Shōwa study group

The Shōwa study group ( Japanese 昭和 研究 会 , Shōwa kenkyūkai), founded in 1933, dealt with constitutional issues, and after 1937 also propagated an expansive East Asian policy until it was dissolved in 1940.

The study group

The Shōwa study group was founded by the politically committed Gotō Ryūnosuke in October 1933. The association began as an informal organization, with Gotō's original intention to reassess Japan's constitutional policy. His close friend and senior politician Konoe Fumimaro hoped the group would provide ideas for innovative national politics. Gotō asked Rōyama Masamichi (蝋 山 政 道; 1895-1980), a political scientist from the University of Tokyo , to initially head the association. Membership was intentionally made diverse in order to avoid a one-sided ideological tendency. The association comprised scientists, journalists, socialist politicians, bankers and representatives of the semi-official Federation of Youth Groups of Japan (大 日本 連 合 青年 団, Dai-Nippon rengo his-dan), in which Gotō also participated. The press referred to the study group as Konoe's “Brain Trust”.

The Sino-Japanese War of 1937 to 1945, which broke out shortly after Konoe's appointment as prime minister in 1937, now determined the work of the association, which was increasingly unable to agree on a line. Believing that Japan should become the leader of Asia, the group expected and influenced Konoe's declaration of a "New Order in East Asia" (東 亜 新 秩序, Tōa shin-chitsujo) in November 1938. Some members became determined representatives of an "East Asian Cooperative" (東 亜 共同体, Tōa Kyōdōtai). They considered liberal democracy obsolete, arguing that a new "national organization" of designated professionals should replace the state parliament, and they envisioned a political union between Japan and China. Other study groups prepared for a government-planned economy and the economic integration of Japan with Asia. These plans culminated in the "Movement for a New Order" (新 体制 運動, Shin taisei undō), which Konoe initiated in 1940. When it became clear that such radical proposals would not be successful, the association disbanded in November 1940.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Shōwa Kenkyūkai . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 1446.
• Hunter, Janet: Shōwa Kenkyūkai . In: Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. Kodansha International, 1984. ISBN 4-7700-1193-8 . P. 204.