"The Pathological Conditions of Japan": What We Should Know about Them

Abstract

The expression captioned above, which I borrow from a Japanese literary critic for the title of the present article, refers to those aspects of irrationality and parochial spiritual tendency that the critic believes account for the nationalist militarism of modern imperial Japan. The militarism has often capitalized on what is known to the world as bushido or 'the way of the warrior' which, as the code of conduct of the samurai class, used to operate as well in terms of the ethical basis of the whole nation, emphasizing the spirit of absolute loyalty and sacrifice. As it turns out, however, the very notion of bushido is actually an invention of an amateur opinionist who had no knowledge whatsoever about the real nature of the historical samurai societies. Worse still, the fabricated notion of bushido has coupled itself with the notion of 'aesthetics of death,' itself a result of the militarists unjustly interpreting a document of the early 1700s as merely glorifying the way of dying of the warrior. As such, bushido has contributed to the strengthened practice of forced belly-slitting suicide during the wartime. It was also exploited as a means of compelling all of the soldiers involved to fight and die to the last man in the face of apparent defeat. Recent years have seen a new surge of militarist nationalism arising in Japan, which plans on expanding its self-defence forces, claiming its right to the so-called 'collective self-defence.' The notion of self defence, however, is what the country has habitually resorted to when waging a war against a foreign country. Besides, Japanese government is very active in implementing historic revisionism, thereby whitewashing the nation's wartime crimes against humanity such as sexual enslavement of 'comfort women.' The present article is meant to be a critical survey of the cultural aspects of Japan that seem to be responsible for its 'pathological conditions.' We look into the people's unique notion of the 'inner circle' as opposed to the 'outside,' their inconsistent observance of their dictum 'Do not make troubles for others,' the nationalist propaganda by means of cinematography, their false idea of samurai spirits, their fabricated notion of Tenno ('heavenly emperor'), and so on. This article hopes to bring to light some of the unwholesome factors deep-rooted in the status quo of Japanese militarist policy making processes.