Pages |
The ideology focused on the emperor as descended from the founding deities, as national father figure, and as the focus of the citizens' loyalty. He became the symbol of the new nationalism. The newly created elementary school system was used as the primary disseminator of this patriotism. But in 1873, Japan did not have a unified language to spread nationalism. People spoke local dialects that were often mutually unintelligible, and the literate few wrote in a variety of difficult writing systems that were totally unlike the spoken language, consisting of Chinese writing in a variety of Japanized styles; sōrōbun, for example. Even the simplest took years to master. The writing system was not fit for creating mass literacy and spreading nationalism. Debates over how to reform the language raged throughout the late nineteenth century. Finally around 1900, the Education Ministry decided on implement a language reform: elite Tokyo spoken Japanese would become the basis of kokugo (that is, the national language) and the writing system, now simplified, would be based on this new language. In other words, the spoken and written languages would be more or less the same. These two reforms: the creation of a new nationalist ideology and of a new national language allowed the government to turn "peasants into Japanese," to borrow Eugen Weber's title of his book on France in exactly the same time period.
By the end of the 19th century, these reforms were well underway. Japan had remade itself to the point that it was able to negotiate an end to the unequal treaties. Japan regained tariff autonomy and Westerners in Japan came under Japanese law. But this did not end the Japanese quest for equality with the West. Once Japan had escaped its status as a victim of imperialism, it joined in the European and American game. That is, Japan began to build its own empire, to be one of the perpetrators. The drive for empire can be better explained in nationalistic than economic terms. Great nations have empires; if we are to be able to be a great nation, we need an empire. In 1894-1895, Japan won a war from China and gained its first colony, Taiwan; it also gained a huge indemnity from China and thus was able to take its monetary system onto the gold standard, a point of great national pride. Membership in these two clubs-the imperialist club and the gold standard club-reinforced Japan's fledgling status among the powers.
In 1902, Japan also made an alliance with Great Britain, another sign of its success, another Asian first, that is, an alliance with the world's primary power of the time. In 1904-1905, Japan fought a war with Russia, and won once again. This brought Korea into Japan's empire, and Manchuria into its economic sphere of influence. These annexations of territory when viewed from today's perspective, look like blatant aggression; however, keep in mind that they were well within the acceptable framework of Western imperialism. Britain, by signing its treaty with Japan in 1902, and then re-signing the pact after the war, endorsed the Japanese annexation of Korea. Theodore Roosevelt, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts, mediated the treaty that ended the war. The Treaty of Portsmouth recognized Japan's supremacy in Korea and thus the United Stares pre-approved Japan's annexation of Korea (this was only seven years after the United States had taken the Philippines from Spain).
In 1905-1906, the conflict between the cooperative and the autarkic schools appeared again. Japan's military leaders, flushed with victory, pushed for larger military appropriations, nationalization of the railroad system for easier wartime mobilization, and greater funding for organizing the empire. Takahashi Korekiyo (1854-1938) was one of the leaders of the opposition, that is, of the anti-military approach.
Pages |