Taishō Japan and the Crisis of Japanese Politics

Key Terms

• Hara Takashi 原敬 (1856-1921) PM 1918-21
• Katō Takaaki 加藤高明 (1860-1926) PM 1924-26
• Shidehara Kijūrō 幣原喜重郎 (1872-1951)
• Tanaka Gi'ichi 田中義一 (1864-1929) PM 1927-29
• Zhang Zuolin 張作霖 (1875–1928)
• Washington Naval Conference
• zaibatsu 財閥
  • Mitsubishi 三菱財閥, Mitsui 井財閥, Sumitomo 住友財閥, and Yasuda 安田財閥
  • Furukawa, Nissan
• Shidehara diplomacy vs Tanaka diplomacy
• Tanizaki Jun'ichirō 谷崎潤一郎　(1886-1965)
• moga

Continuities of the Meiji Era

• Sense of international peril
• Successive military victories with indemnities
• Series of diplomatic victories
  • Treaty of Kanghwa
  • Treaty of Shimonoseki
  • Renegotiation of unequal treaties
  • Anglo-Japanese Alliance
• Steady expansion of state power

Challenges of the late Meiji/early Taishō Era (1905- 1918)

• Gains of the Russo-Japanese War are consolidated through bilateral agreements, often with secret sections
  • Russo-Japanese Entente (1907)
    • Manchuria would be divided into two sphere of influence
      • North Manchuria is Russian
      • South Manchuria is Japanese
    • Both parties having the ultimate goal of complete annexation
  • Franco-Japanese Entente (1907)
    • Japan recognized French rule over Indo-China in return for
    • French recognition of Japanese control over Korea
  • Takahira-Root Agreements (1908)
    • Japan and US agree to "respect the territorial possessions belonging to each other "
    • Implicit trade is
      • Phillipines and Hawaai for US
      • Korea for Japan with sphere of influence in Manchuria
    • "Open Door" for rest of China
    • Acceptance of US limits of Japanese emmigration
• World War I
  • Japan over-reaches with
    • Twenty-One Demands
    • Siberian Expedition (aka Siberian Intervention) 1918-1922
      • Joint US, UK, Italian, Canadian, French, Japanese intervention to save Czech legions
      • But Japanese Army works to support anti-Bolshevik local warlords
      • Allies withdraw by 1920
      • Japanese intervention is expensive >¥900 M

Outcome of the War

• Russia is gone, but is USSR a biggger threat?Autocracies lose to democracies
• Autocracies collapse in Revolution
• Democracies win
• Postwar idealism

Interwar Conflicts and Rivalries (1918-1931)

Postwar Idealism Treaty of Versailles League of Nations Kellogg-Briand Pact International Labor Organization Structures to contain conflict in China and the Pacific Washington Naval Conference (1921-22) Five-Power Treaty, Nine-Power Treaty, and Four Power Pact 5:5:3 naval tonnage ratio No new naval fortifications north of Hong Kong or west of Hawaii London Naval Conference Rise of power of Diet and political parties Hara Takashi 原敬 (1856-1921) PM 1918-21 Katō Takaaki 加藤高明 (1860-1926) PM 1924-26 Shidehara Kijūrō 幣原喜重郎 (1872-1951) Tanaka Gi'ichi 田中義一 (1864-1929) PM 1927-29 Foreign policy Contrast between Shidehara and Tanaka Northern Expedition and the "Nanking Incident" Chicago Tribune "Shanghai Falls" LA Times "Nanking Shelled" LA Times "Chinese Horror City" NY Times "Foreign Patience Urged" Assasination of Zhang Zuolin 張作霖 (1928) New political forces Business support for political parties: Yamamurō Sōbun Universal manhood suffrage (1926) Financial instability: economic growth Uneven growth Growth of zaibatsu and new-zaibatsu 1923 "Earthquake Bonds" 1927 Financial Crisis Cosompolitan Culture Ginza in the 1930s (see Shiseidō Magazine) Tanizaki's Naomi (痴人の愛) and the moga

Terauchi Masatake (1852-1919) PM 1916-1918 Hara Takashi Katō Takaaki

Collapse of Interwar Liberalism/Internationalism

• Stock market crash, October 1929
• Minseitō pursues deflationary politicies
• Increasing right-wing violence
  • Attempted assasination of Hamaguchi Osachi 濱口雄幸 (November 14, 1931)
  • Assasination of Inukai Tsuyoshi 犬養毅 (May 15, 1932)
• Manchuria Incident, September 1931