{"id":302,"date":"2019-11-10T14:51:43","date_gmt":"2019-11-10T14:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/?p=302"},"modified":"2019-11-10T14:51:43","modified_gmt":"2019-11-10T14:51:43","slug":"justifying-imperialism-through-compassion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/2019\/11\/justifying-imperialism-through-compassion\/","title":{"rendered":"Justifying Imperialism through Compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the early to mid 1900s (ending around 1945) the Japanese state and government expanded their empire into the reaches of China and Korea, with continued expansion into the great Asia continent being planned. These expansions were led by men such as Tanaka Chigaku (1861-1939), whose approach to conquest was justified by his interpretation of the ideal of compassion found in Nichiren Buddhism{<\/span>1}<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tanaka Chigaku was a Japanese nationalist, imperialist, and militarist during the Russo-Japanese War, as well as both World Wars. He was an avid student of <\/span>Nichiren<\/span> Buddhism, and professed that it led to the one true path for all humanity: all human, joined together under the banner of the Japanese imperial family while worshipping the gods Amaterasu-kami and Hachiman as universal deities{<\/span>2}<\/span>. Tanaka claimed that this was given out by <\/span>Nichiren<\/span> under the phrase <\/span>Nippon no <\/span><\/i>enbudai<\/span><\/i> \u2013 to include the whole earth in Japan{<\/span>3}<\/span>. This objective of <\/span>Nippon no <\/span><\/i>enbudai<\/span><\/i> would be complete by what Tanaka called <\/span>shakubuku<\/span><\/i> \u2013 <\/span><\/i>conquer evil aggressively{<\/span>4}<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The concept of <\/span>shakubuku<\/span><\/i> is the main focus, as Tanaka used it as a justification for the aggression against China in the 1930s, saying \u201cWhen it is said that the Japanese Imperial Army is an army of humanity and justice, for maintaining justice and building peace, it means that it is a force for compassion. The <\/span>shakubuku<\/span><\/i> of Nichirenism must be like this\u201d{<\/span>5}<\/span>. For Tanaka, \u201ccompassion\u201d was an extension of the emperor-centric Japanese polity (<\/span>kokutai<\/span><\/i>) that had dominated the land for since the Meiji Restoration. For Tanaka, and most <\/span>Nichiren<\/span> imperialist, the world was destined to united under the emperor by means of the Lotus Sutra \u2013 the central sutra of <\/span>Nichiren<\/span> Buddhism \u2013 and the sword.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To Tanaka, it was the sacred duty of the Japanese to extend <\/span>kokutai<\/span><\/i> to those of non-Japanese origin. He claimed that Japan, with its \u201cunbroken line of emperors\u201d was given the right and mandate to \u201cguide and induce every country in the world to become a state ruled by the Way of the Prince\u201d{<\/span>6}<\/span>. Tanaka further justified <\/span>kokutai<\/span><\/i> as a means of imperialism by emphasizing the emperor\u2019s holiness and origin in Heaven as a descendant of Amaterasu-kami, and how the emperors extolled virtues and brilliance inherited from the first Emperor, Jinmu{<\/span>7}<\/span>. The implication here being that, due to the emperor\u2019s divine origins and gifts, as well as his inheritance and the Japanese people\u2019s own superiority to endorse <\/span>shakubuku<\/span><\/i> on a worldwide scale<\/span>.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tanaka placed his beliefs in <\/span>shakubuku<\/span><\/i> as subordinate to <\/span>kokutai<\/span><\/i>, yet in his writings and beliefs, certainly seemed to believe that <\/span>shakubuku<\/span><\/i> was the most important action one could take in their life. His writings and personal beliefs show a strong sense of national pride and superiority, and his fervent belief in <\/span>Nichiren<\/span> Buddhism\u2019s such as his <\/span>Shumon no <\/span><\/i>Ishin{<\/span><\/i>8}<\/span><\/i>. <\/span><\/i>In this, Tanaka shows how fervent his faith in <\/span>shakubuku<\/span><\/i> is by urging followers of the Lotus Sutra to believe, pray and write aggressively, while also \u201cpraying for aggression\u201d, and that when the aggression comes, the people can use the Lotus Sutra as the sword, under their leader \u2013 <\/span>Nichiren<\/span> \u2013 and bring all of Asia \u2013 and eventually the world \u2013 under Japan\u2019s \u201cguidance\u201d through the \u201ccompassion of the Emperor\u201d{<\/span>9}<\/span>. This fervent belief can be seen later, during the invasion of Manchuria, which Tanaka was greatly involved in.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In conclusion, Tanaka\u2019s \u201ccompassion\u201d for others was but a front, as while he truly believed that the world could be united under Japan and the Emperor, he also justified it through <\/span>shakubuku<\/span><\/i>, a practice not unlike that of the Crusades.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During the early to mid 1900s (ending around 1945) the Japanese state and government expanded their empire into the reaches of China and Korea, with continued expansion into the great Asia continent being planned. These expansions were led by men such as Tanaka Chigaku (1861-1939), whose approach to conquest was justified by his interpretation of … Continue reading “Justifying Imperialism through Compassion”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":325,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions\/325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/transnationalhistory.net\/world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}