Post-War Japan Without Kishi

[Bonniecanuck]

Kishi Nobusuke is arguably one of the most influential people to have affected the development of post-war Japan, and also one of the most notable to have worked to subvert the institutions it was built on. This should come as no surprise considering his track record as a war criminal and fierce opponent of parliamentary democracy, as well as the circumstances that brought down his government. Of course, the effort to plot his resurgence and institute his plans for an effective single-party state went well before his entry into office, and he undoubtedly had a significant effect in bringing down rivals who didn't fit his vision or were considered obstacles to his return to power.

So let's start with Kishi being completely removed from the picture from the war. Rather than being let go by an American occupation desiring to find a likeminded anti-Communist that leads them to Kishi, he's given the treatment bestowed to his mentor Tojo for his many crimes and is executed. Where does that lead the development of post-war Japan? What shape will Japanese party politics take, and how will foreign relations with the United States and the rest of Asia be affected? How could the effects shift Japanese society, particularly the role of youth activists in mass politics? And for a much more difficult question, how would this affect how Japan comes to terms with its imperial past and the horrors that its expansionism entailed?

 

[Nyvis]

I think there's potential for Japan to look a lot more like Germany, with a more cleaned up act, at least outwardly? On the other hand, I could see the Japanese line being that all the imperial war criminals were dealt with already as a way to dodge responsibility by the new leadership, while much of the machinery that lead to it remaining untouched, just like how west Germany ended up with a lot of Nazis still around and often influential while managing its PR at the top much better to give the illusion of having cleaned house.

 

[BBadolato]

Kishi Nobusuke is arguably one of the most influential people to have affected the development of post-war Japan, and also one of the most notable to have worked to subvert the institutions it was built on. This should come as no surprise considering his track record as a war criminal and fierce opponent of parliamentary democracy, as well as the circumstances that brought down his government. Of course, the effort to plot his resurgence and institute his plans for an effective single-party state went well before his entry into office, and he undoubtedly had a significant effect in bringing down rivals who didn't fit his vision or were considered obstacles to his return to power.

So let's start with Kishi being completely removed from the picture from the war. Rather than being let go by an American occupation desiring to find a likeminded anti-Communist that leads them to Kishi, he's given the treatment bestowed to his mentor Tojo for his many crimes and is executed. Where does that lead the development of post-war Japan? What shape will Japanese party politics take, and how will foreign relations with the United States and the rest of Asia be affected? How could the effects shift Japanese society, particularly the role of youth activists in mass politics? And for a much more difficult question, how would this affect how Japan comes to terms with its imperial past and the horrors that its expansionism entailed?

It depends on what you do with the rest of East Asia, you won't have a full on fear of Communism in Asia, if either the CCP loses the Chinese Civil War, or you avoid the Korean War, so attention is primarily focused on Europe. This could make for more viable figures who might have got sidelined because their not 'anti-communist enough'. Domestically I don't know anything, but Japan could be seen as an unimportant side show, especially if you somehow manage to avoid MacArthur getting his hands involved with it.