How did the Japanese go from being strongly opposed to compulsory service in the military in the 1870s to having the fanatical soldiers seen in WWII?
First of all, the "Blood Tax revolt" was the main opposition over the conscription service.
A little bit of background for those who don't know what the question is asking about. In 1873, the Meiji government began a conscription service. The conscription was applicable to every healthy able bodied 20 year old male, with a 3 year duration. After 3 years you were put into the reserve. There were a lot of exemptions when it was first introduced, in order to ease the people into the concept of military service.
These exemptions were:
1. Head of the household
2. Heir to the household
3. Public Servant
4. Public school student
5. Government-set professional school student
6. Military school student
7. Adopted son of a family.
However, a lot of farmers in west Japan wasn't able to qualify for these exemptions due to several reasons. And on top of that, the unpopular land tax reform introduced a lot of burden onto them, and then the elimination of the class system, bringing a once underclassed people of the butchers and hunters to the same class as the farmers.
It's important to understand that the Blood tax revolt was not just directed against the conscription itself. It was a revolt against the new policies of the Meiji government. Most of those revolt against the conscription service were also revolting against other reform policies.
Remember, the revolts happened right before the Satsuma Rebellion. Which meant the people that were against it thought no one in the Meiji government values tradition anymore.
To quote the leader of the revolt in the province of Okayama, Hihou Moutarou.
"徴兵・地券・学校・屠牛・斬髪・穢多ノ称呼御廃止反対”
Translate in to "Against conscription! Against land reform! Against new education system! Against butchering of cows and cutting off hair! (Referring to the westernization of the Meiji government) Against elimination of the "Eta" class! (referring to butcher, hunter class)"
They weren't just being angry at the conscription, they were angry with the westernization.
The naming of "blood tax" came from the Meiji government's notice for the conscription service. In hindsight that might not be the best idea ever. Here's the original line that referred to it on the posted notices.
"凡ソ天地ノ間一事一物トシテ税アラサルハナシ以テ国用ニ充ツ然ラハ則チ人タルモノ固ヨリ心力ヲ尽シ国ニ報ヒサルヘカラス西人之ヲ称シテ血税と云フ其生血ヲ以テ国ニ報スルノ謂ナリ"
Don't worry about it looking like a pile of runes, not even modern Japanese will be able to read it. But the general gist of it is that all things are taxed by the government, and that blood tax as the westerners called it shall also be levied on the citizens, and that citizen shall serve their nation.
Now that we have that out of the way, it's important to know even though most people aren't really angry at the conscription, they still tried everything they could to avoid it.
Of course, who'd want to be in the army if they didn't had to be right?
With the aforementioned exemptions, it was actually quite easy to evade the service. There was even a guidebook that was written to teach people how to avoid it! The guide book was called 徴兵免役心得, "Guide on how to avoid conscription" published in 1879. It went through several methods on how to avoid the conscription and analysis on the law itself, and gave practical methods on how to do it.
The conscription was also only in effect on the mainland when it was implemented. Hokaido didn't had conscription until 1887, and Okinawa didn't had conscription until 1898.
The government did later removed all of the exemptions in 1889.
So what we have is all the way into the turn of 20th century people weren't too excited about the military. What caused that to change?
In 1882, in the low morale and lack of discipline of the Military in the aftermath of the Satsuma rebellion, the Emperor gave a letter to the military to raise moral. It was mostly a guideline on how to act as a soldier, called 軍人勅諭, translates into "Emperors Word to those in the Military Service".
The basic idea is to serve as a guideline for those in the military. It was divided into 5 parts, below is a translation of those 5 titles. The whole document had details on how to behave to follow those 5 main points.
---
1. 軍人は忠節を尽すを本分とすべし。
Soldiers shall be loyal to the end.
2. 軍人は礼儀を正しくすべし。
Soldiers shall be good in their manners.
3. 軍事は武勇を尚ぶべし。
Battle shall be followed by bravery.
4. 軍人は信義を重んすへし。
Soldiers shall be strong in their trust and true to their words.
5. 軍人は質素を旨とすへし。
Soldiers shall always be mindful of their ability, and to improve on them.
---
Elementary school students and Military recruits had to recite these, and memorize them. Now, the most important part of the first line is in the explanation in the document. "死は鴻毛よりも軽しと覚悟せよ。", it translates into "Have the conviction and realization that your death is lighter than feather" The saying means that in the face of your country, your death is not important and you should be willing to sacrifice it for your country.
And then, in 1890 the Emperor gave another order to the ministry of literacy and the prime minister, it was called the 教育勅語, or "The Emperor's word on Education". It was done in response to the rising realization of the conflict between western cultural values and the traditional Japanese values. It called for a return to the tradition Confucianism values. Translation is as below:
---
1. 父母ニ孝ニ
Be respectful of one's parents.
2. 兄弟ニ友ニ
Be friendly to one's siblings.
3. 夫婦相和シ
Husband and wife shall be good to each other
4. 朋友相信シ
Friends shall be trusting in each other.
5. 恭儉己レヲ持シ
Be mindful of one's action and words.
6. 博愛衆ニ及ホシ
Be loving to all those in the world.
7. 學ヲ修メ業ヲ習ヒ
Be always learning, and to learn a profession.
8. 以テ智能ヲ啓發シ
Be knowledgeable, and be willing to learn always.
9. 德器ヲ成就シ
Work in ones personality, and be willing to improve them.
10. 進テ公益ヲ廣メ世務ヲ開キ
Be contributing to the society.
11. 常ニ國憲ヲ重シ國法ニ遵ヒ
Be respectful of the constitution, and follow the laws set by the country.
12. 一旦緩急アレハ義勇公ニ奉シ以テ天壤無窮ノ皇運ヲ扶翼スヘシ
If your country is in an emergency, be willing to sacrifice yourself and serve the emperor.
---
That...is not as insane as you thought it would be right? It was a re-affirmation of the government's policy to not completely westernized as many has worried. This was also read in schools every morning when it was publicised. (As a sidenote, there was a Christian highschool teacher that refused to bow after the reading since he didn't believe that the emperor is god. That caused quite a scandal")
Now, these two helped making the concept that military service is the best way to serve the emperor. And that dying for the country is an honorable action.
However, the event that caused the rise in the popularity of the military was not any of the policies. It was the victory in the First Sino-Japanese war, and later the Russo-Japanese war.
With a military that brings in new resources, new territories. People began to see the military as an extension of their nations power, not an annoying service you try to avoid at all cost.
On top of that, with the economic depression in the 20s, and an increase in poverty. The military began to become very attractive. You get to eat white rice everyday, a hot bath, a bed to sleep in, a roof over your head, vacation time, and on top of that income to spend at PXs. What is but a little war? When you have all those benefits.
Now we come back into the question, these events made the military popular. How about what made them fanatical? This will require a whole post of it's own. But suffice to say it hinges on one concept "大和魂"(Yamato Damashi), translated into "The Spirit of Yamato". The original meaning of the phrase just means "All that which emcompasses of being a Japanese", but the phrase itself evolved.
The phrase later became to mean the spirit which shall overcome anything. Nothing is impossible in the face of Yamato Damashi. This was especially promoted by the army when the Spirituality Faction took over the army command. (And left the Army half-modernized...)
Easiest way to understand the meaning of Yamato Damashi is through period songs. From the marching song of the Imperial Japanese Army, 抜刀隊(Battoutai), sword drawing corp. There's a line of lyrics referencing this.
---
1. 刃の下に死ぬべきぞ 大和魂ある者の
We shall die under the blade, men with Yamato Damashi!
2. 死ぬべき時は今なるぞ 人に遅れて恥かくな
The time to die is now! Don't fall behind and bring shame to yourself!
3. 敵の亡ぶるそれ迄は 進めや進め諸共に
Until our enemies are destroyed, advance and advance brothers-in-arms!
4. 玉散る剣抜き連れて 死ぬる覚悟で進むべし
With out swords with us, with our dying conviction.
---
Now, that should give you a good idea on what constitutes the concept of Yamato Damashi. It the undying conviction, it is the effort one should put in to overcome anything, It is the willingness to sacrifice oneself for the empire. It is the unwavering loyalty to the country and the emperor.
This is the basic concept that was instilled in all Officers and NCO, and beyond that basic education to the civilian as well.
The thinking that ones spirit can overcome anything can be characterized in this one instance. The 1st CEO of the Daiei supermarket chain (A supermarket chain based in Japan), was sent to Manchuria as a artillery man in the Kwangtung(Kantou) Army. When he complained about the performance of the artillery cannons to his superior, his captain yelled at him "貴様は敢闘精神が足らん。砲の不足は大和魂で補え!", "Your fighting spirit is not enough! The lower performance of your cannon can be fixed with your Yamato Damashi!".
As to exactly why this culture was easily implemented, that requires another whole post just on the concept of "玉砕" (Gyokusai, the shattering of jade).
---
Sources on top of my head
1. 軍人勅諭, word from the emperor to the soldiers, 1886
2. 教育勅語, word from the emperor regarding education, 1890
3. 徴兵免役心得, guide on avoiding conscription, 1876
4. 徴兵制と近代日本 一八六八～一九四五, Conscription and modern Japan, Kattou Youko, 1996
First of all, the "Blood Tax revolt" was the main opposition over the conscription service.
A little bit of background for those who don't know what the question is asking about. In 1873, the Meiji government began a conscription service. The conscription was applicable to every healthy able bodied 20 year old male, with a 3 year duration. After 3 years you were put into the reserve. There were a lot of exemptions when it was first introduced, in order to ease the people into the concept of military service.
These exemptions were:
1. Head of the household
2. Heir to the household
3. Public Servant
4. Public school student
5. Government-set professional school student
6. Military school student
7. Adopted son of a family.
However, a lot of farmers in west Japan wasn't able to qualify for these exemptions due to several reasons. And on top of that, the unpopular land tax reform introduced a lot of burden onto them, and then the elimination of the class system, bringing a once underclassed people of the butchers and hunters to the same class as the farmers.
It's important to understand that the Blood tax revolt was not just directed against the conscription itself. It was a revolt against the new policies of the Meiji government. Most of those revolt against the conscription service were also revolting against other reform policies.
Remember, the revolts happened right before the Satsuma Rebellion. Which meant the people that were against it thought no one in the Meiji government values tradition anymore.
To quote the leader of the revolt in the province of Okayama, Hihou Moutarou.
"徴兵・地券・学校・屠牛・斬髪・穢多ノ称呼御廃止反対”
Translate in to "Against conscription! Against land reform! Against new education system! Against butchering of cows and cutting off hair! (Referring to the westernization of the Meiji government) Against elimination of the "Eta" class! (referring to butcher, hunter class)"
They weren't just being angry at the conscription, they were angry with the westernization.
The naming of "blood tax" came from the Meiji government's notice for the conscription service. In hindsight that might not be the best idea ever. Here's the original line that referred to it on the posted notices.
"凡ソ天地ノ間一事一物トシテ税アラサルハナシ以テ国用ニ充ツ然ラハ則チ人タルモノ固ヨリ心力ヲ尽シ国ニ報ヒサルヘカラス西人之ヲ称シテ血税と云フ其生血ヲ以テ国ニ報スルノ謂ナリ"
Don't worry about it looking like a pile of runes, not even modern Japanese will be able to read it. But the general gist of it is that all things are taxed by the government, and that blood tax as the westerners called it shall also be levied on the citizens, and that citizen shall serve their nation.
Now that we have that out of the way, it's important to know even though most people aren't really angry at the conscription, they still tried everything they could to avoid it.
Of course, who'd want to be in the army if they didn't had to be right?
With the aforementioned exemptions, it was actually quite easy to evade the service. There was even a guidebook that was written to teach people how to avoid it! The guide book was called 徴兵免役心得, "Guide on how to avoid conscription" published in 1879. It went through several methods on how to avoid the conscription and analysis on the law itself, and gave practical methods on how to do it.The conscription was also only in effect on the mainland when it was implemented. Hokaido didn't had conscription until 1887, and Okinawa didn't had conscription until 1898.
The government did later removed all of the exemptions in 1889.
So what we have is all the way into the turn of 20th century people weren't too excited about the military. What caused that to change?
In 1882, in the low morale and lack of discipline of the Military in the aftermath of the Satsuma rebellion, the Emperor gave a letter to the military to raise moral. It was mostly a guideline on how to act as a soldier, called 軍人勅諭, translates into "Emperors Word to those in the Military Service".
The basic idea is to serve as a guideline for those in the military. It was divided into 5 parts, below is a translation of those 5 titles. The whole document had details on how to behave to follow those 5 main points.
---
1. 軍人は忠節を尽すを本分とすべし。
Soldiers shall be loyal to the end.
2. 軍人は礼儀を正しくすべし。
Soldiers shall be good in their manners.
3. 軍事は武勇を尚ぶべし。
Battle shall be followed by bravery.
4. 軍人は信義を重んすへし。
Soldiers shall be strong in their trust and true to their words.
5. 軍人は質素を旨とすへし。
Soldiers shall always be mindful of their ability, and to improve on them.
---
Elementary school students and Military recruits had to recite these, and memorize them. Now, the most important part of the first line is in the explanation in the document. "死は鴻毛よりも軽しと覚悟せよ。", it translates into "Have the conviction and realization that your death is lighter than feather" The saying means that in the face of your country, your death is not important and you should be willing to sacrifice it for your country.
And then, in 1890 the Emperor gave another order to the ministry of literacy and the prime minister, it was called the 教育勅語, or "The Emperor's word on Education". It was done in response to the rising realization of the conflict between western cultural values and the traditional Japanese values. It called for a return to the tradition Confucianism values. Translation is as below:
---
1. 父母ニ孝ニ
Be respectful of one's parents.
2. 兄弟ニ友ニ
Be friendly to one's siblings.
3. 夫婦相和シ
Husband and wife shall be good to each other
4. 朋友相信シ
Friends shall be trusting in each other.
5. 恭儉己レヲ持シ
Be mindful of one's action and words.
6. 博愛衆ニ及ホシ
Be loving to all those in the world.
7. 學ヲ修メ業ヲ習ヒ
Be always learning, and to learn a profession.
8. 以テ智能ヲ啓發シ
Be knowledgeable, and be willing to learn always.
9. 德器ヲ成就シ
Work in ones personality, and be willing to improve them.
10. 進テ公益ヲ廣メ世務ヲ開キ
Be contributing to the society.
11. 常ニ國憲ヲ重シ國法ニ遵ヒ
Be respectful of the constitution, and follow the laws set by the country.
12. 一旦緩急アレハ義勇公ニ奉シ以テ天壤無窮ノ皇運ヲ扶翼スヘシ
If your country is in an emergency, be willing to sacrifice yourself and serve the emperor.
---
That...is not as insane as you thought it would be right? It was a re-affirmation of the government's policy to not completely westernized as many has worried. This was also read in schools every morning when it was publicised. (As a sidenote, there was a Christian highschool teacher that refused to bow after the reading since he didn't believe that the emperor is god. That caused quite a scandal")
Now, these two helped making the concept that military service is the best way to serve the emperor. And that dying for the country is an honorable action.
However, the event that caused the rise in the popularity of the military was not any of the policies. It was the victory in the First Sino-Japanese war, and later the Russo-Japanese war.
With a military that brings in new resources, new territories. People began to see the military as an extension of their nations power, not an annoying service you try to avoid at all cost.
On top of that, with the economic depression in the 20s, and an increase in poverty. The military began to become very attractive. You get to eat white rice everyday, a hot bath, a bed to sleep in, a roof over your head, vacation time, and on top of that income to spend at PXs. What is but a little war? When you have all those benefits.
Now we come back into the question, these events made the military popular. How about what made them fanatical? This will require a whole post of it's own. But suffice to say it hinges on one concept "大和魂"(Yamato Damashi), translated into "The Spirit of Yamato". The original meaning of the phrase just means "All that which emcompasses of being a Japanese", but the phrase itself evolved.
The phrase later became to mean the spirit which shall overcome anything. Nothing is impossible in the face of Yamato Damashi. This was especially promoted by the army when the Spirituality Faction took over the army command. (And left the Army half-modernized...)
Easiest way to understand the meaning of Yamato Damashi is through period songs. From the marching song of the Imperial Japanese Army, 抜刀隊(Battoutai), sword drawing corp. There's a line of lyrics referencing this.
---
1. 刃の下に死ぬべきぞ 大和魂ある者の
We shall die under the blade, men with Yamato Damashi!
2. 死ぬべき時は今なるぞ 人に遅れて恥かくな
The time to die is now! Don't fall behind and bring shame to yourself!
3. 敵の亡ぶるそれ迄は 進めや進め諸共に
Until our enemies are destroyed, advance and advance brothers-in-arms!
4. 玉散る剣抜き連れて 死ぬる覚悟で進むべし
With out swords with us, with our dying conviction.
---
Now, that should give you a good idea on what constitutes the concept of Yamato Damashi. It the undying conviction, it is the effort one should put in to overcome anything, It is the willingness to sacrifice oneself for the empire. It is the unwavering loyalty to the country and the emperor.
This is the basic concept that was instilled in all Officers and NCO, and beyond that basic education to the civilian as well.
The thinking that ones spirit can overcome anything can be characterized in this one instance. The 1st CEO of the Daiei supermarket chain (A supermarket chain based in Japan), was sent to Manchuria as a artillery man in the Kwangtung(Kantou) Army. When he complained about the performance of the artillery cannons to his superior, his captain yelled at him "貴様は敢闘精神が足らん。砲の不足は大和魂で補え!", "Your fighting spirit is not enough! The lower performance of your cannon can be fixed with your Yamato Damashi!".
As to exactly why this culture was easily implemented, that requires another whole post just on the concept of "玉砕" (Gyokusai, the shattering of jade).
---
Sources on top of my head
1. 軍人勅諭, word from the emperor to the soldiers, 1886
2. 教育勅語, word from the emperor regarding education, 1890
3. 徴兵免役心得, guide on avoiding conscription, 1876
4. 徴兵制と近代日本 一八六八～一九四五, Conscription and modern Japan, Kattou Youko, 1996
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