The Japanese anti-war resistance during WWII

[rug]

07 August 2015 | Kaye Broadbent and Tom O’Lincoln

This article is based on a chapter from Fighting on all fronts: popular resistance in the Second World War, edited by Donny Gluckstein. The book will have its Australian launch on 21 August at the New International Bookshop, Trades Hall, Melbourne.

----------

Histories of war time Japan in English portray Japan as a monolithic entity, with the population united behind the militaristic goals of the state. The kamikaze pilots symbolise this perspective – young men eager to die for the emperor.

It is well-documented that the Japanese state and military cast a heavy shadow over the whole society, imposing uniformity from above from the time it invaded Manchuria in 1931 until its surrender in 1945. What is little known or reported in English is the resistance against the increasing military expansion and militarisation of society, exacerbated by the deprivation, misery and devastation of lives.

The resistance was both collective and individual as the state’s war of aggression was also waged against its own population. Left wing activists, workers, unionists and minorities such as Koreans and burakujumin (ethnically Japanese but considered outcasts) were particularly targeted. But the banning of left wing groups, the forced amalgamation of unions into an industrial association, Sanpo (Patriotic Industrial Association), and the gaoling and torturing of political and union activists, did not stop the resistance.

There are examples of individual resistance from the military, including within the ranks of the renowned kamikaze pilots, by peasants, by Koreans forced into slave labour in the mines, and by workers and the intelligentsia. There are numerous examples of individual resistance from the military, including within the ranks of the kamikaze pilots, by peasants, Koreans forced into slave labour in the mines, workers and the intelligentsia. The resistance took the form of violent struggle, workplace sabotage and absenteeism and activists continuing their activism in the form of poetry, graffiti, jokes and publications.

https://redflag.org.au/article/japanese-anti-war-resistance-during-wwii

[Igel]

1. A lot of what's billed as "anti-war resistance" needs a bit more evidence.

Soldiers not wanting to fight--is that because they're anti-war or just anti-death? Yes, there's a difference: One is a principled stance, "This war is wrong." The other is also principled, but more along the lines of, "I don't want to die." One =/= the other.

Students retaliating against punishment =/= anti-war. It's "you punished us unfairly, shut it down." It's about them, not the war.

Claims of sabotage are routine in highly structured situations. Russia had huge rates of sabotage. Problem is, they probably didn't. They had sloppy workers, shoddy equipment, unrealistically fast production lines. Yes, they also had sabotage. But to admit workers were sloppy = bad training and workers = bad management; shoddy equipment = bad management; too fast production = bad management. Best to blame sabotage and execute people than to have management, perhaps senior management, perhaps the politicians running things, outed as incompetent and have them executed.

That there was some anti-war resistance is almost certain. But when there's motivation to play up that resistance and an audience that wants to believe I tend to go all skeptic. It's like "septic," but different.

[rug]

2. What's the motivation?

[Octafish]

5. Bertrand Russell do?

From a poster somewhere on the Internet:

Bertrand Russell met members of Japanese anti-war movement when he was visiting Japan before WWII. He tells how brave and determined they were. He also mentions how cops bragged publicly of how they killed the whole family of anti war activist.

SOURCE: The Autobiography of Bertrand Russell, pp. 366-368, 376

[Octafish]

3. Same thoughts occurred in my mind post-September 11.

But not all unions disappeared. One of the unions that resisted dissolution was the Printers Union, which transformed itself into the Printers Club. The Printers Union stated that it wanted to “show the determination of Japan’s entire union movement”. The Director of the club, Shibata Keiichiro, said: “Our members thought that no matter how much strain we were put under, we had to ensure the club survived.

Democracy.

PS: Thank you for a great OP and thread, which are your usual, rug.

[rug]

4. Thanks!

[Eleanors38]

6. Allegedly, Isoroku Yamamoto narrowly escaped assassination pre-WW II.

A far right group was the culprit, and wanted Yamamoto dead because he counseled against war with the U.S. Yamamoto would become the top figure in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He was "assassinated" mid-war by a squadron of P-38s when U.S.code-breakers found out about his travel plans to an IJN base.

[roamer65]

10. He was the Erwin Rommel of Japan.

Except he didn't live long enough to be involved in a coup attempt like Rommel.

When asked by top brass if he could win the war, he told them I could keep the Americans at bay for 1 year so, at most. It wasn't even that long, as the Battle of Midway turned the tide in the June of 1942. But, that is what happens when you paint your wooden aircraft carrier decks bright yellow, with a rising sun on them. Ready made targets for bombing.

[sarisataka]

11. I believe you are correct

He was made Commander of the Combined Fleet as a security measure. By rank and seniority he should have been at Imperial HQ but as a fleet commander he stayed aboard the battleships Mutsu and Yamato where the IJN could better protect him.

[Cleita]

7. I had a Japanese immigrant friend, whose brother died as a kamikaze pilot.

She was just a child then. But I learned then that not just anyone was assigned to be a kamikaze. Her family were descended from and kept some of the Samurai tradition, so committing suicide for the greater good was considered honorable deed. Also, they considered the emperor a god. Also, my husband worked with another Japanese immigrant who had been a kamikaze. My husband asked him why he was still here and the man said he always seemed to have a lot of engine trouble at the last minute. I guess he was one of those rebels who wasn't gung ho about dying for his emperor and didn't believe in the war.

[rug]

8. !

Kamikaze engine trouble!

[Cleita]

9. I don't know if the guy was pulling my husband's chain but

it makes a good story. What if it's true!

[MisterP]

12. the two best introductory books to the Pacific War I've found are

http://www.amazon.com/War-Without-Mercy-Power-Pacific/dp/0394751728/ which explains the general war's motivations, unflinchingly, and
http://www.amazon.com/Japan-at-War-Oral-History/dp/1565840399/ which is goddamn horrifying