The patriotism that makes little Japan go crazy

After the Meiji Restoration, Japan officially imposed extreme restrictions on Buddhism and revered its original religion, Shintoism. Shinto believes that the emperor is a descendant of Amaterasu and his representative on earth; The Japanese nation is descended from God, and other countries are formed by the foam that God splashed when God created Japan.

During World War II, the Japanese left behind a record of extreme patriotism. There are those who commit suicide by disembowelment after defeat; During World War II, a "kamikaze" death squad was formed and rushed to the US ship.

We call Japan in the first half of the twentieth century a militaristic state.

Militarism: It refers to the ideological and political system that advocates force and military expansion, regards reckless military force and aggressive expansion as the foundation of the country, completely puts the country under military control, and makes all aspects of politics, economy, culture and education serve the expansion of arms and foreign wars. Its basic theories include the denial of peace, the insistence that war is inevitable, and even the belief that war itself is beautiful and desirable.

From this point of view, militarism is an act of government and a policy act. Such a policy needs to be underpinned by the ultra-nationalism and patriotism of the people.

Japan's militarism has turned itself into a "martial madman," and it is not something that can be achieved overnight, and it requires a long process of evolution.

Japan scholars believe that the formation of Japan's nationalism was formed under the pressure of "external threats", and according to Ishida Kazura, "the overture to Japan's modernization was played in the mid-18th century when Russia moved south." "The Russian threat made the first appearance of Japan nationalism and gave birth to Japan's modern national consciousness.

After the Meiji Restoration, Japan's national strength increased rapidly. The main reason for the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 was that the upper echelons of Japan believed that Japan itself was the "lifeline" and the countries surrounding Japan were the "line of interests." Japan could not sit idly by and watch Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and even the Ryukyus around Japan. Tsarist Russia was geographically closest to Japan and had done the most harm to Japan, having taken Sakhalin Island. It is believed that if Russia attacked Japan as a whole country, the most economical way under the conditions at that time would be to use Korea as a base and launch a direct attack on Japan. Therefore, Japan feels that it is safer to control the political situation in North Korea.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Japan patriotism has been a "two-in-one" that combines "cohesion" and "expansion".

Patriotism is a natural feeling of the individual, not an "ism". It has become an "ism", and its nature is a government act. Patriotism that becomes an ideology easily slips into the trap of extreme or radical nationalism. The Japanese are like this, constantly imagining a life-and-death war. Constant expression of loyalty to one's own nation in a xenophobic and xenophobic manner. Externally with extreme, irrational, aggressive attitudes and behaviors.

In 1882, Emperor Meiji personally issued the "Military Edict" to the Secretary of Army, emphasizing that the Japan military since Emperor Jimmu had been "commanded by the emperor for generations" and that "Shun was the generalissimo of Ru and other soldiers, so Shun Lai Ru and others were the head of the army", thus exchanging the samurai's loyalty to the daimyo (shogun) who raised them into the army's loyalty to the emperor.

In 1890, the "Decree of Educational Amnesty" was enacted, which extended the spirit of bushido from the samurai to the entire population. Citizens must abide by various etiquette and moral norms in their daily lives, and stipulate dual moral standards for internal and external affairs, with frugality and courtesy and benevolence at home, and only need to "kill the enemy with a long sword" externally. The 200-word "Educational Amnesty Edict" had an extremely important impact on later generations, and from the date of its promulgation to the end of World War II, there were as many as six or seven hundred texts expounding it.

Nationalism - patriotism - militarism. Starting from the baby, it promotes loyalty and patriotism, and propaganda of "Yamato soul". In the course of history education, a large number of myths of one's own people and the nonsense of other nations are concocted to strengthen national pride and contempt and hatred for other peoples. This education has been very successful, injecting the venom of hatred into the hearts of the younger generation. However, the eyes of Japan children who are a few years old have become very terrifying. The generation that "grew up drinking wolf milk" is able to talk about war very easily.

Rendering the brilliant excellence of the ancestors is often a weapon to regain national self-confidence in the face of external survival pressure. In Japan, another successful grafted variety of traditional forces and the modern war machine is the expansion of bushido.

The theory of "bushido" in Japan was originally the so-called "samurai spirit" of "loyalty to death" summed up by Yamaga Soyuki, the pioneer of the ancient school of Japan more than 300 years ago, based on the observance of "loyalty", "martial courage" and "righteousness" advocated by the Chinese Song Confucian. After entering the 20th century, the spirit of "bushido" was widely used by Japan militarists as a powerful tool to boost morale, consolidate the army, imprison and unify the thinking of the people, and implement aggressive and expansionist policies.

The First Sino-Japanese War enabled Japan to realize its former plan of "mainland policy" in one fell swoop, and Taiwan, Korea, and the Liaodong Peninsula were all in the bag. The war reparations of 230 million taels were equivalent to Japan's fiscal revenue for four years at that time. This windfall made the whole of Japan overjoyed. The Foreign Minister at the time, Shin Inoue, said: "Before this indemnity, Japan's Finance Office had never talked about tens of thousands of dollars. The revenue of the state treasury reached only 80 million (yen) yuan. Therefore, the huge amount of 350 million (Japanese) yuan flowed into the country, and people in the government and the opposition regarded it as endless wealth. Both the state-run and the private sector have been greatly expanded in all respects. ”

The Japan government has mainly done three things with war reparations: expanding armaments, establishing a gold standard, and promoting compulsory education. Expenditures for the expansion accounted for 62.8 per cent of the reparations. Under the expansion plan, Japan became the fourth naval power after Britain, France, and Russia. The establishment of the gold standard enabled Japan to quickly integrate into the world economic system. Before the Sino-Japanese War, Japan planned to change the silver standard to the gold standard, but it was difficult to start due to lack of funds, and the Sino-Japanese War reparations of more than 76 million yen "timely" made up for the funding gap.

In just over 20 years after the Sino-Japanese War, the "Theory of the Expansion of Greater Japan," the "Theory of the Partition of Shina," "The Theory of Greater Asianism," and the "New Order of Greater East Asia" were promulgated one after another, and the "History of the East," "History of Shina," and "Study of the National Character of Shina" were published one after another. Militarist literati fabricated a script, did not hesitate to describe Zheng Chenggong as a Japanese in "The Battle of the National Surname", and also ingeniously used "Jin Ping Mei" as the mother of analysis to list the inferior nature of the Chinese, so as to resist the inferiority complex and enhance confidence ·.

In order to make all the Japan people accept the war and support the war, the radio repeatedly reported the courage of the "Imperial Army". Many writers and artists who are well-known in Japan and in China, such as Natsume Soseki, Ryunosuke Wasagawa, and Akira Kurosawa, were once drummers of fascist militarism.

In 1905, under militarist education, the Russo-Japanese War gave Japan hegemony in Manchuria, Korea, and the Far East. Japan has set off a militarist frenzy throughout the country. The Japan military department held a grand ceremony and performed a shrine worship ceremony.

During World War II, when the Japanese army captured Nanjing and Singapore, Japan people held high the sun flag, shouted long live, paraded with lanterns, and cooked red bean rice to celebrate. The military and civilians carnivaled, expressing their deformed patriotism. In fact, they have become victims of militarist cannon fodder.

It has strengthened the belief of Japanese people that "the day will come when the emperor of Japan will become the emperor of the world" and that "the best Japanese nation in the world will conquer the world." The Japan government and military have done a lot of work on war education and militarized training

The purpose of the "Soldier's Edict" is: "Receiving such (self-sacrificing) honors is heavier than Mount Tai, and physical death is lighter than a feather." For example, the most admired figure of Hideki Tojo, a class-A war criminal, was Noshinori Nogi, the commander of the Japanese army who had invented the "meat bullet" attack in the Russo-Japanese War, and "praised" the soldiers for filling the "road to victory" of the emperor's militarism with blood and bones.

In the autumn of 1938, Emperor Hirohito came to the Yasukuni Shrine to pay respects to the soldiers who entered the shrine like gods to enjoy sacrifices, which greatly encouraged the Japanese military and civilians. Because in the hearts of the Japanese military and civilians, the officers and soldiers who died in battle have become the guardian saints of the empire. They are no longer mortals, they have become the pillars of the empire. It is precisely because they have become the pillars of the country that they can enjoy the worship of the emperor and the entire people.

The result of the intensification of patriotic education is to send the people to death. At the end of World War II, the "kamikaze" suicide attack was a typical example of dedication to the emperor. When the 17-8-year-old teenager learned that he had "honored" to serve as a member of the "kamikaze" to fly a plane to crash and sink a United States warship, he was extremely excited to come to the Yasukuni Shrine for his last respect, waving his hands frantically and shouting: "Tomorrow I will die!" Tomorrow you will die". According to Japanese statistics after the war, in the battle of the "kamikaze attack" alone, 2,198 Japanese soldiers were killed and 1,192 suicide planes were lost.

In 1962, Japan published the "Record of Suicide and Martyrdom of the Last War" written by "Nagamatsu Assazo", which mentioned that a total of 527 soldiers committed suicide, including general-level officers. Among them, there were 5 army generals, 11 lieutenant generals, 6 major generals, and 16 large generals, accounting for 7% of all suicides. The most terrible incident occurred on the day Emperor Hirohito announced his surrender, and after an elementary school in Yokohama heard the emperor's edict of surrender, the principal led a group of elementary school students to commit suicide by throwing themselves into the sea.

Because of the inculcation of too much hatred, respect, love, love for humanity, love for peace, the most important values of modern society, are missing in the ultra-nationalist generation in Japan.

Thankfully, Japan defeat in 1945, the future of the 100 million Japan was handed over to a United States man, MacArthur, who not only confiscated all Japan weapons, but even destroyed the katana of each family. Punish militarists and eradicate old forces that are closely related to Japan's militarism. A new generation of pro-American, Western-minded people with Western democratic colors should be hired to carry out democratic reforms modeled on United States. He advocated the preservation of the imperial system, the hereditary throne, and the exercise of the functions of the emperor on the basis of the constitution. In 1947, a new Constitution of Japan was formulated. This makes Japan a parliamentary state symbolized by the emperor.

In post-war Japan, all patriotic propaganda and education in schools was abolished. Even the words "for the country" are strictly forbidden to appear in any textbook. It is forbidden to force the singing of the national anthem. However, generations of Japanese have been born who cherish and love Japan and their living environment.

Why is Japan, which does not have patriotic education, but has gained the love of the people from the heart?

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