Gekokujō

File:Lt Nibu Masatada Rebels Feb 26 Incident 1936.png]]

{{Nihongo||下克上|Gekokujō|also {{Nihongo2|下剋上}}}} is a Japanese word which refers to someone of a lower position overthrowing someone of a higher position using military or political might, seizing power.『大辞林』第3版下克上 It is variously translated as "the lower rules the higher" or "the low overcomes the high".Ferejohn, John and Frances Rosenbluth (2010). War and State Building in Medieval Japan, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YPkYMoO0ycIC&pg=PA149&dq= p. 149].

History

The term originated from Sui dynasty China. In Japan, it came into use during the 12th-13th century Kamakura period.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Instances of gekokujō date back to the 15th-16th century Sengoku period. Through the chaotic political climate of the era, Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were able to create fervour and acquire political and military power. In 1588, Hideyoshi ordered the sword hunt, a nationwide confiscation of weapons, to try to prevent further insurrection.{{Cite book|author1-link=Karl Friday|last=Friday|first=Karl|title=Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850|year=2012|pages=347}} After the shogunate was established, social mobility and the freedom of soldiers and farmers was restricted to try to prevent further gekokujō.{{Cite book|last=Friday|first=Karl|title=Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850|year=2012|pages=315}} The Tokugawa shogunate adopted a Confucian system of social stratification, which put all members of society into distinct groups, making it difficult for anyone to leave their given social class.{{Cite book|last=Friday|first=Karl|title=Japan Emerging: Premodern History to 1850|year=2012|pages=348–349}}

During the early Showa period (20th century), repeated acts of gekokujō occurred. The Kōdōha ("Imperial Way") faction were responsible for attempting to assassinate many public figures in the 1920s and 1930s, including the visiting Charlie Chaplin, but were given light prison sentences because they received public support.{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Noah|date=2020-03-03|title=Leaders Who Act Like Outsiders Invite Trouble|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-03-03/leaders-who-act-like-outsiders-invite-trouble|url-access=subscription|website=Bloomberg News}} Inspired by the Kōdōha, the Kwantung Army orchestrated the Mukden Incident in 1931, leading to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. British correspondent Hugh Byas described the phenomenon as "government by assassination".{{Cite book|last=Orbach|first=Danny|title=Curse on This Country: The Rebellious Army of Imperial Japan|publisher=Cornell University Press|year=2017|isbn=|location=|pages=2}} Masanobu Tsuji (辻政信) was a well known supporter of extreme gekokujō during World War II.Budge, Kent G. (2006).[http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/T/s/Tsuji_Masanobu.htm "Tsuji Masanobu (1901–1961?)."] In: [http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/Table_Of_Contents.htm The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia.] Retrieved 11 December 2020.

In art

The February 26 Incident is prominently portrayed as an example of gekokujō in Yukio Mishima's short story "Patriotism", and serves as the backdrop for the events of the narrative.{{Cite book |last=Beasley |first=William |title=Modern Japan: Aspects of History, Literature and Society |publisher=University of California Press |year=1975 |pages=86}}

References

{{Cite encyclopedia |title=gekokujō |url=https://archive.org/details/japanillustrated01koda/page/446/mode/2up |url-access=registration |encyclopedia=Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia |year=1993 |volume=1: A–L |location=Tokyo |publisher=Kodansha |isbn=4062064898 |oclc=76078619 |page=447 |quote=Since the medieval period mid-12th–14th centuries) writers have used the term to describe a variety of situations in which established authority was being challenged from below, such as the coup plots and insubordination the 1930s (see February 26 Incident; Militarism).}}

Gekokujō

History

In art

See also

References

Further reading