Documents on Japanese Imperialism
Imperial Rescript to
Soldiers and Sailors, 1882
Soldiers and Sailors, We are your
supreme Commander-in-Chief. Our relations with your will be most
intimate when We rely upon you as Our limbs and you look up to Us as
your head. Whether We are able to guard the Empire, and so prove
Ourself worthy of Heaven’s blessings and repay the benevolence of
Our Ancestors, depends upon the faithful discharge of your duties as
soldiers and sailors. If the majesty and power of Our Empire be
impaired, do you share with Us the sorrow; if the glory of Our arms
shine resplendent, We will share with you the honor. If you all do
your duty, and being one with Us in spirit do your utmost for the
protection of the state, Our people will long enjoy the blessings of
peace, and the might and dignity of Our Empire will shine in the
world. As We thus expect much of you, Soldiers and Sailors, We give
you the following precepts:
I. The
soldier and sailor should consider loyalty their essential duty. Who
that is born in this land can be wanting in the spirit of grateful
service to it? No soldier or sailor, especially, can be considered
efficient unless this spirit be strong within him. A soldier or a
sailor in whom this spirit is not strong, however skilled in art or
proficient in science, is a mere puppet; and a body of soldiers or
sailors wanting in loyalty, however well ordered and disciplined it
may be, is in an emergency no better than a rabble. Remember that,
as the protection of the state and the maintenance of its power
depend upon the strength of its arms, the growth or decline of this
strength must affect the nation’s destiny for good or for evil;
therefore neither be led astray by current opinions nor meddle in
politics, but with single heart fulfill your essential duty of
loyalty, and bear in mind that duty is weightier than a mountain,
while death is lighter than a feather. Never by failing in moral
principle fall into disgrace an bring dishonor upon your name.
The second article
concerns the respect due to superiors and considerations to be shown
inferiors.
3. The soldier
and the sailor should esteem valor …. To be incited by mere
impetuosity to violent action cannot be called true valor. The
soldier and the sailor should have sound discrimination of right and
wrong, cultivate self-possession, and form their plans with
deliberation. Never to despise an inferior enemy or fear a superior,
but to do one’s duty as soldier or sailor—this is true valor.
Those who thus appreciate true valor should in their daily
intercourse set gentleness first and aim to win the love and esteem
of others. If you affect valor and act with violence, the world will
in the end detest you and look upon you as wild beasts. Of this you
should take heed.
4. The soldier
and the sailor should highly value faithfulness and
righteousness.…Faithfulness implies the keeping of one’s word,
and righteousness the fulfillment of one’s duty. If then you wish
to be faithful and righteous in any thing, your must carefully
consider at the outset whether you can accomplish it or not. If you
thoughtlessly agree to do something that is vague in its nature and
bind yourself to unwise obligations, and then try to prove yourself
faithful and righteous, your may find yourself in great straits from
which there is no escape….Ever since ancient times there have been
repeated instances of great men and heroes who, overwhelmed by
misfortune, have perished and left a tarnished name to posterity,
simply because in their effort to be faithful in small matters they
failed to discern right and wrong with reference to fundamental
principles, or because, losing sight of the true path of public duty,
they kept faith in private relations. You should, then, take serious
warning by these examples.
5. The soldier
and sailor should make simplicity their aim. If you do not make
simplicity your aim, you will become effeminate and frivolous and
acquire fondness for luxurious and extravagant ways; you will finally
grow selfish and sordid and sink to the last degree of baseness, so
that neither loyalty nor valor will avail to save you from the
contempt of the world.
These five articles
should not be disregarded even for a moment by soldiers and sailors.
Now for putting them into practice, the all important thing is
sincerity. These five articles are the soul of Our soldiers and
sailors, and sincerity is the soul of these articles. If the heart
be not sincere, words and deeds, however good, are all mere outward
show and can avail nothing. If only the heart be sincere, anything
can be accomplished. Moreover these five articles are the “Grand
Way” of Heaven and earth and the universal law of humanity, easy to
observe and to practice. If you, Soldiers and Sailors, in obedience
to Our instruction, will observe and practice these principles and
fulfil your duty of grateful service to the country, it will be a
source of joy, not to Ourself alone, but to all the people of Japan.
The Imperial
Rescript on Education, 1890
Know ye, Our
subjects:
Our Imperial
Ancestors have founded Our Empire on a basis broad and everlasting
and have deeply and firmly implanted virtue; Our subjects ever united
in loyalty and filial piety have from generation to generation
illustrated the beauty thereof. This is the glory of the fundamental
character of Our Empire, and herein also lies the source of Our
education.
Ye, Our subjects, be
filial to your parents, affectionate to your brothers and sisters; as
husbands and wives be harmonious, as friends true; bear yourselves in
modesty and moderation; extend your benevolence to all; pursue
learning and cultivate arts, and thereby develop intellectual
faculties and perfect moral powers; furthermore advance public good
and promote common interests; always respect the Constitution and
observe the laws; should emergency arise, offer yourselves
courageously to the State; and thus guard and maintain the prosperity
of Our Imperial Throne coeval with heaven and earth.
So shall ye not only
be Our good and faithful subjects, but render illustrious the best
traditions of your forefathers. The Way here set forth is indeed the
teaching bequeathed by Our Imperial Ancestors, to be observed alike
by Their Descendants and the subjects, infallible for all ages and
true in all places.It is Our wish to lay it to heart in all
reverence, in common with you, Our subjects, that we may thus attain
to the same virtue.
The 30th day of the
10th month of the 23rd year of Meiji.
(Imperial Sign
Manual. Imperial Seal.)
Ōkuma Shigenobu, a Japanese Politician, excerpts from “Illusions of the White Race,” 1921
The
Renaissance during the Middle Ages stimulated the progress of the
material civilization in Europe and helped the Europeans to grow richer
and stronger than the Asiatic races who kept on slumbering in their old
civilization. Being seized by an insatiable, aggressive desire, the
Europeans took full advantage of their lethargy and swooped down on
India and other parts of Asia.They either conquered the Asiatic people
by force, or dominated them by dint of superior economic organization,
or cheated them out of their territories. The ascendance of the white
races is due to the fact that they came into the possession of material
civilization a little earlier than their non‑white brothers.
The
whites are obsessed with the mistaken theory that they are superior to
all other races. This is the most serious obstacle in the way of the
realization of racial equality.
Now
the Japanese, the Chinese, the Mongolian, the Turks, the Indians, the
Afghans, the Persians, the Arabs, the Malayans, the American
aborigines, and the African peoples are all non‑white.They are all held
in contempt by the whites. And it is the common belief among the whites
that the darker the skin, the more inferior is the race. It is based
neither upon science, nor upon any positive experience. It is mere
superstition backed by historical prejudices.
The
whites are of the conviction that they are too superior a people to be
governed by their non‑white fellows. Therefore, they demand the
privilege of extraterritoriality in the countries of the Asiatic
races.They establish their own courts and trample underfoot the laws
and courts of Asiatic countries …
Some
whites regard the development of Japan as an unjustifiable encroachment
upon their own rights. They either instigate a non‑white race against
Japan or plan to organize a league of the white nations to perpetuate a
white supremacy in the world. Be it remembered, however, that no unjust
and unreasonable agitation against this country will ever succeed, as
God never sides with an unjust cause.
It
is, of course, true that there are still peoples in this world who are
so backward in civilization that they cannot at once be admitted into
the international family on an equal footing. But it will never do to
give discriminatory treatment to them.What is needed by them is proper
guidance and direction. And when they have reached a certain stage of
civilization, they should be given an equal place and rank in the
comity of the nations. Although most Asiatic nations are fully peers of
European nations, yet they are discriminated against because of the
color of the skin. The root of it lies in the perverted feeling of
racial superiority entertained by the whites. If things are allowed to
proceed in the present way, there is every likelihood that the peace of
the world will be endangered. It, therefore, behooves all well‑ wishers
of mankind to exert their utmost to remove this gross injustice
immediately.
Of
all the non‑white countries, Japan had taken the lead in adopting the
best parts of European civilization — including its military side. She
codified her laws, and reformed her police and judicial systems, her
military and naval forces, thus placing herself almost on an equal
footing with that of the European countries. Therefore, the Europeans
were compelled to withdraw their extraterritorial rights from Japan …
Sources:
http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/jamesorr/ImpResSoldSailors1882web.htm
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Imperial_Rescript_on_Education
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/japan/illusions.pdf