Analysis Of The Article ' 9 Of The Japanese Constitution '

Starting in the early 1930’s, the Japanese began to display their great imperialistic dreams with ambition and aggression. Their goal was to create a "Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere" where they controlled a vast empire in the western Pacific.1 In September of 1939, Japan signed the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis Treaty, allying themselves with Germany and Italy in an effort to safeguard their interests in China from the Soviet Union. Japan’s only major obstacle left lay in the significant size of the United States Pacific Fleet. To rid themselves of this, Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet in hopes of crippling it enough to prevent any further hindrance from the

When Japan was at the turning point of its economy and in the process of forming a new government, Nakae Chomin wrote A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government, a political theory book that primarily deals with question of Japan’s future with an interesting debate between Champion and the Gentleman. Character Champion thought that Japan should step out of their isolated island and become more forceful in its handling of foreign disputes. He believed that Japan will stay weak if Japan did not have the strength and forces to conquer other nations. The Western learning Gentleman on the other side is a proponent of the modern Western notion of liberty and equality. He criticized Western nations for maintaining large armies that drained their economy. He suggested that Japan should abandon all attempts to compete with the West militarily and commit itself fully to the values that the West did not have. Approximately sixty years has passed since then, and Champion, Gentleman, and Master Nankai have gathered around once again to discuss the postwar Japan, the rise of the militarism, imperialist aggression, and the subsequent adoption

The retaliation of the Japanese had the world concerned by the oppression of military actions and to reveal power during the modern era (1900’s). The strategy of the Japanese

Ultranationalism in Japan began once the global markets collapsed in 1930. Difficult times and a growing need for national glory led to increased militarism. In 1937, Japan invaded China and expanded its empire from the Korean peninsula to Indonesia. However, Japan’s

Article 9. The Diet shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. Every person shall have freedom of religious belief, and the special privileges that every shrine has ever had shall be abolished.

Before the United States dropped the bomb, they allowed Japan a chance to surrender. On July 26, 1945, the allies issued the Potsdam Declaration. This treaty was meant to make Japan surrender without a war. This was a warning that Japan will undergo harsh and utter destruction if they refused the declaration. Two days later Japan stated that they were going to ignore the Potsdam Declaration (“Was the Atomic Bombing”).

In the late 1890s, tensions between China and Japan were growing. China’s power was growing into the early 1900s as it converted to Nationalism. Japan felt the need to expand and conquer because they had been forced into the modern age by the United States, and they believed it was their destiny to exert government over other nations (Chang 23-24). The Japanese felt the need to do something before China became “too powerful to be conquered” (Chang 28-29). This put Japan on the path to war with China (Chang 25).

The United States dropped the atomic bomb after obtaining consent from the United Kingdom. Including the bombing that took place in Nagasaki, a couple of days later, they remain the only use of nuclear weapons in history of welfare. Japan announced its surrender on 15 August 1945, six days after the last bombing took place. The debate of the bombing is still ongoing to this day.

The Americans prior to World War II had always seen the Japanese as an inferior race dating back even further than the time of Commodore Matthew Perry in the mid 19th century. The US government saw the country of Japan as childish and immature. After the War The United States wanted to fix Japan, make it an ally by changing the country into a more western mature nation. The USA wanted to create a democratic economic powerhouse in its own image. The reformation of Japan after the war was simply an imposing of western ideas and values, not unlike the Meiji period that happened almost a century prior. The article shows that the United States needed the help the Japanese because they believed that the Japanese could not help themselves. The article also show a contrast to this with the treatment of the Chinese by the Japanese during the second Sino-Japanese war, who saw them as inferiors. Japan saw themselves as liberators from barbarism as much as the Americans. The article stops itself from being an essay on the shortcomings of the US, but also of Japan; it succeeds in giving discredit where discredit is due, for a more balanced look at both of the

Six days after the bombing on Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war Japan announced its surrender to the Allies. To end the war, the Japanese government signed the instrument of surrender, which is basically a written agreement to surrender the Empire of Japan, to mark the ending of the World War

On August 6, 1945, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, then on August 9, 1945, the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945, ending World War II. It is estimated that 200,000 lives were taken in both of the bombings. Prior to these bombings, during the Potsdam Declaration, Truman advised Japan that they would face “prompt and utter destruction” if they did not surrender. ( Miller Center, 2016 ) 1. ( The White House, 2016 ) 2

“On August 6, the American bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, a Japanese industrial center, completely destroying the city and killing an estimated 70,000 people. Three days later, the U. S. dropped a second bomb, destroying the city of Nagasaki and killing another 39,000 Japanese citizens. Finally, on August 14, Japan surrendered.” (American Experience). The Japanese surrendered because they were a defeated nation. Japan's cities and industry had been destroyed. They could not sail any ships, could not fly any planes and had lost many territories to the United States and allies.

On August 15, 1945 Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s unconditional surrender over the radio “citing the devastating power of “a new and most cruel bomb.”(History, par.1) Victory over Japan had been achieved. On September 2, aboard the USS Missouri the Japanese formally surrenders. After the United States dropped the atomic bombs, it put the United States in a dominate position due to the knowledge that they, if not have a weapon of mass destruction, then they have the ability to create a weapon of mass destruction. This also resulted in other countries wanting a weapon of mass destruction for a variety of reasons.

Is excess the enemy of success? Historical examples and the characters Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Antigone demonstrate that this is the case. In World War II era Japan, pride made their army strong, but eventually destroyed it due to the soldiers’ refusal to surrender even in the face of imminent defeat. In Hitler’s Germany, loyalty originally made the nation strong and rebuilt the economy, but eventually caused that same nation to look away while their leader committed heinous acts. Parallels can be drawn between these historical examples and the characters Oedipus and Antigone, who each experience a fall from grace due to their tragic flaws, excess pride and blind loyalty respectively.

Throughout the work, Fujitani draws evidence from, and references, a plethora of different sources that add validity to his statements and accounts of not only what the Japanese and United States did, but also why they acted the way they did. In a time of war, both countries took different actions that were not readily understood. Japan