During the first quarter of the twentieth century, the Japanese
political system appeared to evolve significantly
toward the Western democratic model. Political parties
expanded their popular following and became increasingly
competitive, while individual pressure groups such
as labor unions began to appear in Japanese society, along
with an independent press and a bill of rights. The
influence of the old ruling oligarchy, the genro, had not
yet been significantly challenged, however, nor had that
of its ideological foundation, the kokutai.
The fragile flower of democratic institutions was able
to survive throughout the 1920s. During that period, the
military budget was reduced, and a suffrage bill enacted
in 1925 granted the vote to all Japanese adult males.
Women remained disenfranchised, but women’s associations
gained increased visibility during the 1920s, and
women became active in the labor movement and in
campaigns for various social reforms.
But the era was also marked by growing social turmoil,
and two opposing forces within the system were gearing
up to challenge the prevailing wisdom. On the left, a
Marxist labor movement, which reflected the tensions
within the working class and the increasing radicalism
among the rural poor, began to take shape in the early
1920s in response to growing economic difficulties. Attempts
to suppress labor disturbances led to further radicalization.
On the right, ultranationalist groups called for
a rejection of Western models of development and a more
militant approach to realizing national objectives. In
1919, radical nationalist Kita Ikki called for a military
takeover and the establishment of a new system bearing a
strong resemblance to what would later be called fascism
in Europe (see Chapter 6).
This cultural conflict between old and new, native and
foreign, was reflected in the world of literature. Japanese
self-confidence had been somewhat restored after victories
over China and Russia, and this resurgence sparked a
great age of creativity in the early twentieth century. Japanese
writers blended Western psychology with Japanese
sensibility in exquisite novels reeking with nostalgia for
the old Japan. A well-known example is Junichiro Tanizaki’s
Some Prefer Nettles, published in 1928, which delicately
juxtaposes the positive aspects of both traditional
and modern Japan. By the 1930s, however, military censorship
increasingly inhibited free literary expression.
Many authors continued to write privately, producing
works that reflected the gloom of the era. This attitude is
perhaps best exemplified by Shiga Naoya’s novel A Dark
Night’s Journey, written during the early 1930s and capturing
a sense of the approaching global catastrophe. It is
regarded as the masterpiece of modern Japanese literature.
World History
