Anti-American conservative

Anti-American conservative (Japanese: 反米保守, Hepburn: han-Bei hoshu)^[1] is a term applied in Japan to politically conservative people with anti-American diplomatic or cultural views.

Today, most establishment conservatives maintain diplomatic pro-Americanism. Anti-American conservatives are mentioned individually in Japan because conservatives have fewer anti-American views than the political left; Japan's ruling right-wing conservative Liberal Democratic Party is highly pro-American.^[2]

History

Prewar Japan

In the Edo period, there was a "Kokugaku" to preserve traditional philosophy against Western philosophy inflows, including in the United States. In addition, anti-American conservatism emerged through "Nōhon shugi [ja]" (農本主義, lit. Agrarianism) and "Pan-Asianism" (アジア主義, lit. Asianism) during the Meiji period.

During the prewar Shōwa period, "Ultra-nationalism" (超国家主義, chō kokka shugi, lit. "extreme state-ism") emerged, and to justify Japan's invasion of the Asian region, the cause of "liberating Asia from the West" was put forward; at this time, there was 鬼畜米英 (kichiku beiei), racist propaganda meaning "American and British demonic beasts".

Postwar Japan

In postwar Japan, "anti-American conservative" are relatively few among institutional conservatives; Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is widely known as "pro-American conservative" (親米保守).^[3]

From the 1960s onwards, an ethno-nationalist movement called "minzoku-ha" (民族派) emerged, which was critical of major conservatives of the day for prioritizing "anti-communism" over "[ethnic] nationalism".

Today, anti-American conservatives have a wide spectrum; some are negative for the United States for harming Asian values but are friendly to China (Sinophile), and some are ultranationalists who are hostile to China and Korea (both South and North) and seek a return to the Empire of Japan, but all anti-American conservatives have a common negative view of cultural globalization (led by the West) and neoliberal economic policy.

Tanzan Ishibashi, who opposed Japanese imperialism in prewar Japan, was one of the LDP politicians most unfriendly to the United States in postwar Japan. In contrast, Ishibashi had a doveish diplomat in the People's Republic of China^{[clarification needed]}.^[4]

The Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, a Japanese nationalist group, is known for its "anti-American conservatism".^[3]

See also

• Asian Monroeism [ja]
• Greater East Asia War [ja], a term referring to the "Pacific War" by the Japanese government before 1945, and Now it's used by anti-American conservatives or Japanese ultranationalists.
• Nihon shugi
• Sonnō jōi
• Theory of subordination to the United States [ja]
• Tatenokai
• Yukio Mishima

References

1. JO Gwan-ja (2015). The Revival of Japanese Right-Wing Thought and the Coincidental Collaboration of the Left and Right. "... 'anti-American conservative (han-Bei hoshu)' such as Kobayashi, the right wing may be invisible or constitute a belligerent presence linked ..."
2. Jeffrey M. Bale (4 October 2017). The Darkest Sides of Politics, II: State Terrorism, "Weapons of Mass Destruction," Religious Extremism, and Organized Crime. Taylor & Francis. Following the election of Hatoyama as Prime Minister, the two parties merged in 1955 to become the Jiyuminshu To (Liberal Democratic Party or LDP), the highly conservative pro-American party which has almost single-handedly ruled Japan up to the present day.
3. Hitoshi Tanaka (2020). Historical Narratives of East Asia in the 21st Century: Overcoming the Politics of National Identity. Routledge. ... Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, founded in 1997, shared "anti-American conservative" convictions, rather than a "pro-American conservative" attitude similar to the LDP's political stance.
4. Johnson, Chalmers; Schlei, Nobert; Schaller, Michael (2000). "The CIA And Japanese Politics". Asian Perspective. 24 (4). Johns Hopkins University Press: 79–103. doi:10.1353/apr.2000.0005. JSTOR 42705308.