• Between Empire and Democracy - Japan’s Taishō Experience

    Author(s):
    Yalın Akçevin (see profile)
    Date:
    2020
    Subject(s):
    Japan, Area studies, Japan, History, Modern, World politics
    Item Type:
    Essay
    Tag(s):
    Imperial Japan, taisho democracy, Militarism, japanese history, Japanese studies, Modern Japan, Political history
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/9z1q-3j42
    Abstract:
    The Taishō democracy period of early 20th century - then Imperial - Japan appears to observers today as a period, in between two imperialisms, where parties, politicians, and the Imperial Diet seemed to be on the path to becoming the dominant political powers in Imperial Japan. However, this period of "democracy" and parliamentarism was short-lived and ultimately collapsed in 1936 when the military pressures became too high and the center of political power decidedly shifted to the military and its leaders. This essay seeks to understand and explore the rise and fall of Taisho democracy, arguing that this "democratic" and parliamentarian shift in power was brought to an end because it was built on structures which were not necessarily designed to support it and that its proponents did not defend it when faced with outside pressures that sought to end it.
    Notes:
    I have deposited this as an "essay", however, please note that this was a short researched essay written for a graduate course titled "History of Modern Japan". I have edited the file to remove any personal information - such as my student ID - and kept the body of the work intact in terms of content.
    Metadata:
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    3 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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