Shinmin no Michi

The nihongo|"Shinmin no Michi"|臣民の道|"The Path of Subjects" was an ideological manifesto issued by the Ministry of Education of Japan during World War II aimed at Japan’s domestic audience to explain in clear terms what was expected of them "as a people, nation and race". [Dower, War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War, page 24]

Origins

During the summer of 1941, Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe, ordered the Minister of Education of Japan to compose a "Bible of the Japanese People", under the title of "Shinmin no Michi", which was also sometimes called "Hito-do" (Subject's Way), or "Shinja-do" (The Path of the Follower). The first edition of 30,000 was issued in August 1941 and distributed to all schools in Japan.

The "Shinmin no Michi" offered three chapters which required only a few minutes of reading, explaining how subjects to the Emperor were to behave. It also presented a brief overview of world history from the Japanese viewpoint in the first third of the first chapter.

Themes

One of the main theme of the book dwelled on the direct descent of Emperor Shōwa from goddess Amaterasu and the religious characterization of the Kokutai which was identified as a "theocracy" in which "the way of the subject is to be loyal to the Emperor in disregard of self, thereby supporting the Imperial Throne coextensive with the Heavens and with Earth." Emperor Shōwa and his war ("seisen") were described as "holy". The virtues he embodied were unique and immutable. [John Dower, "Embracing Defeat", 1999, p.277 ]

Filial piety and loyalty were the supreme virtues of the subjects of the imperial state and the book denounced the "individualism", liberalism, utilitarianism and materialism that imperiled those virtues. [John Dower, "Embracing Defeat", 1999, p.277 ]

The "Shinmin no Michi" also explained that the Allied powers had bent on world domination for centuries, and had been quite successful as evidenced by the fact that only a few thousand Europeans now ruled over 450 million Asians. The western values system, based on greed and self-indulgence, was to blame for countless bloody wars of aggression, and for the current world economic crisis. America was singled out for special criticism, with mention made of black slavery and the mistreatment of minorities and immigrants.

:"the entry of Western countries in all parts of whole world, including the Far East, has given them international domination, and also led them to believe that they themselves possess the right to commit injurious acts against others".

Regarding the "holy" war in China:

:"the country was contaminated by perverted thinking and our sacred duty is to clean this and to return to the virtuous customs of our ancestors. It is by working with harmony and cooperation and making manifest our national dignity that the Heavenly Spirits of our Ancestors should be obeyed in a dutiful manner, which, by working in harmony with others, is for the greater glory of the Throne".

The United States and Great Britain were accused in the "Shinmin no Michi" of impeding the establishment of a state of general peace between Japan and China".

The other sections refer to correct social and moral customs, some racial and eugenic ideas, theology and religion, martial doctrines and other aspects of local customs.

The Way of the Family

The "Shinmin no Michi" was supplemented in 1942 by the "Ie no Michi" (or formally, the "Senji Katei Kyuiku Shido Yoko"), which elaborated on sections of the "Kokutai no Hongi" pertaining to traditional hierarchical familial relationships. Family harmony is maintained by having each member fulfill his/her proper function in the family structure, and likewise this principle applies also to the community as a whole, as well as to the State. [Dower, War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War, page 280]

See also

* Imperial Rescript on Education
* Kokutai no Hongi
* Education in the Empire of Japan
* Hakko ichiu

References

*cite book
last = Dower
first = John W
authorlink =
year = 1997
title = War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War
publisher = Pantheon
location =
id = ISBN 0394751728
*cite book
last = Reynolds
first = E Bruce
authorlink =
year = 2004
title = Japan in the Fascist Era
publisher = Palgrave MacMillian
location =
id = ISBN 140396338X
*cite book
last = Tolischus
first = Otto
authorlink =
year = 1944
title = Tokyo Record
publisher = Hamish Hamilton
location =
id = ASIN: B000LXFP9M

Notes