National Spiritual Mobilization
A stoic figure is depicted with stone-like ruggedness illuminated by a ray of hope and with the rising sun of Japan visible in the top-left. A Japanese poster calling for the spiritual mobilization of its populace to steel themselves for the upcoming conflict. It celebrates the ardor of struggle, reminding each of his duty towards the nation and the dogged determination which will guide one through to towards eventual triumph. The red text at the bottom is a four-letter Japanese lexeme roughly translating to “unyielding perseverance, untiring endurance”, alluding to the stoic character of the Japanese people and calling for them to exercise this iron will in the face of unprecedented adversity. In an address to the people of East Asia, then Prime Minister Hideki Tojo would state that “to win a war, what is just as important as our material arsenal is our spiritual arsenal. While earthly substances are finite, what we have as an infinite and exhaustible resource is indeed this spiritual power.”
As espoused by General Sadao Araki who contributed greatly to the Spiritual Mobilization Movement’s implementation, the Japanese martial ethos placed great focus on a concept known as seishin, roughly corresponding to spirit, will or soul. There was a widespread belief within the Japanese military apparatus that pure will and relentless morale could overcome material shortcomings, reflecting Nietzsche’s concept of the will to power. As with many Nietzschean concepts, this is a recurring theme within right-wing philosophies, whether acknowledged or not, rooted in a so-called master morality. While limited in its application to the economic sciences and perhaps even detrimental to the material war effort, this focus on perfecting the immaterial, martial psyche of the soldier provided the armed forces of Japan with its defining character and most valuable asset, being the uncompromising morale of its servicemen, even in the face of certain death. More importantly however, as a nation that was fundamentally molded around the military and with a society that revolved around it as its main institutional pillar, this highly disciplined and duty-bound martial ethos came to permeate the whole of Japanese society and is responsible for shaping Japan’s culture as we know it today. With Japan’s demilitarization following the Second World War this attitude yet persists, but tends to inevitably be funneled towards one’s career instead the role it was originally intended to, and arose organically, to serve. This historico-spiritual dissonance, that is, the popular rejection of Japan’s intrinsically martial culture and disregard for its illustrious military history, both impedes Japan’s self-actualization as a nation and is responsible for the subconscious lack of purpose that undoubtedly plagues many throughout society today.
The National Spiritual Mobilization Movement addressed civilian morale as part of Japan’s wider efforts to mobilize its economic and human resources for total war as enacted in the General Mobilization Law of 1938 issued by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. Konoe sought to rid domestic infighting through means similar to the German Gleichschaltung, in which Japanese society was reorganized to coordinate its efforts, resulting in the nationalization of key industries and the establishment of a technofascist state headed by the Taisei Yokusankai (Imperial Rule Assistance Association). The national polity was anatomically likened to a biological organism, wherein its constituent sectors would function semi-autonomously as individual bodily organs would, with the ruling party acting as the central nervous system to direct its efforts. Drawn from the Kokutai (national body) theory, it is comparable to corporatist methods of economic management as espoused in general fascist economic theory. Its etymological likeness is also worth noting, as the term corporatism is derived from Latin corpus, meaning body, much like how the Kokutai views the nation in anatomical terms.
According to Kokutai theory, the cultural essence of a people constitute eternal and immutable aspects of the national polity, derived from history, tradition, and custom. As opposed to the primary and eternal nature of the Kokutai, the secondary Seitai refers to the form of government contingent to historical circumstances, being ever-changing as a result, The construction a Seitai that reflects the inalterable and organic essence of the Kokutai must thus be pursued par the same logic that technology be subject to the inalterable laws of nature to properly function.
Illustrated by Hiroshi Ouchi.
Text reads: Imperial Government. National Citizenry Spiritual Mobilization Movement. Unyielding Perseverance, Untiring Endurance.
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A stoic figure is depicted with stone-like ruggedness illuminated by a ray of hope and with the rising sun of Japan visible in the top-left. A Japanese poster calling for the spiritual mobilization of its populace to steel themselves for the upcoming conflict. It celebrates the ardor of struggle, reminding each of his duty towards the nation and the dogged determination which will guide one through to towards eventual triumph. The red text at the bottom is a four-letter Japanese lexeme roughly translating to “unyielding perseverance, untiring endurance”, alluding to the stoic character of the Japanese people and calling for them to exercise this iron will in the face of unprecedented adversity. In an address to the people of East Asia, then Prime Minister Hideki Tojo would state that “to win a war, what is just as important as our material arsenal is our spiritual arsenal. While earthly substances are finite, what we have as an infinite and exhaustible resource is indeed this spiritual power.”
As espoused by General Sadao Araki who contributed greatly to the Spiritual Mobilization Movement’s implementation, the Japanese martial ethos placed great focus on a concept known as seishin, roughly corresponding to spirit, will or soul. There was a widespread belief within the Japanese military apparatus that pure will and relentless morale could overcome material shortcomings, reflecting Nietzsche’s concept of the will to power. As with many Nietzschean concepts, this is a recurring theme within right-wing philosophies, whether acknowledged or not, rooted in a so-called master morality. While limited in its application to the economic sciences and perhaps even detrimental to the material war effort, this focus on perfecting the immaterial, martial psyche of the soldier provided the armed forces of Japan with its defining character and most valuable asset, being the uncompromising morale of its servicemen, even in the face of certain death. More importantly however, as a nation that was fundamentally molded around the military and with a society that revolved around it as its main institutional pillar, this highly disciplined and duty-bound martial ethos came to permeate the whole of Japanese society and is responsible for shaping Japan’s culture as we know it today. With Japan’s demilitarization following the Second World War this attitude yet persists, but tends to inevitably be funneled towards one’s career instead the role it was originally intended to, and arose organically, to serve. This historico-spiritual dissonance, that is, the popular rejection of Japan’s intrinsically martial culture and disregard for its illustrious military history, both impedes Japan’s self-actualization as a nation and is responsible for the subconscious lack of purpose that undoubtedly plagues many throughout society today.
The National Spiritual Mobilization Movement addressed civilian morale as part of Japan’s wider efforts to mobilize its economic and human resources for total war as enacted in the General Mobilization Law of 1938 issued by Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe. Konoe sought to rid domestic infighting through means similar to the German Gleichschaltung, in which Japanese society was reorganized to coordinate its efforts, resulting in the nationalization of key industries and the establishment of a technofascist state headed by the Taisei Yokusankai (Imperial Rule Assistance Association). The national polity was anatomically likened to a biological organism, wherein its constituent sectors would function semi-autonomously as individual bodily organs would, with the ruling party acting as the central nervous system to direct its efforts. Drawn from the Kokutai (national body) theory, it is comparable to corporatist methods of economic management as espoused in general fascist economic theory. Its etymological likeness is also worth noting, as the term corporatism is derived from Latin corpus, meaning body, much like how the Kokutai views the nation in anatomical terms.
According to Kokutai theory, the cultural essence of a people constitute eternal and immutable aspects of the national polity, derived from history, tradition, and custom. As opposed to the primary and eternal nature of the Kokutai, the secondary Seitai refers to the form of government contingent to historical circumstances, being ever-changing as a result, The construction a Seitai that reflects the inalterable and organic essence of the Kokutai must thus be pursued par the same logic that technology be subject to the inalterable laws of nature to properly function.
Illustrated by Hiroshi Ouchi.
Text reads: Imperial Government. National Citizenry Spiritual Mobilization Movement. Unyielding Perseverance, Untiring Endurance.
