Texas - Japan Friendship

Most would assume that there could be no two places more father removed than Texas and Japan. However, there is, in fact, quite a deeply rooted historic connection between the Lone Star State and the Land of the Rising Sun. The most poignant, yet often overlooked, reminder of this connection dates back to 1914 and can be found in the heart of Texas, in the city of San Antonio and the most sacred spot for all Texans: the Alamo, “shrine of Texas liberty”. In a small courtyard at the Alamo, visitors will see a small monument bearing the following inscription:

Nagashino is the Alamo of Japan;
The Alamo is the Nagashino of America.
Whoever knows the heroes of the Battle of Nagashino
Knows the heroes of the Alamo

Likewise, if one were to travel to Okazaki, Japan to the remains of Nagashino Castle on the Shitaragahara plain in Mikawa province, one will find the exact same monument with the exact same inscription. This came about thanks to the efforts of Dr. Shigetaka Shiga, a professor of geography from Waseda University in Tokyo. Doctor Shiga was studying and noticed striking similarities between the 1836 battle of the Alamo and the 1575 battle of Nagashino in Japan. Both involved a small band of soldiers, barricaded inside a fortress, holding off a vastly superior enemy army, led by a young commander and sending out messengers calling for help. The difference was in the ending. In Japan, the defenders of Nagashino Castle were eventually rescued by the forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu while, as we know, there was no rescue for the Texans in the Alamo who fought to the death in the Mexican attack on the morning of March 6, 1836. The monument marks the similarities between the two events, telling their stories with exchanged names to highlight this. And, even though the outcomes were different, the fate of the Alamo defenders was also noted by the Japanese scholar as it called to mind the samurai spirit of preferring death before dishonor and, as he wrote:

But their fame, like the blossom’s fragrance, is still in the air.
The custom of the West does not necessarily condemn surrender…

The idea of a group of warriors fighting to the death against hopeless odds was something familiar to Japanese culture at the time and something to be respected. However, the monument had a more peaceful purpose, to encourage friendship and goodwill between the peoples of Japan and Texas, and thus the United States as a whole. When the monument was dedicated in 1914, attended by descendants of the Alamo defenders, Dr. Shiga said his goal was to, “make my people understand the friendliness, generosity, and hospitality of the inhabitants of far-off America”. Because of this shared historical bond, even today, Japanese tourists are a very common sight at the Alamo and the battles of the Alamo and Nagashino hold a special significance for Texas and Japan in relation to each other.

In other fields, although the Japanese presence in Texas has never been a large one, it has had a tremendous impact on Texas, particularly in areas such as agriculture and architecture. Rice cultivation has been common in East Texas ever since it was brought over from Louisiana but it was greatly improved thanks to the efforts of some of the first Japanese-Texans who were interested in finding more efficient ways to grow more rice to benefit both Texas and Japan. In 1903 Seito Saibara and 30 other Japanese colonists arrived in Webster in southern Harris County. Rice seed was sent as a special gift from HM the Emperor of Japan and within three years the rice harvest had almost doubled. Seito Saibara, along with his family, among the first Japanese-Texans, have been credited with establishing the Gulf Coast rice industry in Texas. Today, thanks to those early efforts, Texas is one of the largest rice producers in the United States. Later, other Japanese colonists arrived and joined the rice farming industry in various parts of Texas such as Port Lavaca, Fannett, Terry, Mackay, El Campo and Alvin, Texas. Many Japanese also settled in Mission, San Juan and San Benito in the Rio Grande Valley to grow vegetables and citrus orchards. Later, other Japanese families migrated from California to Texas due to racial bigotry being prevalent in California. Texas, the “Friendship” State, was more welcoming.

Of course, World War II put a strain on relations as with the rest of America and in one of the most shameful pages of American history, Texas was home to several of the concentration camps where Japanese-Americans were interned during the war. However, when it was over, goodwill returned quickly as Japan and America became Allies and even looking back at the war years, both sides were able to have a mutual respect for each other. A particularly beautiful example of this can be found in the hill country town of Fredericksburg, hometown of U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz who led the naval campaign against Japan in World War II. There is a large museum there covering the admiral and the Pacific War as a whole but also a lovely garden, the Japanese Garden of Peace that was gifted to the museum by the Japanese government in 1976 on the 130th birthday of the town of Fredericksburg. The garden is an exact replica of that of the famous Japanese Admiral Togo. One of the greatest naval leaders in world history, Admiral Togo was greatly admired by Admiral Nimitz. Aside from the small town of Fredericksburg, big Texas cities like Austin, Ft Worth, Houston and San Antonio also have Japanese gardens. The Japanese-Texan who built the garden in Austin had a son, Alan Taniguchi, who trained thousands of architects as the dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas and director of the School of Architecture of Rice University.

There are also, of course, numerous Japanese restaurants, tea houses and art galleries in most every major city in Texas. One area in which Japan and Texan have grown quite close in recent years may be overlooked. Texas is known for cattle ranches and oil wells, space exploration and computer development but few probably know that it is a major center for Japanese anime in the United States. Today there are centers in New York and Los Angeles but Texas is still home to the biggest adaptors and distributors of this widely loved area of Japanese pop-culture. The cities of Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth are where much of Japanese anime is sent to be dubbed into English and shared with the American public. Anime Network, Funimation Entertainment, Sentai Filmworks and many other of the biggest names in the industry are based in Texas and they largely employ local talent for their dubbing work so that a great many fans will by now by very used to watching Japanese animation performed by Texan voice-actors. With this industry of rather recent years, combined with the earliest Japanese colonists to East Texas to make rice cultivation a major industry, it is no surprise that Houston, Texas has probably the largest Japanese population in the state. Texas shares many values and interests with Japan and the Japanese have made quite an impact on Texas in business, agriculture, medicine, architecture and even the landscape and in food and entertainment. With great mutual respect and long-lasting ties of friendship, Texas and Japan will certainly only continue to grow stronger in the future.

First Shanghai Incident

It was today in history, 1932, that the First Shanghai Incident occurred, also known as the January 28 Incident when forces of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy (Shanghai Expeditionary Army) clashed with the Nineteenth Route Army, and later the Fifth Army of the Kuomintang faction of the Republic of China. Many people have a distorted and one-sided view of this incident. For them, the story is that the Shanghai Incident was orchestrated by the Empire of Japan in order to distract from the establishment of the independent state in Manchuria (best known as Manchukuo, which is actually just Manchuria in Chinese) but this explanation does not bear up to close scrutiny. In the first place, why would Japan need anyone to be distracted from Manchuria at all? No country and not the League of Nations were even thinking of taking any sort of action in response to the establishment of an independent Manchuria even though many opposed it for the example it set of peoples in Asia gaining their independence. Certainly no one forgot about Manchuria after the incident in Shanghai, so the reasoning does not make sense on the face of it. Secondly, we have the facts and the basic facts are that a group of Japanese monks were attacked by the Chinese near a factory and that after a mob disturbance this factory was burned down after which the Imperial Japanese forces intervened in Shanghai.

The usual, anti-Japanese explanation of this is that these monks were attacked by Chinese who had been paid to do so by a Japanese agent for the sole purpose of provoking an incident. However, again, this makes no sense and, if it matters to anyone, is also a totally unproven allegation. Even those who make this claim state that the five monks who were attacked were members of a very nationalistic sect, so what they are trying to argue is that the aggressively nationalistic Japanese military hired the Chinese (who they supposedly hated and looked down on) in order to attack their own "aggressively nationalistic" Japanese monks? It really stretches the limits of reason. It sounds somewhat similar to the modern-day "truthers" who claim that the President of the United States destroyed the World Trade Center in New York just to have an excuse to wage war against Islamic radicals. It is rather too incredible to be believed. However, if one cuts away the unsubstantiated rumors and allegations one is left with some simple facts: it was Japanese monks who were attacked by the Chinese and it was a Chinese reaction that prompted the public disorder which finally compelled Japan to intervene. Those are the facts and no one actually disputes them.

Five hundred Japanese marines were sent ashore to restore order and protect Japanese lives and property against the Chinese who had attacked them in the wake of the destruction of the towel factory. The local Chinese authorities then escalated the incident by declaring martial law and when the Chinese and Japanese forces clashed, more Japanese reinforcements were sent and both sides were pulled into an all-out battle for Shanghai. The Japanese forces were led by General Shirakawa Yoshinori (left) a veteran and distinguished officer. On the other hand, the Chinese 19th Route Army was not considered reliably loyal to the Kuomintang, had been trained by Soviet advisers and was considered radically leftist by even the Republic of China ruling faction. They were also aided by criminals of the notorious Chinese "Green Gang" that operated in the Shanghai underworld. Later, when they could not defeat the Japanese, they sent in better troops were trained and equipped by Nazi Germany. It should also be pointed out that, at the time, those neutral powers present in the international section of Shanghai were almost unanimously in support of the Japanese and blamed the incident on the Chinese for having provoked Japan and brought ruin down on the city. Remember also that these "neutrals" were mostly Europeans and Americans who were not well disposed toward Japan at the time and would not have been the sort to have given Japan the benefit of the doubt and yet almost as a whole, those who were there at the time and place that the incident happened believed that it was the fault of the Chinese and not Japan.

Finally, some have also said that the Japanese rejected efforts to make peace and end the fighting. This is, at best, a misleading half-truth. The Japanese forces rejected a demand to cease-fire from a delegation sent by the League of Nations which did not speak for China and which had nothing to do with the conflict. On the other hand, when the Japanese offered a cease-fire if the Chinese would withdraw their troops to a safe distance beyond the city it was the Chinese authorities who rejected it, ensuring the the destruction of Shanghai would continue. Finally, however, a peace was agreed to and Shanghai became a "demilitarized zone" with Chinese and Japanese armed forces withdrawn. Again, if this was all planned and staged by the Japanese, and they agreed to the peace, one would have to ask what Japan gained from it? Things went back to the way they had been before for the most part. Obviously, the facts show that the First Shanghai Incident was an unfortunate event that cannot be blamed entirely on Japan. If local Chinese groups and officials had acted differently there is no doubt that it never would have happened.

Japan, Nazis and Stupidity

Today there is a common refrain going on among the usual anti-Japanese crowd (mostly the republican regimes of Communist China and South Korea) has taken up as a slogan for their mindless, zombie-like followers. This slogan is “Japan is Nazi of Asia”. This has even been taken up as an official line by the bandit government in Peking in response to some western historians who have compared China to Germany just before World War I. Trying, as always, to shift all negative focus toward Japan, their officials have said that it is Japan that is ‘just like Germany’ but prior to World War II or, in other words, saying the Japanese are the Nazis of Asia. This is so stupid and asinine that it really should require no response, however, the republican enemies of Japan have been able to get away with too much for too long when it comes to slandering the honor and integrity of His Majesty the Emperor’s land and faithful children. So, we will take this seriously for a moment and let the facts show who, exactly, is most like the regime of Nazi Germany in East Asia today. This will not be opinion, this will be strictly the facts of history and the present day.

First of all, what was Nazi Germany like? Nazi Germany was a militarily aggressive state ruled by one dictator and where only one political party (a workers party) was allowed to participate in politics. Nazi Germany was also a state where racial minorities were persecuted, primarily the Jewish minority but also any other non-German group of which there were not many in Germany to begin with. There was no democracy in Germany, no contested elections between multiple parties because, as we have said, there was only one legal party allowed. Real religious freedom was limited. There was certainly no religious freedom for the Jews and the Christians in Germany, whether Catholic or Protestant, were allowed only under strict state control. If they were suspected of any lack of enthusiasm in their support of the regime they were persecuted. For Catholics, letters from the Pope in Rome had to be smuggled into the country secretly in order to be read at mass. Nazi Germany was officially racist and preached a doctrine of the racial superiority of the “Aryan race” and was openly aggressive towards its neighbors. Nazi Germany was always claiming territory held by their neighbors. They claimed Austria, the Sudetenland (later all of Czech territory) and parts of Poland and Lithuania really belonged to Germany and should be taken back. They even started to obtain these territories by intimidation or by military force when necessary. This was preceded, of course, by a massive build-up of the German military just before World War II.

Does that sound anything at all like modern Japan? The State of Japan is certainly not militarily aggressive; it has a policy of pacifism written into its constitution. Japan is not ruled by a dictator but is governed by a Prime Minister under the august reign of His Majesty the Emperor according to constitutional law. Japan is not a single party state as there are parties representing a wide array of political opinions that stand for election and participate in politics. Racial minorities are not persecuted in Japan as even the most vocal critics of Japan, usually the Korean minority, have remained in Japan for decades so they must not be treated very badly. In fact, many in Japan hesitate to show any pride in their own country such as raising the national flag or singing the national anthem because of concern over offending foreign people living or going to school in Japan. There is religious freedom in Japan with communities of Christians, Buddhists, Shintoists, people who hold to a variety of religious beliefs and some who hold to none. In fact, Japan is so open to religious minorities that quite a few Christians have been elected Prime Minister in Japan even though the Christian population is extremely small. As for racism, Japan certainly has no official policy or position supportive of racial hatred. In fact, Japan was the first country to call for an international condemnation of racism after World War I (the other Allied powers rejected this proposal). And, finally, as for being aggressive with their neighbors, this certainly does not describe modern Japan. There are, of course, some territorial issues Japan has with neighboring countries but Japan has only ever pushed for discussions to resolve these issues (such as with Russia and South Korea) and was met with anger simply because Japan would like to talk about it. Japan has taken no military action against any neighbor or any country at all since 1945.

Obviously, anyone can see that the State of Japan is nothing, at all, in any way, like Nazi Germany. However, that description of Nazi Germany did have a ring of familiarity to it, didn’t it? What country in east Asia does that sound like? Let us take a look at the People’s Republic of China. The PRC is a militarily aggressive state, having invaded Korea, Vietnam, India, Tibet etc. The PRC is also ruled by a dictator and it too has only one political party (a workers party) which is the only one allowed to participate in politics. Communist China has also persecuted racial minorities such as the Manchurians, Mongols, Tibetans and Uyghurs. They have flooded their ancestral lands with Han colonists to eliminate these minorities in a demographic flood. There is no democracy in Red China and those who call for democracy and multi-party elections are shot in the street or run over with tanks. There is no religious freedom in Red China with Catholics loyal to the Pope rather than the Communist Party, Tibetan Buddhists loyal to the Dalai Lama, Muslims in Xinjiang and even Falun Gong practitioners all among the persecuted. Even those religious groups that are allowed to worship must always support the policies of the government or face similar persecution. Also, just like Nazi Germany, the Chinese Communist Party is dominated by one race, one nationality, the Han, and all others must take second place and they have long believed in their own superiority over all other peoples. Also, just like Nazi Germany, Communist China is constantly claiming territory belonging to neighboring countries. Red China has territorial disputes with Japan, Korea, Vietnam, The Philippines, almost every neighboring country and have used both intimidation and military force to gain control of disputed territory. Finally, Red China has also been building up its military forces rapidly so that it has a large nuclear arsenal, a huge air force, an expanding navy and the largest army in the world.

The facts should be obvious for all to see. Japan has nothing at all in common with Nazi Germany. It is a peaceful, constitutional monarchy and not an aggressive military dictatorship. If there is any country in east Asia that most resembles that of Nazi Germany, it is another one-party dictatorship: the People’s Republic of China.

Princess Raiyah bint Al Hussein

HRH Princess Raiyah bint Al Hussein

The youngest daughter of King Hussein and Queen Noor of Jordan, the half-sister of the present King of Jordan, Abdullah II, Princess Raiyah has a Master's Degree in Japanese, spent a year studying in Japan at Ritsumeikan University and practices kendo and aikido. This photo was taken on April 13, 2009 at Sodo Reiho Kimono Dressing Academy School in Tokyo.

Japan and Thailand

Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress with 

King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit of Thailand

Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress are escorted by

Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn of Thailand

Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress greet

King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand

Japan and Thailand have long had a close friendship. In the distant past interactions were fewer but developed more over time, particularly with Japan and Thailand having the distinction of being the only countries in East Asia never ruled by a European power. During World War II there was an alliance between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Empire of Japan. The Japanese mediated an end to the war between French Indochina and Thailand which saw the return of disputed territories to Thailand. When British forces bombed Bangkok, the Kingdom of Thailand declared war on the United Kingdom and United States in solidarity with Japan. Thailand also gained four provinces in northern Malaysia after the Japanese drove out the British forces from the region. This was the last period of expansion for Thailand. In the years since the war, both countries have cooperated in international relations often highlighted by the friendly relationship between the two sacred monarchies of the Thai Royal Family and the Imperial Family of Japan.

No Third Alternative Between Right and Wrong

Today on the main weblog we look at The "Third Force" That Never Works. After World War II the United States went into colonial countries in Africa and Asia to support pro-independence forces in competition with the Soviet Union that was doing the same but supporting socialist/communist revolutionary elements. However, because of ideological bigotry against monarchy the U.S. rejected the legitimate, traditional leaders of these countries and always looked for a 'third alternative' which invariably resulted in splitting the anti-communist opposition and allowing the communists to win. This was a totally different approach from that taken by the Empire of Japan that always supported traditional, legitimate local authorities wherever possible. It must also be said that the action taken by the United States in East Asia was also often tainted by post-war anti-Japanese sentiment that prevented the best course of action from being taken. How many lives could have been saved if the Allies has supported maintaining the Qing Emperor in Manchukuo, Prince Phetsarath in Laos or Emperor Bao Dai in Vietnam? However, the U.S. refused to have anything to do with any traditional figure who had anything to do with an imperial power whether British, French, Dutch or Japanese. The result was to make it harder for the anti-communist forces and the policy did not serve America well.

Making an Assassin a Saint

Some may know the Catholic Church in Korea is pushing to have An Jung Geun declared a saint. They have compared this assassin of Prince Ito Hirobumi to the great heroine St Joan of Arc.

Catholics everywhere should oppose this monstrous abuse of the causes of saints. An Jung Geun was no Joan of Arc. In the first place, St Joan most likely never killed anyone, she rode into battle carrying a banner to lead and inspire the soldiers who were fighting. Secondly, even if St Joan did kill people -it was in battle, during a war, fighting armed soldiers with honor on the battlefield. An Jung Geun murdered an unarmed man, taking him by surprise. That is totally different and it is an insult to Joan of Arc for the Korean clergy to compare her to a murderer.

Honoring a Murderer

This last Sunday the Chinese Communist bandit government, at the suggestion and with the collaboration of South Korean president Park Geun Hye, opened a memorial hall in the VIP section of the railroad station in the city of Harbin, northwest China (what used to be called Manchuria) to honor Ahn Jung Geun (seen above). The reason he is being honored, and why he is considered a national hero in Korea, is because he assassinated Prince Ito Hirobumi, the first Prime Minister of Japan and one-time Resident General of Japan in Korea. It is outrageous that such a murderer would be honored by two countries, though not surprising given that Red China still honors Chairman Mao who was the biggest mass-murderer in history and it is sickening that South Korea would be so friendly with Red China in this way, coming together over their shared hatred and bigotry against Japan. Korea has Red China to thank for their country being divided, for half of it being a family-owned slave labor camp and for the other half still remaining basically an American protectorate and yet, the South Korean government chooses to hold hands with the blood-stained dictator of China in order to nurse grudges from the first half of the last century against Japan. It is disgusting. There are other individuals in Korean history who were genuine national heroes who could be honored instead rather than heaping praise on a man who did nothing noteworthy in his entire life besides murdering an unarmed and unsuspecting statesman. They should all be ashamed of themselves.

1940年（昭和15年）6月 日本ニュース第３号

Japan: Champion of Monarchy in the Far East

If there is one thing that warms my mad monarchist heart, it is seeing existing monarchies supporting each other and, just as if not more importantly, giving aid to the monarchist cause in countries overrun by republicanism. In our own time we have seen countries pull together out of a shared devotion to their own republican political ideology (liberal democracy on one side, communism on the other) but in recent years there has been very little of this from monarchial countries. It has happened in the past, such as when Tsar Alexis of Russia cut off all trade with England after they cut off the head of their King, when the Prussians sent troops to aid the royalist Orange Party in the Netherlands under attack by republican forces  and when the crowned heads of Europe came together to declare war on republican France after the regicide of King Louis XVI, not excluding the British who had long been the traditional enemy of the Kingdom of France. We saw it when Tsar Nicholas I sent troops in to crush rebellion against the Austrian Empire in Hungary because it was recognized that revolution and republicanism are cancers that spread easily. There were other times, when such solidarity was called for but never achieved such as when the Queen mother of Spain (and the German Kaiser) called for monarchial solidarity against the United States in the Spanish-American War but such cooperation was not forthcoming.

Japanese troops in Siberia

Once the twentieth century really got going, however, things seemed to change. Suddenly, the common bonds of monarchy seemed to be set aside in favor of agreements and alliances that (it was thought) would be more beneficial to the countries in question, though this was invariably not the case. The Orthodox and autocratic Russian Empire, probably the most devotedly monarchist power in Europe, allied itself with the very liberal French Republic. During World War I, monarchies made war on each other as never before and (since so many fell as a result) as they never would again, dragging the United States into European affairs in the process. There was not a great deal of monarchial solidarity displayed by the Allies (two of the major participants being republican France and America) and while there was more on the side of the Central Powers, even there Germany made the terrible mistake of, albeit very reluctantly and temporarily, making use of the communists in taking the Russian Empire down to get Russia out of the war. The aftermath saw even more bad decisions being made, such as the British Empire putting sanctions on the Kingdom of Italy while signing a naval treaty with Nazi Germany or breaking off their alliance with the Empire of Japan in favor of one with the United States of America. Remember that by the terms of that treaty, Japan was pledged to help defend the British Empire in Asia whereas, even after Britain and America became war time allies in World War II, the U.S. government under Franklin D. Roosevelt made it clear that he wanted the British Empire to be dismantled.

In the midst of this unfortunate trend, although it can sometimes seem like few notice the facts sitting right in front of them, it was the Empire of Japan that was the rare exception, supporting the principle of monarchy and giving aid to monarchists of other nations -even former enemies. The Japanese were well aware of the dangers of revolutionary republicanism and had been for longer than most probably realize. During the period when Japan began to withdraw from isolation, the first to go overseas to Europe learned about the French Revolution and some began to advocate something similar once they returned home. Thankfully, the Japanese public was too staunchly faithful to the Emperor and the whole concept was too distastefully foreign for this to ever get very far but the imperial government recognized that this ideology was a danger that had to be resisted. Japan had looked on with alarm at the triumph of republicanism in China after the 1911 Revolution and the Empire of Japan had dealt with at least pseudo-republicans in the past such as on Taiwan in the First Sino-Japanese War and with some of the rebels who opposed the Meiji Restoration.

When the Empire of Japan first emerged onto the world stage, monarchy was still dominant in the world and the only close neighbors of Japan; Korea, China and Russia, were all monarchies as well. Some conflict was probably inevitable. As Japan modernized, the need for resources grew greater and one early source of vital food imports was Korea. However, Korea was a vassal of China and the Chinese were not too pleased with the increased Japanese involvement in Korea and had a long history of being rather contemptuous toward Japan, mostly for refusing to recognize Chinese supremacy. The first two external wars fought by the Empire of Japan after the Meiji Restoration were, if you reduce it to the most simplistic level, over Korea. First they drove the Chinese out but were robbed of much of their victory when Russia, France and Germany ganged up on the Japanese, forcing them to give back some of their winnings. Russian power was expanding in the region and Japan offered to accept Russian dominance in Manchuria (Chinese power being on the decline) if the Russians would stay out of Korea. Their offer was not accepted and the Russo-Japanese War basically determined whether or not Korea would be a part of the Empire of Japan or the Russian Empire. The Japanese were victorious and in 1910 the short-lived “Great Han Empire” (Korea) was annexed by Japan.

There is still a great deal of bitterness over this whole period on the part of Korea, some of it completely understandable and some of it incredibly petty. However, restricting ourselves to just the situation of the monarchy, the Japanese were much more careful than other powers in ensuring that the monarchial principle was not damaged. The Korean monarch was reduced in rank to what most Korean monarchs had always been but retained that title, remained in his palace and along with the aristocracy, received generous payments from Japan to allow them to live the lifestyle they had become accustomed to. Keep in mind, according to the modern Korean republics (or at least the south anyway) these were the inveterate enemies of Japan and the Japanese annexation, yet, this is how they were treated. The Korean crown prince was educated in Japan and treated like a son by HM the Meiji Emperor (in fact, some felt he was treated better than the Emperor’s own son). Members of the Korean Royal Family continued to hold prominent positions throughout the remaining years of the Empire of Japan. It was a far cry from the British exiling the last Mughal Emperor to Burma, the French exiling the monarchs of Vietnam or Madagascar to far away countries or even the United States in Hawaii imposing republicanism and abolishing all royal titles.

The last Emperor of China

The next major conflict for the Empire of Japan was the First World War, which Japan joined on the Allied side because of their treaty with Great Britain. The Japanese secured the capture of the biggest German base in the Far East and provided warships to escort troop ships from British possessions in Asia and Australia to the European battlefront. Toward the end of the conflict, republicanism and in particular communism became a more prominent concern for Japan. The two largest and most powerful neighbors of Japan, China and Russia, both fell into republican chaos and civil war. In both cases, the Empire of Japan responded by supporting the loyal monarchists wherever possible, even though these people represented the two empires that had previously been the enemies of Japan. In the face of the encroaching forces of communism in Russia and the republican chaos in China, however, that did not matter. Japan began to support and protect the last Emperor of China after his expulsion from the Forbidden City as well as Qing loyalists who hoped for his restoration. The Japanese sent the largest expeditionary force of any of the Allied nations that intervened in the Russian Civil War and the Empire of Japan was quick to support the White Russian forces in the field and even after they had been forced into exile, mostly in Manchuria.

Along with supplying White Russian exiles with a safe haven, money, guns and military supplies, the Empire of Japan also provided sanctuary, support and security for the last Emperor of China and Qing Dynasty loyalists. Ultimately, as we know, the Japanese also made possible his restoration to his ancestral throne in Manchuria with the establishment of the Empire of Manchukuo. The importance of this should not be shrugged off. How rare is it that an overthrown monarch is ever able to regain their throne, even if only a part of the realm they once ruled? And this was not just for a few years but for more than a decade. It was also from their base in Manchuria that Japanese forces gave aid and assistance to the monarchists of Inner Mongolia who wished to see the communist client-state in Outer Mongolia overthrown and all Mongols reunited under a restored monarchy. The Mongol prince at the head of this effort was Prince Demchugdongrub (aka Prince De Wang) and his family. The Prince was a distant relative and long-time friend and supporter of the last Manchu Emperor and, for years, the Japanese had tried to coordinate a monarchist alliance of the Japanese, Manchu and Mongol peoples across northeast Asia. This was the reason behind the (short-lived) arranged marriage of the Japanese-raised Manchu Princess Kawashima Yoshiko to the Mongol Prince Ganjuurjab whose father would be a general in the Inner Mongolian Army of Prince De Wang.

Japanese troops enter Saigon

Even during World War II, the Empire of Japan promoted monarchy wherever possible. The earliest ally of Japan in southeast Asia was the Kingdom of Thailand and in Indochina the Japanese supported Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam becoming independent monarchies again while always respecting the reigning monarchs whether they were friendly toward Japan or not. In Vietnam, for example, the Prince Cuong De had long-established and friendly ties with Japan whereas the reigning monarch, Emperor Bao Dai, had spent much of his life in France. Yet, the Japanese worked with the reigning monarch and supported those sects who were monarchist (the Hoa Hao and Cao Dai for example) while the United States (short-sightedly) supported the communist-led Viet Minh. In Laos, the King was pro-French and so the Japanese worked with a prince who favored independence yet made no effort to depose or harm the pro-French King. In the states of Malaysia, the Japanese restored two monarchs who had unjustly been deprived of their thrones but never removed any reigning monarch even those that supported Britain over Japan. After driving the British forces out of Burma, the first instinct of the Japanese was to restore the native monarchy under a grandson of the last King Thibaw and it was only when they found no support for such an initiative that they turned to Dr. Ba Maw. Even then, when he was installed as head of state he did so with much of the ceremony of the old Kingdom of Burma which some took as a sign that he might have restored the monarchy eventually with himself as king which there was nothing to prevent him from doing given that Burma had no royal succession law and traditionally the throne went to whoever could take it. To further tantalize, Dr. Ba Maw was the son of a royal official to the last of the Burmese kings, and a staunch monarchist who opposed the British out of his loyalty to the Royal Family of Burma.

Of course, I know there will be those who doubt the sincerity of the Japanese in these events as there are many anti-monarchy and/or anti-Japanese people who would decry anything Japan did for any reason. I am sure some would say that Japan only did this because it served Japanese interests. My only response to that is to ask, “So?” Do you really expect any country to act against their own interests? Do you expect a nation at war to give aid to those who oppose them and support their enemies? Would anyone expect that? Of course not. Thankfully, as a monarchy, it was in the interest of Japan to support monarchy and that just happened to be in the best interest of all those involved as well, in my view certainly. Others, monarchist opponents perhaps, might ask, ‘well, why didn’t Japan try to make the whole of China a monarchy again, or make The Philippines a monarchy?’ or, in other words, impose a monarchy on people who did not desire one. The obvious answer is that Japan was trying to solve problems, not create new ones by trying to impose a form of government on people who did not want it. However, to any who would downplay the pro-monarchy policies of the Empire of Japan, I have a simple question, “Who did more?” That is all. If what they did was not enough to be praiseworthy for proponents of monarchy, show me a country that did more. I would be glad to hear about it and give them all due praise as well. As for the Empire of Japan, the record speaks for itself. Some, I am sure, may be unable to get beyond old grudges but as a pan-monarchist if for no other reason, I for one will always have a heartfelt salute for the Empire of Japan, champion of monarchy from Russia to southeast Asia.

Who Were War Criminals?

Given all of the furor coming from mainland China and South Korea recently regarding the visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Yasukuni Shrine, it is worthwhile to look at what the critics at least claim the outrage to be about; the enrollment in the shrine of the names of a number of men condemned as war criminals by the Tokyo Tribunal after World War II. Now, in the first place, it should be remembered that these are a tiny fraction of the millions of people enrolled at Yasukuni Shrine who did nothing wrong, have never been accused of doing anything wrong and who gave their lives in service to their country. It should also be remembered that Yasukuni Shrine was built and operates to remember those who lost their lives in national service and certainly not to honor war criminals or make any judgment on the deeds of each and every soul whose name is enrolled there. However, all of that being said, let us take a look at the cases of just a few of those men who were condemned as “war criminals” by the Allied forces after the war.

Already here we have discussed the fate of some men, not part of the Tokyo Trials, who were executed by the Allies as “war criminals”. There was General Tomoyuki Yamashita  who was executed for crimes he did not order nor was even aware of. This was a man who, when his troops committed crimes after the conquest of Malaysia and Singapore, personally apologized to the victims and who had his own troops shot for looting and unlawful killings. Another was General Masaharu Homma , conqueror of the U.S. forces in The Philippines, who was executed for crimes committed by troops not even under his command. On the contrary, General Homma had ordered his soldiers to treat the Filipinos as friends, took precautions to prevent misbehavior by his troops and who was removed from his command for being too lenient toward the enemies Japan was at war with. These men were certainly not war criminals but were more likely executed for the simple fact that they had both inflicting very embarrassing defeats on the two major countries at war with Japan.

What about some of the others, condemned as war criminals by the Tokyo Tribunal who are enrolled in Yasukuni Shrine? Most were convicted of waging or conspiring to wage an aggressive war, something which was not against the law at the time nor is it against the law today. Were that the case, most of the Allies would have been guilty as well. But what else can tell us what kind of men these were. There was Colonel Seishiro Itagaki, a man who actually submitted a formal proposal to the Imperial Japanese government to refuse any participation with the anti-Semitic policies of Nazi Germany; a proposal which was accepted, even while Japan and Germany were in a diplomatic partnership. There was Mr. Yosuke Matsuoka, former Japanese delegate to the League of Nations and former Foreign Minister. When he was the president of the Manchuria Railway Company he gave passage to Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Europe and the Soviet Union free of charge. Far from wanting war, when it broke out, he said that signing the Axis pact was the greatest mistake of his life. Most prominent of all though was surely General Hideki Tojo, wartime prime minister of Japan. This was the man who, when Japan’s Axis partner Germany demanded that Japan stop allowing Jewish refugees to escape via the Manchuria Railway Company, refused to do so and continued the Japanese policy of helping Jews fleeing persecution rather than assisting Germany in arresting them.

Were these the actions of war criminals? Furthermore, if waging an aggressive war was ground for conviction as a war criminal, why were there no trials for the many aggressive wars waged by the Allies? Even in the World War II years, the Soviets had invaded Poland along with Germany, they had invaded Finland, invaded and conquered Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, they had occupied Mongolia and briefly invaded western China. They had also participated, along with the British, in the invasion and occupation of neutral Iran. Britain and America had both invaded French Algeria even though neither was at war with France and that was particularly hypocritical given that the Japanese occupation of French Indochina was cited by the U.S. and Britain as the reason for the freezing of Japanese assets and the embargo on trade with Japan, cutting off Japan from 80% of all the resources Japan needed even though, unlike the Allied invasion of Algeria, the Japanese occupation of Indochina was done with the permission of the French government.

Unfortunately, in any war, there are almost invariably atrocities that are committed. However, most of the time (excepting cases such as the Holocaust) these are not matters of official policy but rather criminal activity or negligence by low level officials. War is brutal and often even the most benevolent powers have troops that commit brutalities. Yet, all too often those who actually commit these misdeeds go unpunished and it rises to a different level, one of hypocrisy and double-standards when the victor seeks to punish a defeated enemy for crimes they themselves have committed as well. The Allies were certainly not blameless. The Soviet Union was ruled by one of the most murderous dictators in human history and even among the western Allies there were men like Sir Arthur Harris who admitted that his bombing campaign in Germany was primarily aimed at killing as many German civilians as possible. There were blockades that starved whole populations, for the United States there was the fire-bombing of Japan and finally the two atomic bombings that killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, men, women, children, the elderly and helpless along with all the rest. If some are to be singled out as “war criminals” there should be one standard of justice applied equally to all. Since when did that become a controversial statement or an unreasonable demand? Consider that the next time someone brings up the subject of the war criminals enrolled at Yasukuni Shrine.

Little Known Facts of Christian Japan

The Christian minority in Japan is very small but also very old, some may be surprised at how far back it goes. The Protestant groups mostly came to Japan recently, since the American occupation, but the Catholic and Kirishitan groups have been around for centuries. However, only about 1% of Japanese people are Christians and given that, it be surprise some to know that Japan has had seven Prime Ministers who have been Christians starting with Hara Kei in 1918 (a Catholic) and most recently Yukio Hatoyama in 2009 (a Baptist) and his immediate predecessor, Taro Aso is Catholic. Even during World War II, when most portray Japan has being entirely hostile to anything of western origin, there were men like Rear Admiral Stephen Yamamoto who was a Catholic and very close to HM the Showa Emperor. Christians have, in the past, also stepped forward to defend the culture and honor of Japan even in areas not exclusively Christian.

After World War II, in November of 1945 General Douglas MacArthur considered destroying the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo and he called in two Catholics to ask about this; Father Bruno Bitter, a Jesuit priest, and Father Patrick Byrne, a Maryknoll priest. They defended Yasukuni Shrine and persuaded General MacArthur not to destroy it, pointing out that all nations have a duty to honor their war dead and that, while a Shinto shrine, Yasukuni Shrine is a national monument that honors people of all faiths who gave their lives in the service of the Emperor and the country. The Vatican sent a representative to the Empire of Manchukuo (for a long time it was said that the Vatican was the first to recognize Manchukuo, later, when it was unpopular to have anything to do with seeming pro-Japanese it was stressed, in an odd way, that this official representative did not imply official recognition. Whatever that means. The bottom line is that, at the time, there was a representative of the Holy See to the Manchukuo government). Closer ties than some might guess were also maintained after the war.

Pope Paul VI, in 1975, granted an audience the Buddhist monk Nakata Junna 仲田順和. Nakata was the head-priest at the Honsenji 品川寺, a Shingon temple of the Daigoji　醍醐寺 lineage in Shinagawa, Tokyo. He had spoken of his admiration for Pope Paul's stand on inter-faith dialogue and wanted to be a part of this process. He also wanted to highlight the injustice of those declared to be "war criminals" by the Allies after World War II. Nakata asked Pope Paul if he would say a Mass for the repose of the souls of the 1,618 men condemned as Class A, B and C war criminals. According to Nagoshi Futaranosuke 名越二荒之助, Pope Paul said the Tokyo war crimes tribunal and the condemnations of the accused men was ‘an embarrassment,’ and the Pope agreed to say the Mass. Pope Paul VI died before this could be done but on May 22, 1980 Bl. Pope John Paul II fulfilled the promise of his predecessor and had the Mass said for the souls of those men in St Peter's square at the Vatican. Rev. Nakata Junna was invited to attend and he did so, bringing a special gift for the Pope; a replica of the pagoda from his temple, housing the names of the men being remembered.

Not many are aware that HM the Empress was raised in a Catholic home and had a Catholic education all throughout her life. When it came to her marriage to the future Emperor, it was arranged by the Anglican Grand Chamberlain Koizumi and the Catholic Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida. Today, although the Christian presence is small, one will not find any bad feelings between Japanese Christians and other religious or non-religious groups. In fact, the style and traditions of Christianity are so appreciated that many non-Christians ask to hold weddings in Catholic Churches because they admire the beauty and style so much. A special dispensation was given to make this possible because there are so many requests. The Christian community in Japan has diverse opinions, some correct and some incorrect in my view, as will invariably be the case with any group of people. However, they have made a unique contribution to the history of Japan and should always remember to be second to none in their support for their country, the Japanese community and HM the Emperor, remembering the words from I Peter 2:17 to "Show proper respect to everyone, love your community, fear God and honor the Emperor".

Congratulations on the Silver Jubilee Year

It was 25 years ago today that, with the passing of the late Showa Emperor, His Majesty became the 125th Emperor of Japan. His Majesty's official enthronement was held the following year in November of 1990. For 25 years HM the Emperor has reigned with great dignity, decorum, dedication to duty and devotion to the country and people of Japan. May there be many more such milestones. Tenno Heika BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!