworld held high hopes for Japan's proposal. With eleven votes in favor and five against, theresolution obtained majority support. Even so, President Wilson, who served as chairman,
rejected the proposal on the ground that major amendments required unanimity. This decision
deeply disappointed many Japanese people.
The rise of nationalism in Asia
The growing trend towards ethnic self-determination after World War I gave a boost to national
independence movements throughout Asia.2 In India, Mahatma Gandhi used non-violent
protests to pressure the British to keep their promise of granting self-rule to the Indian people.

Britain cracked down hard on the Indian independence movement, but this only served to heighten
its popularity.

| 276*2=President Wilson's blueprint for peace was a set of propositions that he called the"Fourteen Points". Though the Fourteen Points enshrined the principle of ethnic
self-determination, it was applied after the war only to the territories of the defeated nationsof Germany and Austria, not to the colonies of the victor nations such as Great Britain andFrance. None of their Asian and African colonies were granted independence.
Closer to Europe, General Kemal Ataturk of the Ottoman Empire abolished the Ottomanmonarchy and founded the Republic of Turkey.
In Japanese-ruled Korea, Koreans who had gathered in Seoul on March 1, 1919, for the funeralservice of their former king read out a declaration of independence and marched through thestreets. Before long, similar demonstrations were carried out throughout Korea. This was the
March 1st Movement. The Government-General of Korea quickly suppressed the movement, but
understood that the problem could not be resolved with violence alone. The Government-General
gradually adopted more benevolent means of administering Korean affairs, and later promoted
greater integration with Japan.
In China, the May 4th Movement arose on May 4, 1919, as a series of demonstrations in Beijingorganized by students decrying the decision of the Paris Peace Conference to transfer Germany's
interests in China to Japan. The movement eventually spread to many other cities across China.
Japan's wartime economic growth
During World War I, Japan enjoyed a surge in munitions exports, as well as rising exports tovarious parts of Asia. This situation brought about rapid development of heavy industry and an
unprecedented economic expansion, called the "World War boom".3*3=Before World War I, Asian nations imported most of their industrial products from
Europe and the United States. When the outbreak of the war caused these imports to grind
to a halt, Japan found itself suddenly deluged with orders. Consequently, Japaneseindustries developed rapidly both in scale and in technology. Japan's great businessconglomerates, known as zaibatsu, benefited from diversified holdings, including in
finance,trade, and shipbuilding. The conglomerates and the families controlling them, such as the
Mitsui, Mitsubishi, and Sumitomo, used this opportunity to further expand their power.
On the other hand, because the war had caused Japan little hardship, the Japanese people failed to| 277 grasp that the wars of the future would be total wars. For this reason, Japan did not upgrade its
military equipment or plan for total war to the same extent as the Western countries had.
Topic 69 Recap Challenge! – Describe two problems created by the post-World War I settlement
laid down in the Treaty of Versailles.

Topic 70 – The rise of party politics and social movements
How did party politics evolve in Japan?
The birth of party cabinets| 278 After the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese government alternated between cabinets formed by
the Friends of Constitutional Government Party and those formed by officials from theso-called "domain clique" of Satsuma and Choshu.1 Following the death of Emperor Meiji and the
beginning of the Taisho period in 1912, opponents of the political power of the "domain clique"became more vocal. They coalesced into the Movement to Protect the Constitution, demanding
governments that reflected the will of the people in accordance with the spirit of the Meiji
Constitution. Scholar Yoshino Sakuzo translated the word "democracy" into the Japanese
language as minponshugi, which literally means "the people-centered principle". Yoshino
popularized the notion that the political party that won the most seats in the Diet in a popularelection should have the right to form the government.
*1=Government officials hailing from the former domains of Choshu and Satsuma
attempted to monopolize the most important government posts for people from their own
domains. For this reason, they were dubbed the "domain clique".
In 1918 (Taisho 7), the price of rice soared amidst rumors that some merchants were trying tocorner the market in anticipation of a Japanese military expedition to Siberia. Furious mobs
assaulted rice merchants, and soon the violence had spread across the entire country. This event is
known as the Rice Riots. Before the end of the year, the Japanese cabinet had resigned en masse to
make way for a new cabinet under Prime Minister Hara Takashi, the President of the Friends ofConstitutional Government Party. With the exception of the Army, Navy, and Foreign Ministers,
Hara filled every post in his cabinet with elected members of his own Friends of Constitutional
Government Party, which at the time was the largest party in the Diet. This was Japan's first,
full-fledged party cabinet.
Taisho Democracy and social change
During the Taisho period, especially in the aftermath of World War I, constitutional, party-based
politics took hold in the Diet. Many vigorous social movements also emerged, such as thecampaign for universal suffrage, and public opinion grew increasingly favorable towards
democratic development and international cooperation. These trends are collectively referred to as
Taisho Democracy.

This period also saw the birth of many trade unions and farm tenancy disputes.2 In 1920 (Taisho9), May Day was observed in Japan for the first time. Labor and agrarian movements gained
momentum.
| 279 *2=Tenant farmers worked on land rented from a landowner. Farm tenancy disputes brokeout over the high cost of rent.
In 1922 (Taisho 11), the National Levelers Association was founded to spearhead a campaign toeliminate discrimination against former members of the "untouchable" class. There was also a
new feminist movement, which aimed to elevate the social status of women. Thanks to the tirelessefforts of women like Hiratsuka Raicho, the issues of female suffrage and improvement of
women's higher education was brought to the public's attention.3*3=As a result of the Russian Revolution, this was also a time when many students andintellectuals fell under the influence of communist ideology.
"The normal course of constitutional government"
Hara Takashi was assassinated by a deranged man in 1921 (Taisho 10). The political parties
were weakened by the loss of such a capable leader, and the next several cabinets to govern
Japan were non-partisan. However, the parties staged their comeback in 1924 (Taisho 13) when
Kato Takaaki became prime minister as head of the "Three-Party Cabinet to Protect theConstitution".4 For the succeeding eight years, it was standard procedure that the cabinet beformed by the leader of the largest party in the Diet. Supporters of Japan's democratic
development hailed this approach as "the normal course of constitutional government".
*4=The three parties in question were the Friends of Constitutional Government Party, theConstitutional Association, and the Reform Club.
In 1925 (Taisho 14), the Kato Cabinet passed the General Election Law5 granting universal
suffrage to all men over the age of twenty-five regardless of the amount of taxes they paid. In one
stroke, the size of the electorate rose by four times. In 1928 (Showa 3), Japan held its firstelection under the universal suffrage system, which was won by the Friends of Constitutional
Government Party.

*5=At the same time as the General Election Law, the Kato Cabinet also passed the Peace
Preservation Law, instituting repressive measures against anarchists and communists.

| 280

Topic 70 Recap Challenge! – Give three social changes that affected the political system of
Taisho Japan.
Excerpt from the Founding Declaration of the National Levelers Association"We must never again shame our ancestors and profane humanity through servile words andcowardly deeds. We, who know just how cold human society can be and who know what it is to bepitied, do fervently seek and adore the warmth and light of human life from the bottom of ourhearts.
Thus, the National Levelers Association is born. Let there be warmth in human society, and let
there be light in all human beings."
Attainment of Universal Suffrage
Country

Year (for men)Year (for women)

France1848

1945

United States

1870

1920

Germany

1871

1919

Great Britain

1918

1928

Japan

1925

1945

India

1949

1949

Topic 71 – US-Japan relations and the Washington Conference
What shifts occurred in US-Japan relations between the end of the Russo-Japanese War
and the mid-1920s?
| 281 The anti-Japanese exclusion movement
Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War had cemented its status as East Asia's preeminent
power. The US, which had colonized the Philippines, now had a rival in the Far East.
In the immediate aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War, America's racially discriminatory policies
caused friction in its relations with Japan. In America's western states, there was an anti-Japanese"exclusion movement" with the stated objective of stopping Japanese immigrants, who were
hardworking and skillful, from “stealing” the jobs of white American laborers. In 1913 (Taisho 2),
the state of California enacted the Alien Land Law, forbidding Japanese people from purchasing
farmland.
Finally, in 1924 (Taisho 13), the United States completely banned Japanese immigration throughpassage of the Asian Exclusion Act, a brazen move that incensed Japanese public opinion.
The Washington Conference and internationalism
Between 1921 and 1922, representatives of Japan and eight other nations assembled at the
Washington Conference, mainly to discuss naval disarmament and their respective interests in
China. The conference had been called at America's suggestion for the purpose of constructing astable order in East Asia by coordinating each nation's interests in the region.
The participants at the Washington Conference committed themselves to reciprocal reductions intheir total number of capital ships, and they agreed that the ratio of battleships between the UnitedStates, Great Britain, and Japan would be fixed at, respectively, 5:5:3. Japan backed arms
reduction in the spirit of international cooperation amidst the postwar trend towards disarmament,
but the agreement was also favorable to the Japanese government's need to scale back its
burdensome military budget. Nonetheless, many Japanese naval officers chaffed at the lower ratio
imposed on Japan and adamantly insisted that the agreement imperiled national security.
In addition, the Washington Conference approved the Nine-Power Treaty, which reaffirmed
China's territorial integrity and the Open Door Policy, and ended the twenty-year-old

Anglo-Japanese Alliance. The United States had insisted that the alliance be scrapped, in spite ofboth Japan and Great Britain desiring to continue it. With that, Japan lost its most dependable ally.
| 282 The Great Kanto Earthquake
On September 1, 1923 (Taisho 12), a tremendous earthquake ripped through the Kanto region ofeastern Japan. Raging fires broke out across Tokyo and Yokohama, consuming thousands ofprivate homes, government buildings, and cultural facilities. Over 100,000 people were killed or
unaccounted for. This was known as the Great Kanto Earthquake.
Though the Great Kanto Earthquake dealt a huge blow to the Japanese economy, it also taught theJapanese people many lessons about how modern cities ought to be built in earthquake-prone
Japan. Japan began designing earthquake-proof structures and researched urban fire prevention.
The new Tokyo that was to rise out of the ashes of the old would have a network of highways,
urban parks and green spaces, and public buildings made of reinforced concrete rather than brick.
Topic 71 Recap Challenge! – Using bullet points, list the controversies that emerged in US-Japan
relations between the end of the Russo-Japanese War and the mid-1920s.
Goto Shimpei(1857 – 1929)
Goto Shimpei was born in Iwate Prefecture. After serving as Mayor of Tokyo, he was appointed
President of the Imperial Capital Reconstruction Agency in 1923. In this capacity, he drafted boldplans to rebuild Tokyo in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake and worked hard to implement
them .

Why Was the Anglo-Japanese Alliance Abrogated?
After the Russo-Japanese War, Great Britain and Russia enjoyed increasingly close ties, and theimportance of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance to Britain declined. Moreover, Anglo-Japanese| 283
relations were cooling due to Japan's refusal of Britain's request to send troops to Europe during
World War I and their conflicting interests in China.
The United States, which was eager to make inroads into Chinese markets, plotted to terminate theAnglo-Japanese Alliance by driving a wedge between Japan and Great Britain. In place of theAnglo-Japanese Alliance, the United States arranged for all three powers plus France to conclude
the Four-Power Treaty. Unlike the bilateral alliance it replaced, the Four-Power Treaty was anominal agreement which contained no obligation to participate in the conflicts of the othersignatory states.
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance had been the cornerstone of Japan's security policy. Once it was
abrogated, Japan had to compete with the military might of the United States on its own.

Topic 72 – City life and the democratization of culture
What were the distinguishing characteristics of the culture of the Taisho period?
Taisho culture| 284 During the Taisho period, secondary and higher education became widespread, women's
education expanded, and a passion for learning spread throughout Japanese society.
Yanagita Kunio established Japanese ethnology as an academic discipline. Yanagita wrote at
length about the legends, customs, and lifestyles of the common people, who were rapidly
submerging under the tide of Westernization.
In the field of literature, authors of the White Birch school such as Shiga Naoya and Mushakoji
Saneatsu emphasized humanitarian ideals in their writings. Also influential were Tanizaki
Junichiro, whose work is famous for its aesthetic sensibility, and Akutagawa Ryunosuke,
known for his intellectual style.
In the late-Taisho and early-Showa periods, communist ideology exerted a strong influence on
both literature and academics.
The birth of mass culture
During the Taisho period, some newspapers and general-interest magazines hit sales of over one
million copies. Literary anthologies became popular items, as did cheap "one-yen books".
Magazines aimed at housewives and children also increased their circulation. In addition, this time
marked the beginning of radio broadcasting, which soon rivaled newspapers as a source of
information.
The rise of newspapers, magazines, and radio broadcasts that could instantaneously transmit thesame news across the entire country was the start of mass media in Japan. This not only facilitatedthe democratization of culture, but also encouraged the masses to participate in politics, which left
a huge impact on the burgeoning social and political movements of the period.
Both silent films and “talkies” made their appearance, and record players allowed people to enjoy
recorded music. Other new forms of widespread, popular entertainment included pulp novels, pop
songs, the performances of the Takarazuka women's theater troupe, and sports such as the baseballmatches of the Six University Baseball League. In addition, child-oriented entertainments, such as
nursery rhymes, toys, zoos, and amusement parks, became more pervasive than ever before.
| 285 Life in the cities
In urban places, bus routes were extended and downtown areas were connected to their suburbs by
private railways. Japan's first subway line came into operation between the Tokyo districts of
Ueno and Asakusa. As Japan's cities developed, buildings came to be made of reinforced concrete.
In private residences, wells began to be replaced with water pipes, lamps with electric lights, andwood-fueled cook stoves with gas kitchen ranges. The wealthier homes added nursery rooms andWestern-style parlors with glass windows.
Many department stores opened up, giving Japanese people access to an unprecedented range ofconsumer products. Western foods also became increasingly common, including curry rice,croquettes, and pork cutlets, as well as treats such as caramel and cookies. Therefore, it was the
Taisho period that set the standards of modern-day urban life in Japan.
Women were able to take on new jobs as bus conductors or telephone operators. It was also during
the Taisho period that work and school uniforms became common sights, and more women began
to wear Western clothing.
Topic 72 Recap Challenge! – Using bullet points, list three social changes that made the Taisho
period into the prototype of contemporary urban life in Japan.