Chapter 6 Chapter 4 Meiji Restoration

the Meiji Reform The battle cry announcing the advent of modern Japan was "Respect the King and Repel the Barbarians", that is, "Restore the king's government and expel the Barbarians and Dies".The purpose of this slogan was to save Japan from foreign insults and restore the golden age of the tenth century before the "dual rule" of emperors and shoguns.The imperial court in Kyoto was the most reactionary.The victory of the Emperor's faction, in the eyes of the Emperor's supporters, was to humiliate foreigners and expel them; it was to restore the traditional Japanese way of life, and it was to deprive the "reformists" of the right to speak in domestic and foreign affairs .The powerful foreign daimyo became the vanguard of the downfall faction. They wanted to replace the Tokugawa clan and rule Japan through "royal restoration", and only asked for a change of the person in power.Farmers longed to keep more of the rice they harvested, but hated "reform".The samurai class wanted to keep their salary and be able to wield a sword and make meritorious deeds.The merchants, who financially supported the royalist army, wished to promote mercantilism, but never blamed the feudal system.

In 1868, the anti-curtain forces won the victory, announcing the restoration of the royal government and the end of the "dual rule".At the time, the victors were pursuing a policy of ultra-conservative isolationism by Western standards, but the new government took the opposite approach from the outset.Less than a year after its establishment, it abolished the daimyo's taxation rights in the domains.It took back the "public registration" and returned the "40%" that was originally divided into the daimyo according to the "four publics and six peoples" to the government.But this deprivation was not free. The government gave each daimyo a salary equivalent to about half of their normal income. At the same time, it also exempted them from the cost of raising samurai and public construction.The samurai, like the daimyo, received their salaries from the government.In the following five years, the inequalities between classes and the appearance marks of clothes as rank and status were legally abolished, and even "distribution" was ordered.The untouchables were liberated.The decree prohibiting land transfers was repealed.The checkpoints between the feudal clans have been removed.The state religion status of Buddhism was abolished.By 1876, the salaries of daimyo and samurai were converted into Chiroku bonds with a repayment period of five to fifteen years, and the amount was determined according to the fixed salary received by each person in the Tokugawa era.This sum of money made it possible for them to start new types of non-feudal enterprises. "This is the final establishment of the special combination of commercial and financial tycoons and feudal land aristocrats that have been witnessed as early as the Tokugawa era."

These major reforms by the nascent Meiji government were unpopular.At the time, there was far more general enthusiasm for the invasion of Korea ("Conquest of Korea") in 1871-1873 than for these measures.The Meiji government not only did not waver in its policy of thorough reform, but also vetoed the plan to invade Korea.The government's policy was so opposed to the aspirations of the vast majority of those who fought for the establishment of the Meiji government that in 1877 the great leader of these opposing factions, Saigo Takamori, organized a massive rebellion against the government.His army represented all the wishes of the royalists to maintain the feudal system, which the Meiji government betrayed in the first year after the realization of the "restoration of the king".The government recruited a volunteer army composed of ordinary civilians and defeated the gentry army of Takamori Saigo.Still, the rebellion was a testament to the intensity of domestic discontent aroused by the government at the time.

Peasant dissatisfaction was equally strong.From 1868 to 1878, the first decade of the Meiji era, at least 190 peasant uprisings broke out.It was not until 1877 that the new government moved slowly to reduce the heavy taxes on the peasants, so it is no wonder that the peasants felt that the new government did not see them at all.Peasants also objected to the establishment of schools, conscription, land surveys, edicts, equal treatment of untouchables, extreme official restrictions on Buddhism, the switch to the Gregorian calendar, and many other changes to their long-accustomed ways of life.

So who made this "government" carry out such drastic and unpopular reforms?It is the "special alliance" of low-level samurai and businessmen that had been bred in the special customs of feudal Japan.These samurai, as the confidantes of the daimyo, honed their political means, operated and managed the monopoly enterprises of various feudal domains, such as mining, textiles, and paper making; while these businessmen bought the status of samurai and popularized production technology knowledge among the samurai class.This alliance of samurai and businessmen quickly brought to the fore those capable and confident individuals who would advise and organize the implementation of the Meiji government.However, the question is not what class they came from, but why they are so smart and capable and dare to practice.Japan, which had just left the Middle Ages in the second half of the nineteenth century, was as weak as Thailand today, but it was able to produce a group of leaders with insight into the situation, and successfully carried out a major cause that required the most political skills, surpassing any nation. try.The strengths and weaknesses of these leaders are derived from the traditional Japanese national identity, and the main theme of this book is to explore how this national identity has been and is.Here, we can only briefly understand how the Meiji politicians accomplished this undertaking.

They never saw their task as an ideological revolution, but as a cause.The goal in their hearts is to make Japan a powerful country with status in the world.They were not iconoclasts, neither condemning the feudal class to nothing, nor stripping them of their property, but lured them into perpetuating support for the government by lured them with generous pay.They finally improved conditions for farmers.The ten-year delay was not so much due to the rejection of the peasants' demands for the government from a class standpoint, but rather due to the lack of state treasury in the early Meiji period.

However, the shrewd and capable politicians in charge of the Meiji regime rejected all ideas of abolishing hierarchy. "Royal Restoration" brought the emperor to the top, abolished the generals, and simplified the hierarchy.The politicians after the restoration of the royal government abolished the vassal, eliminating the contradiction between loyalty to the lord and loyalty to the country.These changes did not fundamentally negate the habit of hierarchy, but only provided a new order.The new leaders, known as "His Excellencies", have even strengthened the centralized rule in order to promote their excellent platform to the people.They alternately use pressure and favors, and they use both favors and threats in order to achieve their goals.But when public opinion disapproved of the switch to the solar calendar, the establishment of public schools, the abolition of the unequal treatment of untouchables such as the Tudor, etc., they made no attempt to pander to it.

One of the blessings from above is the "Constitution of the Empire of Japan" bestowed on the people by the Emperor in 1889.It gave the people a place in the state and established a parliament.This constitution was carefully drawn up by the "Your Excellencies" after studying and criticizing the constitutions of Western countries.However, the drafters of the constitution "took every precaution to prevent the interference of the people and the intrusion of public opinion," and the agency responsible for drafting the constitution was a bureau under the Ministry of Miyauchi, so it was sacrosanct.

Meiji politicians were very clear about their goals. In 1880, the drafter of the Constitution, Duke Hirobumi Ito, sent Marquis Kido (Takayoshi) to England to listen to Herbert Spencer's opinion on the current problems in Japan.After a lengthy conversation, Spencer wrote comments to Ito.Concerning hierarchy, Spencer writes that Japan has an incomparable basis of national welfare in its traditional customs which should be maintained and cultivated.Traditional obligations to elders, especially the emperor, are one of Japan's great virtues, he said.Japan will advance steadily under the leadership of the "elders" and can overcome the difficulties that cannot be avoided in many individualistic countries.This letter affirmed the faith of the Meiji statesmen, and they were quite satisfied with it.They sought to preserve Japan's virtues of "fitting in its place" in the modern world.They don't want to break the hierarchical habit.

Whether it was politics, religion, or economics, Meiji politicians clearly stipulated the obligation of "each in peace" between the country and the people in every field of activity.The whole arrangement is so different from the US and UK that we often lose sight of the most basic points.Of course, there is a strong ruling from above, not subject to the dictates of public opinion.Government is in the hands of those at the top of the hierarchy, never including elected figures.In this class, the people have no voice at all.In 1940, the highest level of the government consisted of important ministers who could "see" the emperor at any time, advisers around the emperor, and officials appointed by the emperor's royal seal, including cabinet members, prefectural governors, judges, and bureau chiefs officials and other senior officials.Elected officials cannot attain such high positions in the hierarchy.The elected councilors have no say in the selection and appointment of cabinet members and the ministers of the Ministry of Finance or Transport.The House of Representatives, elected by universal suffrage, represents the opinions of the people. Although it has certain privileges to question or criticize senior government officials, it has no real say in appointments, decisions, or budgets.There is also no legal initiative.The House of Representatives is also constrained by the unelected House of Nobles, half of whom are nobles and a quarter are elected by the emperor.The House of Lords had almost equal authority over laws as the House of Commons, which provided yet another hierarchical control.

This ensures that all senior positions in the Japanese government are in the hands of "Your Excellencies".However, this by no means means that Japan does not have self-government under the system of "each in his own right".In all Asian countries, no matter what the political system is, the power from above is always stretched downwards, and meets the local self-government rights below.The difference between different countries lies in the extent of the scope of democracy, how much responsibility it bears, and whether local leaders can be accountable to the entire local community, or whether they will be monopolized by local forces to the detriment of public interests.Japan in the Tokugawa era was just like China. The smallest unit was about five to ten households, which were later called "neighborhood groups", which were the smallest responsible units among residents.The leader of this "neighboring group" has leadership over the affairs of the group, ensures that the members of the group behave properly, must report any suspicious behavior, and must hand over to the government if any fugitives are found.Meiji politicians initially abolished this set, but later revived it and called it "neighborhood".In cities and towns, the government sometimes actively cultivates "neighborhood groups", but in today's rural areas it is almost ineffective.A more important unit is the "horde".The tribe was neither abolished nor incorporated into the system of government as an administrative unit.It is an area that has not yet been touched by state power.This kind of tribe, which consists of about fifteen households, is still functioning as an organization even today, with the change of the leader of the tribe every year.The task of the tribal chief is to "manage the property of the tribe; supervise the tribe's assistance to families who are mourned or hit by fire; arrange appropriate schedules for public operations such as farming, building houses, and road repairs, and are responsible for ringing the alarm in case of fire; Ring the bell and strike the bang to make an announcement." Unlike other Asian countries, the tribal chiefs in Japan are not responsible for collecting the national taxes of their community.So they don't have to shoulder this burden.Nor is there any contradiction in their position, functioning within the sphere of democratic responsibility. Modern Japanese administrative agencies officially recognized the local administration of cities, towns, and villages.The "elders" elected by the public elect a leader to represent the region in negotiations with the central government or prefectural and county offices representing the country.In the countryside, the chief was often an old resident, a member of a family of farmers who owned land.After becoming the village chief, he suffered some economic losses, but he was quite powerful.Together with the elders, he is responsible for managing the village's finances, public health, schools, especially property registration and understanding everyone's situation.The village office is a very busy place. It is responsible for managing the primary school education subsidy allocated by the state, collecting education funds borne by the village which are much larger than the state subsidy and supervising its expenditure, managing the common property of the village and its rent, loans, Soil improvement and afforestation, as well as registration of all property transactions, and property transactions must be officially registered at the village office before they are considered legal.The village office requires every resident of the village to register their address, marriage, birth of children, adoption and adoption, criminal record and other information in a timely manner.For each household, the same materials are kept.From any place such material may be given to that person's village office of origin and entered in his register.When a person applies for employment or accepts a trial, or needs to prove his identity for other reasons, he must write a letter to the city, town, or village office of his origin, or go back in person to obtain a copy of his materials and hand them over to the relevant parties .So people never take the risk of leaving a bad record for themselves or their families. Therefore, cities, towns, and villages bear great responsibility.This is a community responsibility. In the 1920s, national political parties emerged in Japan.In any country, this means that there will be an alternation between the "ruling party" and the "opposition party".But even in this case, the local administration remains unaffected, still led by the "elders" and serving the community.However, the local administration has no autonomy in the following three areas.This is: all judges are appointed by the state, police officers and teachers are state employees.Since civil litigation in Japan is almost always settled through mediation or arbitration, the courts play little role in local administration.But the police officers are more important. Whenever there is an impromptu assembly, they must be present.However, such tasks are infrequent, and most of the time is spent recording relevant resident identities and properties.The government often moves officers from one location to another to maintain its outsider status and avoid regional ties.School teachers are also often transferred.The state has very strict regulations on schools.In Japan, as in France, every school uses the same textbooks and teaches the same classes on the same day.Every school does the same morning exercises at the same time every morning, with the same radio accompaniment.Municipal, town and village communities cannot exercise autonomy over schools, police and courts. Few of the Japanese government agencies mentioned above do not differ significantly from those of the United States.In the U.S. government agencies, those elected in the general election hold the highest executive and legislative powers, and local management is carried out by the police and courts under local command.However, the form of Japanese government agencies is no different from that of Western European countries such as the Netherlands and Belgium.In the Netherlands, for example, as in Japan, all laws are drawn up by the Queen's Cabinet, and Parliament never actually enacts laws.Even the mayors of towns and mayors are legally appointed and dismissed by the queen. Therefore, the queen's formal power is extensive, directly reaching local affairs, surpassing Japan before 1940.While the Queen has practically always endorsed local nominations, it is a fact that a Queen's appointment is required.The police and courts are directly accountable to the monarch, as is the case in the Netherlands.However, in the Netherlands any denominational group is free to start schools.The Japanese school system is almost entirely copied from France.The digging of canals, reclamation of land from the sea, and local development are generally the tasks of local governments in the Netherlands, rather than the tasks of politically elected mayors or officials. The real difference mentioned above between Japanese government agencies and Western European countries is not in form, but in their functions.The Japanese rely on ancient habits of deference, forged in past experience and embodied in a moral system and manners.By relying on this set of habits, the state can count on respect for the prerogatives of those "lords" as long as they are in place and doing their jobs.Not because their policies were embraced, but because in Japan it is wrong to cross the line of privilege.At the highest levels of government, "the opinion of the people" has absolutely no place.The government is simply asking for "national support".When the jurisdiction of the state crosses its own borders and interferes with local affairs, its judgment is also respected.For the national government that performs various internal affairs functions, Americans feel that it is an indispensable obstacle.The Japanese are not. In their eyes, the country is almost perfect. Not only that, the government also pays great attention to recognizing the "fitness" of the national will.It is no exaggeration to say that in the realm of legitimate public opinion, the Japanese government has worked hard to enlist the consent of the people, even if it is in the interests of the people themselves.For example, when officials in charge of revitalizing agriculture improve the old farming methods, just like their counterparts in Idaho in the United States, they rarely use their power to forcefully promote them.When encouraging the establishment of state-guaranteed farmers' credit cooperatives and farmers' supply and marketing cooperatives, government officials always have to talk to local celebrities many times and follow their decisions.Local issues must be resolved locally.The Japanese way of life is to assign appropriate powers and to define the scope of their exercise.Compared with Western culture, the Japanese have more respect for their "superior"-thus giving them greater freedom of action, but the "superior" must also strictly abide by their duties.The Japanese motto is: "Everything has its own place and its own place." Compared with politics, Meiji statesmen instituted even more bizarre institutions in the field of religion.Of course, they are still practicing the Japanese maxim.The state brought one religion under its jurisdiction as a special symbol of national unity and superiority, while other beliefs were left to individual freedom.This kind of religion managed by the state is the state Shinto.Because it is regarded as a national symbol, it is given special respect, just like the national flag is respected in the United States.Therefore, they say that State Shinto is not a religion.Therefore, the Japanese government can require all citizens to believe in national Shinto, but it does not think it violates the principle of freedom of religious belief in the West.It's as if the U.S. government is asking people to salute the Stars and Stripes.It's nothing more than a token of loyalty.Because "it's not a religion," Japan can teach Shinto in schools without fear of Western disapproval.In schools, National Shinto became the cult of the gods since the age of the gods and the "one lineage" of successive emperors.National Shinto is supported and managed by the state.As for other religious beliefs, not to mention Buddhism and Christianity, even the Shinto or sacrificial Shinto of other sects are all at the discretion of the individual, almost the same as in the United States.These two different fields are even administratively and financially separated: National Shinto is managed by the Shinto Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and its priests, sacrifices, shrines, etc. are all paid by the national treasury; Managed by the Religious Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Education, its funds depend on voluntary donations from believers. Because of the above-mentioned official position of the Japanese government on this issue, one cannot say that National Shinto is a huge "state church", but at least it can be said that it is a huge institution. More than 110,000 shrines are scattered all over the country, from the Ise Grand Shrine where Amaterasu is worshiped, to the local small shrines where the priests and priests clean up during special festivals.The national hierarchy of the priest system is parallel to the government system, from the lowest priests to the priests of the counties, cities, prefectures, and counties, to the priests who are revered as "Your Excellency" at the highest level.These priests, rather than leading the people to perform sacrifices, it is better to say that they hold ceremonies for the people.National Shinto is nothing like we usually go to church to worship.Because it is not a religion, the law prohibits the national Shinto priests from preaching the doctrine, and it is impossible to have the kind of worship rituals that Westerners understand.Instead, on frequent festival days, town and village representatives visit the shrine and stand before the priest.The priest held up a "money silk" tied with hemp rope and paper strips, and waved it back and forth over their heads to dispel evil spirits for them.Then, the priest opened the inner door of the shrine, screamed at the top of his voice, and summoned the gods to come and enjoy the offerings.The priest prayed, and the worshipers lined up according to their status, and respectfully offered the twigs that have been regarded as sacred since ancient times. Several slender strips of paper hang from the branches.Then, screaming again, the priest sent back the gods and closed the inner door of the shrine.On the National Shinto Great Ritual Day, the emperor will personally offer sacrifices to the people, and all government departments will have a holiday.However, this kind of sacrifice day is different from the sacrifice days of local shrines and Buddhism, and is not a festival for the masses.The latter belongs to the realm of "freedom" and is outside the scope of State Shinto. In this sphere of freedom, the Japanese carry out various sects and rituals according to their own wishes.Buddhism is very active, and it is still the religion of most countries. Various sects have different teachings and founders.Even in Shinto, there are many sects besides the national Shinto.Some of these denominations had become bastions of pure nationalism long before the government introduced nationalism in the 1930s.Another denomination is a form of spiritual healing, often likened to "Christian Science."Some believe in Confucianism, while others specialize in the activities of manifesting gods and visiting holy mountains and shrines.Most of the common people's sacrificial festivals do not belong to the state Shinto.On such festivals, the common people flock to the shrine, and everyone rinses their mouths to dispel evil spirits, pulls ropes, rings bells, and claps hands to summon the gods to descend.Then, they saluted respectfully, and then pulled the rope, rang the bell, and clapped hands again to send back to the gods.Then, leave the front of the shrine hall and start the main activities of the day.This is buying rare playthings from small vendors in the shrine yard, watching sumo wrestling, mantra, and Kagura dance with clowns making jokes and laughing.An Englishman who once lived in Japan said that he could not help thinking of a stanza of William Blake's poem every Japanese festival: Religion never feels austere in Japan, except for a very small number of people who are dedicated to it.The Japanese also like to go to the mountains to worship temples, which is also a pleasant vacation. This is how the Meiji politicians carefully delineated the scope of power of the state in politics and the scope of state Shinto in religion.As for other spheres, they left them to the people, but as the top officials of the new hierarchy they guaranteed control over matters which they considered to be directly related to the state.They had similar problems when creating the Army and Navy.In the army, as elsewhere, they abolished the old hierarchy, and more completely than in the common people.They even abolished Japanese honorifics in the army, although some of the old customs actually remained.The promotion of military ranks is not based on family background, but on personal ability, which is rarely seen in other fields.For all that, the army has a high reputation among the Japanese, and clearly deserves it.This is indeed the best way for the new army to win popular support.In addition, most of the platoons and companies are composed of neighbors in the same area, and most of them perform military service not far from home in peacetime. The relationship of the soldier, the veteran and the recruit, replaced that of the samurai and the peasant, of the rich and the poor.The military is in many ways promoting democracy and in many ways is truly the people's army.In most other countries, the military is seen as the colossal force on which the status quo depends.Japan, on the other hand, was very sympathetic to the small peasant class, and this sympathy had repeatedly provoked the army to protest against the big finance capitalists and entrepreneurs. Japanese politicians do not necessarily agree with all the consequences of establishing such a people's army.They did not consider it appropriate at this level to secure the military at the top of the hierarchy.But they took steps at the highest level.The measures are not enshrined in the constitution, but preserve the accepted practice of the military chief maintaining independence from the government.For example, the Ministers of the Army and Navy, unlike the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior, had the right to have a direct audience with the Emperor and thus be able to enforce their measures in the Emperor's name without notification or consultation with civilian cabinet members.They can also prevent the formation of a cabinet they do not trust, simply by refusing to appoint army and navy generals to the cabinet.No cabinet can be formed without a senior serving officer as Secretary of State for the Army and Navy, as civilian or retired officers cannot hold the post.Similarly, if the military is dissatisfied with any action of the cabinet, it only needs to recall their representatives in the cabinet to force the cabinet to disintegrate.At this highest decision-making level, the head of the military department will never allow anyone to interfere.If further guarantees were needed, there was a provision in the constitution that if the Reichstag rejected the government's draft budget, the government would automatically implement the previous year's budget.Despite assurances from the Foreign Ministry, the Kwantung Army's armed occupation of Manchuria was just one example of military chiefs taking advantage of cabinet disagreements and undecided decisions to support local commanders.With the military, as in other fields, the Japanese tended to accept all the consequences where the privileges of rank were concerned, not because they agreed with the policy but because they disapproved of overstepping boundaries in matters of privilege. In terms of industrial development, Japan is taking a path incomparable with any western country.Here too, the "Your Excellencies" arrange the steps and formulate the guidelines.Not only do they make plans, but the government starts and finances businesses they think are needed.These enterprises are organized and managed by government bureaucrats.They hired foreign technical experts and sent people to study abroad.And when these enterprises, as they say, "are well organized and well established," the government sells them to private companies.These government-run enterprises were gradually sold at "ridiculously low prices" to selected financial giants, namely the famous chaebol centered on Mitsui and Mitsubishi.Japanese politicians believe that industrial development is a major issue that concerns the survival of the Japanese nation, and they cannot believe in the law of supply and demand and free enterprise.But this policy is by no means derived from socialist dogma.It is those consortiums that get huge profits.What Japan has accomplished is building the enterprises it needs most with the minimum of failure and waste. Through these means, Japan modified "the starting point and normal sequence of the stages of capitalist production."Instead of producing consumer goods and light industry, it started with key heavy industries from the start.Arsenals, shipyards, steelworks, railway construction, etc. were all given priority, rapidly reaching high levels of technology and efficiency.Of course, not all of these enterprises have been transferred to private chaebols. Huge military enterprises are still in the hands of government bureaucrats and receive special financial subsidies from the government. Small businessmen and non-bureaucratic managers do not have their "rightful place" in the industrial fields given priority by the government.Only the state and the big plutocrats who are trusted by the state and enjoy political privileges can operate in this field.But like other areas of Japanese life, there are areas of freedom in industry.That is the various "surplus" industries run with the least amount of capital and the best use of cheap labor.These light industries could survive without modern technology and still exist today.They operate in what Americans call "family sweatshops."After a small manufacturer buys raw materials, it first lends to a family factory or a small factory with only four or five workers for processing, and then lends out the raw materials and receives the products after receiving the products. exporter.In the 1930s, more than 53 percent of Japanese industrial employees worked in small factories or family factories with no more than five employees.Most of these workers are protected by paternalism in the ancient apprenticeship system. In many families in big cities, you can also see many mothers with babies on their backs doing odd jobs. In the Japanese way of life the industrial duality is as significant as in the political-religious sphere.It is as if, when the Japanese politicians decided that they needed a financial aristocracy to rival the hierarchy in other fields, he created for them a set of strategic enterprises, a selection of politically privileged businessmen Clans, which connect them with other castes and give them "proper status".It was never in the plans of the Japanese politicians to weaken the government's ties with these financial oligarchy who profited from the protection policy, giving them not only profit but also a good position.From the perspective of the traditional Japanese attitude towards money and profit, the wealthy aristocrats will inevitably not be attacked by the public, and the government tries its best to support these aristocrats in accordance with the generally accepted concept of hierarchy.However, this effort has not been entirely successful.Because the chaebols are still under constant attack from the so-called young military officer groups and from the countryside.But the truth of the matter is still that the target of Japanese public opinion attacks is not the chaebols, but the big "Chengjin" households.The so-called "Chengjin" is often translated as "nouveau riche", but this word does not accurately express the feelings of the Japanese.In the United States, the meaning of "nouveau riche" is strictly speaking "newcomers".They are ridiculed because they are unsociable and uncultivated.However, this shortcoming of theirs is offset by touching enrichment.They started from a dilapidated wooden house, and from a mule to a horse, they became oil field tycoons with huge sums of money.But in Japan, the word "norkin" comes from shogi, which means a pawn suddenly becomes a queen.It is as rampant and pompous as a "celebrity", but hierarchically, it has no such right at all.People all think that "Chengjin" got rich by defrauding and exploiting, and the accusations against "Chengjin" are extremely different from the attitude of Americans towards "self-made people".Japan gave the very rich their due place in the hierarchy and formed alliances with them.But Japanese public opinion would have lashed out if such wealth had not been earned in this area. In short, the Japanese often take hierarchy into account when constructing world order.Age, seniority, gender, and class determine appropriate behavior in the family and in relationships.In various fields such as politics, religion, military, and industry, there are very thoughtful hierarchical divisions. Whether it is the upper class or the lower class, if it exceeds the scope of its privileges, it will be punished.As long as "each in his own place, each in his own place" is maintained, the Japanese will live without dissatisfaction.They feel safe.Of course, they are also often not "safe" in the sense that their highest happiness is protected.They feel "safe" because they see hierarchy as legitimate.This is as characteristic of the Japanese outlook on life as a belief in equality and free enterprise is characteristic of the American way of life. However, when the Japanese wanted to export this "safe" formula, they were punished.Hierarchy fits well with the thinking of ordinary people in Japan because it fosters that thinking.In that world, people's ambitions can only be as ambitious as that world can mold them.However, hierarchy is by no means something that can be exported.Those brazen claims, in the eyes of other countries, are extremely arrogant, even worse than arrogance, and they are extremely indignant.When the Japanese officers and soldiers arrived in various occupying countries, they were always surprised when they saw that the local residents did not welcome them at all.Didn't Japan give them a status?Although it is very low, it is always a position in the entire hierarchy; isn't hierarchy ideal for people at the lower levels?As a result, the Japanese military department shot several war films one after another, describing the "love" of the Chinese towards the Japanese.For example, a Chinese girl who suffers from despair and abandons herself falls in love with a Japanese soldier or a Japanese engineer and finds happiness and so on.This kind of movie is too far away from the Nazi-style conquest of the Japanese to be useless.They cannot use their own standards to ask other countries.Their mistake was that they thought it could.They failed to realize that they could not expect other countries to accept the Japanese moral system, which they themselves were willing to settle for, "each his own way."Other countries do not have this kind of moral system.It is an authentic Japanese product.Japanese writers take this ethical system for granted and do not discuss it.However, to understand the Japanese, one must first discuss this ethical system.

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