Shōwa Kenkyūkai

The nihongo|Shōwa Kenkyūkai |昭和研究会|Shōwa Research Association was a political think tank in the pre-war Empire of Japan. [Pyle, Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power And Purpose, page 197]

History and Background

The "Shōwa Kenkyūkai" was established in October 1930 as an informal organization led by Ryūnosuke Gotō, with the original intent of reviewing and assessing issues with the Meiji Constitution and the current political process. Goto was a close friend and political companion of Fumimaro Konoe, who hoped that the study group would generate innovative ideas for political reform, and Gotō called upon Masamichi Rōyama, a political scientist from Tokyo Imperial University to head the association. [ Jansen, The Making of Modern Japan, page 613]

Membership in the "Shōwa Kenkyūkai" was intentionally very diverse to avoid a systematic bias. It included noted scholars, journalists, bankers, socialists, militarists, businessmen and leaders of youth organizations. Established specifically as an organization of intellectuals, the "Shōwa Kenkyukai" excluded bureaucrats and politicians from the outset. Many of the members had been regarded Marxists and leftists. By the time the group was dissolved in 1940 it had involved, at its height, some three hundred intellectuals every year in its work.

In 1936, it spun off a "Shina-mondai Kenkyūkai" (China Problems Study Group), and in 1938 it formed a "Bunka Kenkyūkai" (Cultural Study Group) to deal with the cultural aspects of Japanese-Chinese relations. In July 1938, it also established the "Shōwa Dōjinkai" (Shōwa Comrades' Association), which brought together middle-level bureaucrats, business leaders, and politicians to spread the ideas it was developing. In November of that year it established a school, the "Shōwajuku" (Shōwa Academy), to train successors in its methods.

Discussion concerning Japan's future polity after the projected victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War dominated discussions after 1937. [Brendon, The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s, page 652] The "Shōwa Kenkyūkai" was a strong proponent of Pan-Asianism, in which it envisioned that Japan would take the leading role, and its thesis influenced Konoe in his New Order in East Asia declaration of November 1938, and formed part of the theoretical basis for the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. [Townsend, Yanihara Tadao and Japanese Colonial Policy: Redeeming Empire, page 223] Politically, the "Shōwa Kenkyūkai" decided that liberal democracy was obsolete, and that the Diet of Japan should be replaced with a corporativist national assembly where membership would be based on occupation, and which would direct a state socialist command economy. [ Streeck, The Origins Of Nonliberal Capitalism, page 75]

Some members also promoted the future political integration of Japan and China, and envisioned a unified economic block that would cover all of Asia.

The "Shōwa Kenkyūkai" was voluntarily absorbed into Konoe's New Order Movement and the "Taisei Yokusankai" in November 1940.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Brendon
first = Piers
authorlink =
year = 2002
title = The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s
publisher = Vintage; Reprint edition
location =
id = ISBN 0-375-70808-1
*cite book
last = Jansen
first = Marius B.
year = 2000
title = The Making of Modern Japan
publisher = Belknap Press
location =
id = ISBN 0674009916
*cite book
last = Steeck
first = Wolfgang
authorlink =
year = 2005
title = The Origins Of Nonliberal Capitalism: Germany And Japan In Comparison
publisher = Cornell University Press
location =
id = ISBN 0801489830
*cite book
last = Pyle
first = Kenneth B
coauthors =
year = 2007
title = Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power And Purpose
publisher = PublicAffairs
location =
id = ISBN: 1586484176
*cite book
last = Townsend
first = Susan
coauthors =
year = 2000
title = Yanihara Tadao and Japanese Colonial Policy: Redeeming Empire
publisher = Routledge Curzon
location =
id = ISBN: 0700712755

External links

* [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft0w1003k0&chunk.id=d0e11532&toc.id=d0e10236&brand=ucpress University of California Article by Ezra Vogel]

Notes