The evolution of the conservative mainstream in Japan

Abstract

The Liberal Democratic Party's conservative mainstream beginning with Yoshida Shigeru evidently was one of the most important political forces in the history of postwar Japan. But does it really deserve the label ‘conservative’, given that it is known above all for its pragmatic economic policy and cooperation with the US? This article traces the development of the mainstream's conservatism and finds that as times changed, so did the mainstream's conservatism. Actually, due to the exclusive focus on pragmatism, Yoshida's strong skepticism towards public opinion and his willingness to suppress unwanted expressions thereof has often been overlooked. In fact, only after 1960's Anpo (US-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security) struggle, did the mainstream slowly but surely move towards a complete and emphatic embrace of liberal democracy. This highlights a significant shift in the mainstream's conservatism from the mere acceptance of democracy as a historical development to an affirmative conservation of the values and institutions of postwar Japan. In this sense, the development of the conservative mainstream is making a case for the validity of Mannheim and Huntington's theories on conservatism that emphasized its adaptability.