Chapter 3

Political challenges - Emperor Yoshihito was sickly + many of the Genro left due to age → divisions between court officials, civilian politicians and military worsened - Military: opposed the internationalist policy of diplomacy and trade (led by c.p.) and resented the P.M. and their cabinets for cutting military’s budget, HENCE, they began to act on their own, disregarding the PM and their cabinets → Emperor also could not enforce much control over them + appointed by the emperor, so PM did not have authority to remove military officials who did not follow his policies - Civilian politicians (in the cabinet): much divided because of emergence of party politics → Two parties that were elected (Seiyukai and Minseito) in the Diet were fighting for power and influence in the govt. → made it hard for the PM to gain support of the majority + Diet was a coalition with multiple political parties and they could refuse to support the PM’s decisions - Privy council: advised the emperor + had power to overturn decisions made by the PM, even forced some PMs to resign Economic challenges → After war had ended, Japan began to face economic problems, e.g. 1920S: severe inflation that made goods very expensive, like the price of rice increased by 174% + there was unemployment + there was also decline in overseas demand for Japanese goods, so large companies dismissed thousands of workers → growing resentment among Japanese towards the civilian government Countryside: - industrial growth did not benefit them much + insufficient land due to the large population growth - 1920s: productivity of farmers stagnated as technological advances in farming (like better tools and cultivation techniques) did not spread as fast to the countryside - Tenant farmers: struggled to survive as most of their harvest went to paying their landlords → not much to eat → even if they had their own land, the land they owned were often small and had poor harvests

Tensions in Japanese society Rural-Urban divide: - Japanese government supported the wealthy zaibatsu → resulting in wealth being concentrated in the hands of big businesses while workers and peasants lived in poverty → widen gap between rich and poor - Countryside: richest landlords made up about 2-3% of the population + did not work on the farms but lived on rent from tenant farmers, living in luxury and engaged in leisure activities, while farmers remained poor → growing resentment and unhappiness toward the rich led to uprisings like the rice riots in 1918 because of sudden increase of prices of commodities like staple food - Women: some got jobs, got more involved in politics etc, which was seen by a threat to traditional Japanese society and values, serving their own interests instead of the needs of their families Impact of Great Depression - Demand for Japanese exports like silk (main export) fell drastically → cause their economy to fall by 20% between 1929 and 1931 → public resentment grew Impact on Farmers: - Lower demand for farmer’s produce → income (of farmers) fell by 43% between 1929 and 1931 - Tenant farmers tried to get landowners to reduce their rent but landowners disagreed, and even tried to evict those who could not pay on time but many resisted → ended up organizing themselves into unions, holding protest meetings and taking landowners to court Impact on Small Business Owners: - Shops, restaurants, small factories struggled to attract customers - 1930: there were twice as many closures of small business as in an average year - Many owners ended up joining protest movements led by the Imperial Middle Class Federated Alliance, who claimed the parties were looking after the landowners, banks and zaibatsus while letting business owners go out of business Unemployment:

- 15-20% of Japan’s workforce lost their jobs between 1930-1932, and they were only entitled to 14 days’ pay when dismissed → led to protests against employers who were usually from elite classes Fear of communism: - Increasing unemployment → many attracted to the messages by communist agitators who criticised the state and called for a revolution (however the Japanese communist party was small and never took root in Japan) - Government still feared the threat of communism, given that USSR was close to Japan Growing distrust in the government: - All this amounted to the civilians thinking the govt only cared about the banks, landowners, zaibatsu (the elite basically) and many were distrustful, believing that the civilian politicians were in cahoots with the zaibatsu, or receiving money and benefits from them Rise of Military influence in the government Discontent from the military: - 1920s: many officers felt political parties and the zaibatsu were corrupt and self seeking → they were not interested in serving Japan, only themselves + these officers were young and came from families of the poorer rural farming communities or new urban middle classes (both that were affected a lot by the G.D.) - Also felt that civilian politicians did not respect military due to (military) budget cuts + they favoured zaibatsu more than them London Naval Conference (1930): - NAVY were discontent with the civilian govt - 1922: Japan signed agreements with B,F,US at the Washington Naval Conference to limit number of warships being built → BUT number of warships Japan could have was fewer than them - Navy felt the civilian government had let them down by agreeing to unfavourable terms of disarmament - L.N.C: was to review the treaty + limits on building warships, BUT Japan’s demand to build more warships were rejected by the western powers, and they were forced to back

down and sign the treaty. Several ministers were removed from cabinet due to refusal to sign, but the government reluctantly signed as it knew the country was not ready to confront the Western powers → BUT in Japan this was presented (by press and navy commanders) as a form of betrayal → undermine people’s faith in the govt Manchuria - Was seen as the solution the Japan’s lack of natural resources (iron+coal) - From 1916, regions China were ruled by various warlords who fought one another for power, and initially Zhang Zuolin (Manchuria’s warlord) had friendly relations with Japan and the Kwantung Army → BUT his inability to defend Japan’s interests in Manchuria made the Kwantung Army increasingly frustra