Conservatism in Japan

During the Meiji era (1868–1912), Japan underwent a significant transformation as the country embarked on a process of rapid modernization and Westernization. While embracing modern reforms to strengthen Japan's economy and military, conservative factions within the government and society sought to preserve traditional Japanese values and institutions. The Meiji government implemented policies aimed at centralizing power under the Emperor, promoting nationalism, and reinforcing social hierarchies. These conservative efforts aimed to maintain social order amidst the profound societal changes brought about by industrialization and Western influence. Samurai values of loyalty, duty, and honor continued to influence conservative thought, emphasizing allegiance to the Emperor and the preservation of Japan's cultural identity in the face of Western encroachment.{{Citation |last=Pyle |first=Kenneth B. |title=Meiji conservatism |date=1989 |work=The Cambridge History of Japan: Volume 5: The Nineteenth Century |volume=5 |pages=674–720 |editor-last=Jansen |editor-first=Marius B. |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-japan/meiji-conservatism/6AEC88518D9FEDBEE07261306E2E0F62 |access-date=2024-04-18 |series=The Cambridge History of Japan |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-05509-3}}{{Cite web |title=Conservatism - Japanese Tradition, Nationalism, Reforms {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/conservatism/Japan |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=www.britannica.com}}{{Cite web |title=Meiji and Taishō Japan: An Introductory Essay {{!}} TEA Online Curriculum Projects {{!}} University of Colorado Boulder |url=https://www.colorado.edu/ptea-curriculum/becoming-modern/meiji-and-taisho-japan-introductory-essay |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=www.colorado.edu}}

In the 1930s and 40s, conservatism took on a more extreme character. Influenced by rising militarism and expansionist ambitions, conservative factions within the government and military advocated for aggressive foreign policies aimed at securing Japan's dominance in East Asia. This period saw the emergence of ultranationalist parties such as the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and the militarization of Japanese society, with conservative forces pushing for military expansion and imperialist ventures in China and other parts of Asia. The rise of militarism and ultranationalism led to the erosion of democratic institutions and a tightening grip of authoritarianism, resulting in Japan's involvement in World War II.{{Cite web |date=2021-11-17 |title=Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and the Anti-Comintern Pact |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/nazi-germany-imperial-japan-anti-comintern-pact |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=The National WWII Museum {{!}} New Orleans}}{{Cite web |title=1930s Japan: A Time of Turmoil and Transformation |url=https://wrightwood659.org/resources/1930s-japan-a-time-of-turmoil-and-transformation/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=Wrightwood 659}}{{Cite web |title=Fascism in Japan {{!}} History of Western Civilization II |url=https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory2/chapter/fascism-in-japan/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=courses.lumenlearning.com}}

After the war, Japanese conservatism experienced a resurgence under the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which came to power in 1955 and established the "1955 system" of conservative dominance in Japanese politics. Due to this, the LDP emerged as a dominant political force which lasts to this day.{{Cite web |date=2024-03-20 |title=Liberal-Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Liberal-Democratic-Party-of-Japan |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=www.britannica.com}}{{Cite web |title=The Formation of the Liberal Democratic Party {{!}} Liberal Democratic Party of Japan |url=https://www.jimin.jp/english/about-ldp/history/104257.html |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=www.jimin.jp}}

{{seealso|Neoconservatism in Japan}}

Japanese conservatism espouses classical conservative stances and values in relation to the nuclear family, the nation-state, property rights, rule of law, and monarchy. As such, this section will only highlight policies that are exclusive to Japanese conservatism.

Japanese conservatives advocate for revising the country's constitution, particularly Article 9, which renounces war and prohibits Japan from maintaining a military. Constitutional revision was the priority of many conservative prime ministers throughout the 20th and 21st century, notably during the second premiership of Shinzo Abe from 2012 to 2020.

Japanese conservatives and politicians often engage in denial of Japanese war crimes committed during the Imperial era (1868–1945), most notably its denial of the Nanjing and Kantō Massacres, making pseudohistorical claims that such events did not take place. Japanese conservatives occasionally engage in historical revisionism, glorifying aspects of Japan's wartime past, such as by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, a Shinto shrine in Tokyo commemorating the 2,466,532 who died in service of Japan, including 1066 convicted war criminals. This has led to many controversies surrounding the shrine, as visits to the shrine by Japanese prime ministers, cabinet members, or parliamentarians draw condemnation from countries such as China and South Korea. Some Japanese conservatives have attempted to justify Japan's involvement in World War II by framing it as a noble cause to "liberate Asia from Western colonial powers".

Following the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, popular opinion towards nuclear energy has been contentious. While most Japanese conservatives advocate for the continued use and expansion of nuclear power, some moderates have called for phasing out nuclear energy entirely due to safety concerns and environmental risks.{{Cite web |last=Canada |first=Asia Pacific Foundation of |title=Japan’s Energy Security Debate Revived After New Year’s Quake |url=https://www.asiapacific.ca/publication/japans-energy-security-debate-revived-after-deadly-quake |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada}}

Japan's practice of whaling has been a source of controversy both domestically and internationally.{{Cite web |title=US-Japan whaling spat threatens Indo-Pacific trade deal |url=https://www.ft.com/content/bad6fb05-8836-4f9e-9b71-1a5183be816c |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=www.ft.com}} Most Japanese conservatives argue for the preservation of whaling as a cultural tradition and an important economic activity as opposed to Japanese liberals who mostly advocate for stricter regulations or an end to commercial whaling.{{Cite news |date=2024-03-06 |title=Life in Japan: Whaling and national pride |url=https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20240306/p2a/00m/0op/011000c |access-date=2024-04-18 |work=Mainichi Daily News}}

Japanese conservatives have often opposed changing the Imperial Household Law to allow for female succession to the Chrysanthemum Throne.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-22 |title=“Dual Lineage” as Japanese Tradition: The Female Emperor Debate Moves Forward |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/d00954/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=nippon.com}} Similarly, Japanese conservatives have opposed the country's surname reforms where married couples would be given the option of choosing either spouse's surname or creating a new surname altogether.{{Cite web |title=Debate over surnames hinders reform agenda of Japanese PM |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Inside-Japanese-politics/Debate-over-surnames-hinders-reform-agenda-of-Japanese-PM |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=Nikkei Asia}}{{Cite web |last=Konohana |first=Waka |date=2024-02-07 |title=The land where single surnames are the only option |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2024/02/07/japan/japan-single-surnames-marriage-change/ |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=The Japan Times}}

Japanese conservatives, with the exception of far-right ultranationalists, generally accept and embrace the country's close relations with the United States, supporting the U.S.–Japan Alliance and the presence of U.S. military forces in Japanese territory in contrast to Japanese progressives who opposes both the military alliance and the presence of American troops. Moreover, Japanese conservatives advocate for a stronger foreign policy against China (due to territorial disputes and geopolitical competition) and North Korea (due to its nuclear program and abductions of Japanese citizens), and sometimes towards South Korea (due to territorial disputes, comfort women issue, and trade disputes) and Russia (due to territorial disputes and Russia's invasion of Ukraine). Due to Japan's hostile relations with China, most Japanese conservatives support establishing closer relations with Taiwan, with prominent conservative politicians advocating for direct intervention if war between Taiwan and China were to break out.{{Cite web |last=China (Taiwan) |first=Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of |date=2024-01-11 |title=MOFA sincerely thanks Japan’s Aso for supporting Taiwan |url=https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=2&post=247175 |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=Taiwan Today}}{{Cite web |title=Shinzo Abe Transformed Japan’s Relationship With Taiwan to Counter Threats from China |url=https://www.cfr.org/blog/shinzo-abe-transformed-japans-relationship-taiwan-counter-threats-china |access-date=2024-04-18 |website=Council on Foreign Relations}}

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Japanese conservatives have expressed support for Ukraine due to Japan's ongoing territorial dispute with Russia regarding the Kuril Islands, which the Japanese government claims are "illegally occupied" by Russia. According to a 2012 Pew Global Attitudes Project survey, 72% of Japanese people view Russia unfavorably, making Japan the most anti-Russian country surveyed.{{cite web|year=2012|title=Opinion of Russia|url=http://www.pewglobal.org/database/indicator/27/survey/14/response/Unfavorable/ |access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Pew Research Center}} A 2017 poll from the Japanese government found that 78.1% of Japanese said that they felt little or no affinity to Russia, which was the second highest percentage out of 8 regions polled (behind negative affinity to China at 78.5%).{{Cite web|date=December 2017 |title=Overview of the Public Opinion Survey on Diplomacy (page 4)|url=https://survey.gov-online.go.jp/h29/h29-gaiko/summary.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301153811/https://survey.gov-online.go.jp/h29/h29-gaiko/summary.pdf |archive-date=1 March 2021 |website=Public Relations Office, Government of Japan}}

• Liberal Democratic Party (Ruling party: 1955–1993; 1994–2009; 2012–present)
• Komeito (Junior coalition partner of the LDP since 1999)
• Nippon Ishin no Kai
• Democratic Party For the People
• Sanseitō
• Conservative Party of Japan

• NHK Party
• Japan First Party
• Happiness Realization Party
• Tomin First no Kai
• First no Kai
• Tsubasa Party
• Greater Japan Patriotic Party

• Nippon Kaigi (Non-governmental organization and lobbying group)

• Liberal Party (Predecessor to the LDP)
• Japan Democratic Party (Predecessor to the LDP)

• New Liberal Club
• Japan New Party
• Japan Renewal Party
• New Party Sakigake
• New Frontier Party

• People's New Party
• Your Party
• Sunrise Party
• New Renaissance Party
• Japan Restoration Party
• Japan Innovation Party
• Kibō no Tō
• Party for Japanese Kokoro
• Kōmeitō (1962–1998)
• Democratic Socialist Party
• Dōshi Club
• Liberal Party (1998)
• Liberal Party (Japan, 1950)
• Democratic Party (Japan, 1947)
• Spirit of Japan Party

• Imperial Rule Assistance Association
• Tōhōkai

• Constitutional Democratic Party
• Rikken Seiyūkai
• Shōwakai

• Yomiuri Shimbun (Chūō Kōron)
• Fujisankei Communications Group (Sankei Shimbun, Fuji Television, Seiron)
• Bungei Shunjū (Shokun!)
• Japanese Culture Channel Sakura
• Shufu no Tomo
• Shukan Shincho

Prominent Japanese conservative figures include:

File:Saigo Takamori.jpg|link=|{{nowrap|Saigō Takamori}}{{cite book |author=Wenkai He |title=Paths Toward the Modern Fiscal State |quote=Political conservatives, including Saigo Takamori, attributed the fiscal difficulties of the government to Westernizing projects, such as railway building. |page=89 |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2013}}

File:In Korea with Marquis Ito - Frontispiece (cropped).jpg|link=|Prime minister {{nowrap|Itō Hirobumi}}{{cite book |author=Samuel L. Leiter |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Kabuki_at_the_Crossroads/O_i91N-FlLMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=conservative+It%C5%8D+Hirobumi&pg=PA689 |title=Kabuki at the Crossroads: Years of Crisis, 1952-1965 |quote=It begins in 1881 with attempts by Ökuma's opponents, led by the conservative Itō Hirobumi (Bandō Mitsugoro), to get the Meiji emperor to remove him from his position. |publisher=Brill |year=2013}}

File:Okakura Tenshin.jpg|link=|{{nowrap|Okakura Kakuzō}}{{Cite journal |last=Yoshimi |first=T |date=2012 |title=Okakura Tenshin: Civilization Critique from the Standpoint of Asia (1962) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42801038 |journal=Review of Japanese Culture and Society}}

File:Hideki Tojo.jpg|link=|Prime minister {{nowrap|Hideki Tojo}}{{cite web |title=Tojo Hideki, General (1884–1948) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781444338232.wbeow634 |quote=He was also a strong social and political conservative who believed Japan should purge itself of liberal democracy and establish authoritarian government. |publisher=Wiley Online Library |date=13 November 2011 |access-date=1 May 2025}}

File:Shigeru Yoshida suit.jpg|link=|Prime minister {{nowrap|Shigeru Yoshida}}{{cite book |author=Edward Friedman |title=The Politics Of Democratization: Generalizing East Asian Experiences |quote=Still, had Japan's conservative Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida conceded to Washington's 1950s pressure for cold war military activities against foreign communists, or if Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda had not, in the 1960s, shared the wealth in an income-expanding equity pact, then the late 1940s reverse course could have discredited Japan's democratization and crippled the fledgling democracy. |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2019}}

File:Hatoyama Ichirō.jpg|link=|Prime minister {{nowrap|Ichirō Hatoyama}}{{cite book |author=Carolyn Wilson Pumphrey |title=The Rise of China in Asia: Security Implications |quote=In the 1950s conservative Prime Minister Ichiro Hatoyama |publisher=Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College |page=183 |year=2002}}

File:Nobusuke Kishi portrait.jpg|link=|Prime minister {{nowrap|Nobusuke Kishi}}{{cite web |title=Kishi Nobusuke |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Kishi-Nobusuke |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2025-05-01}}

File:Yukio Mishima, 1955 (cropped).jpg|link=|{{nowrap|Yukio Mishima}}{{Cite web |url=https://japantoday.com/category/features/opinions/yukio-mishima-the-lost-samurai |title=Yukio Mishima – 'The Lost Samurai' |website=Japan Today|date=12 January 2014 }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2015/11/21/general/yukio-mishimas-enduring-unexpected-influence/ |title=Yukio Mishima's enduring, unexpected influence |last=Flanagan |first=Damian |date=21 November 2015 |work=The Japan Times}}

File:Takeo Fukuda 19761224.jpg|link=|Prime minister {{nowrap|Takeo Fukuda}}{{cite book |author=Ka Mei Samantha Ma |title=Japan from Koizumi to Abe: Do Leaders Matter in Constitutional Reform |quote=It is a conservative and nationalist faction of the LDP initiated by former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda in 1962. |publisher=Taylor & Francis |page=1982 |year=2023}}

File:Yasuhiro Nakasone 19821127.jpg|link=|Prime minister {{nowrap|Yasuhiro Nakasone}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.donga.com/en/article/all/20191130/1915195/1 |title=Former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone dies at 101 |quote=Japan's former conservative Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who led the country's post-World War II politics in the 1980s, died at the age of 101 on Friday. |date=30 November 2019 |work=The Dong-A Ilbo}}

File:Junichiro Koizumi 20010426 (cropped).jpg|link=|Prime minister {{nowrap|Junichiro Koizumi}}{{cite book |author=Amy Catalinac |title=Electoral Reform and National Security in Japan: From Pork to Foreign Policy |quote=On August 30, 2002, conservative Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2001–6) announced that he would visit Pyongyang on September 17 for a meeting with DPRK leader Kim Jong Il. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=197 |year=2016}}

File:Tarō Asō 20100714 (retouched).jpg|link=|Prime minister {{nowrap|Tarō Asō}}{{cite web |title=Taro Aso |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Taro-Aso |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2025-05-01}}

File:Shintarō Ishihara 2003.jpg|link=|Governor {{nowrap|Shintaro Ishihara}} of Tokyo{{cite web |title=Ishihara Shintarō |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ishihara-Shintaro |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2025-05-01}}

File:Tōru Hashimoto.jpg|link=|Governor {{nowrap|Tōru Hashimoto}} of Osaka{{cite book|editor=Ming Wan |title=Understanding Japan-China Relations: Theories and Issue |url=https://www.google.com/search?q=right-wing+populism+T%C5%8Dru+Hashimoto&tbm=bks&start=10#:~:text=Understanding%20Japan%2DChina%20Relations%3A%20Theories%20and%20Issues |quote= ... which then merged with the Japan Restoration Party founded by a conservative populist politician Hashimoto Toru, ... |date=2015 |page=91 |publisher=World Scientific }}

File:Shinzō Abe 20120501.jpg|link=|Prime Minister {{nowrap|Shinzo Abe}}{{cite news |last=Yoshida |first=Reji |date=26 December 2012 |title=Formed in childhood, roots of Abe's conservatism go deep |quote=Those “conservative” and “hawkish” stances include a desire to amend the Constitution, to end the government’s ban on collective defense, to strengthen the Japan-U.S. military alliance and to even “reform” the education system by weeding out “problematic” left-leaning teachers. |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/12/26/national/formed-in-childhood-roots-of-abes-conservatism-go-deep |work=The Japan Times |access-date=11 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608045820/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/12/26/national/formed-in-childhood-roots-of-abes-conservatism-go-deep |archive-date=8 June 2019 |url-status=live}}

File:Sanae Takaichi 20190617 (cropped).jpg|link=|{{nowrap|Sanae Takaichi}}{{cite news |last= Osaki |first= Tomohiro |date= |title= Could Japan soon have a female leader? Sanae Takaichi emerges as a contender |url= https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/09/05/national/sanae-takaichi-ldp-contender/ |work= The Japan Times |access-date= 7 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905090228/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/09/05/national/sanae-takaichi-ldp-contender/ |archive-date=2021-09-05 |url-status=live}}

• Liberalism in Japan
• List of political parties in Japan
• Politics of Japan

{{reflist}}

{{Conservatism}}

{{Asia topic |Conservatism in}}

Category:Conservatism in Japan

Category:Conservatism

Category:Politics of Japan

Category:Politics of Post-war Japan

Category:Nationalism in Japan

ja:保守#戦後昭和