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Taisho Democracy in Japan: 1912-1926

With the death of Emperor Meiji in 1912 a great deal of

uncertainty about Japan’s future followed. Many
believed that Meiji Japan had flourished under the
steadfast rule of the emperor who reigned for more than
40 years. Now his first son, Yoshihito, ascended to the
throne and took the name Taisho, ushering in the next
era. Those deeply loyal to Emperor Meiji and resistant to
modernization efforts were particularly vulnerable.
Some would hold fast to the centuries of Japanese
tradition, rejecting any shifts in gender roles or
education and military reforms, while other reformers
embraced change.

The young Taisho emperor was born in 1879 and at an

early age contracted cerebral meningitis. The ill effects
of the disease, including physical weakness and episodes
of mental instability, plagued him throughout his reign.
Because of his sickness there was a shift in the structure
of political power from the old oligarchic advisors under
Meiji to the members of the Diet of Japan—the elected
representative officials increasingly gaining influence
and power. By 1919 Emperor Taisho’s illness prevented
him from performing any official duties altogether. By
1921 Hirohito, his first son, was named ses-ho, or prince
regent of Japan. From this point forward, Emperor
Taisho no longer appeared in public.

Despite the lack of political stability, modernization

efforts during Taisho continued. A greater openness and
desire for representative democracy took hold. Literary
societies, mass-audience magazines, and new
publications flourished. University cities like Tokyo
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witnessed a burgeoning culture of European-style cafés,

with young people donning Western clothing. A thriving
music, film, and theater culture grew, with some calling
this period “Japan’s roaring '20s.”

For these reasons the Taisho era has also been called
Taisho democracy as Japan enjoyed a climate of political
liberalism unforeseen after decades of Meiji
authoritarianism.1 One of the leading political figures,
and the man who coined the term Taisho democracy,
was professor of law and political theory Dr. Yoshino
Sakuzo. After observing and traveling extensively in the
West, he returned to Japan and wrote a series of articles
promoting the development of a liberal and social
democratic tradition in Japan. In the preface to his 1916
essay “On the Meaning of Constitutional Government,”
Yoshino wrote:

[T]he fundamental prerequisite for

perfecting constitutional government,
especially in politically backwards
nations, is the cultivation of knowledge
and virtue among the general population.
This is not the task that can be
accomplished in a day. Think of the
situation in our own country [Japan]. We
instituted constitutional government
before the people were prepared for it. As
a result there have been many failures. . . .
Still, it is impossible to reverse course and
return to the old absolutism, so there is
nothing for us to do but cheerfully take
the road of reform and progress.
Consequently, it is extremely important
not to rely on politicians alone but to use
the cooperative efforts of educators,
religious leaders, and thinkers in all areas
of society.2
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With such ideas openly circulating, Japan also saw the

rise of mass movements advocating political change.
Labor unions started large-scale strikes to protest labor
inequities, political injustices, treaty negotiations, and
Japanese involvement in World War I. The number of
strikes rose from 108 in 1914 to 417 strikes in 1918. At the
outset of World War I, there were 49 labor organizations
and 187 at the end, with a membership total of 100,000.3
A movement for women’s suffrage soon followed. While
the right of women to vote was not recognized until
1946, these early feminists were instrumental in
overturning Article 5 of the Police Security Act, which
had prevented women from joining political groups and
actively participating in politics. They also challenged
cultural and family traditions by entering the work-
force in greater numbers and asserting their financial
independence.

One of the most widespread political protests occurred

in 1918 with Japan’s rice riots. Like the rest of the world,
Japan was experiencing wartime inflation and low
wages. The dramatic increase in the price of rice, a staple
of the Japanese diet, had an impact on the entire
country. In August 1918 in the fishing village of Uotsu,
fishermen’s wives attempted to stop the export of grain
from their village in protest against high prices. By
October more than 30 separate riots were documented,
the vast majority organized by women workers. They
refused to load grain, attacked rice merchants, and
protested the continued high prices. They inspired other
protests, such as the demand by coal miners for higher
wages and humane work conditions.

Much of this social unrest, political uprising, and

cultural experimentation came to a halt on September 1,
1923. On this day a powerful earthquake struck Japan
measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. This natural disaster
is referred to today as the Great Kanto Earthquake. The
force of the quake was so strong that a 93-ton Buddha
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statue 37 miles from the epicenter moved almost two

feet. The disaster devastated the entire city of Tokyo, the
third largest city in the world at that time, destroyed the
port city of Yokohama, and caused large-scale
destruction in the surrounding area. The earthquake
and subsequent fires killed more than 150,000 people
and left over 600,000 homeless. Martial law was
immediately instituted, but it couldn’t prevent mob
violence and the targeting of ethnic minorities. Koreans
living in Tokyo were targeted, as rumors spread that
they were poisoning the water and sabotaging
businesses. Newspapers reported these rumors as fact.
According to standard accounts over 2,600 Koreans and
160–170 Chinese were killed, with about 24,000 detained
by police. The numbers include political opponents such
as the anarchist Osugi Sakai, his wife, and their six-year-
old nephew, who were tortured to death in military
police custody. The officer responsible for this crime
later became a high-ranking official in Manchuria.4

Using the social unrest as an excuse, the Japanese

Imperial Army moved in to detain and arrest political
activists they believed were radicals. After events
surrounding the earthquake, the relationship between
the military and the emperor began to shift. According
to the Meiji Constitution, the emperor led the army and
navy. However, all military decisions were actually made
by the prime minister or high-level cabinet ministers. As
political activists became more vocal, many were
abducted and were never seen again. Local police and
army officials who were responsible claimed these so-
called radicals used the earthquake crisis as an excuse to
overthrow the government. More repression and
violence soon followed. Prime Minister Hara (1918–1921)
was assassinated, and a Japanese anarchist attempted to
assassinate Taisho’s first son, Hirohito.

Order was firmly restored when a more conservative

arm of the government gained influence and passed the
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Peace Preservation Law of 1925. Besides threatening up

to 10 years imprisonment for anyone attempting to alter
the kokutai (rule by the emperor and imperial
government, as opposed to popular sovereignty), this
law severely curtailed individual freedom in Japan and
attempted to eliminate any public dissent.5The
transition in the emperor’s role to one of greater power
began with the death of Emperor Taisho on December
18, 1926. Following tradition, his son Hirohito ascended to
the throne and chose the name Showa, mean- ing “peace
and enlightenment.” Hirohito neither suffered from
physical or mental ailments like his father nor held the
commanding presence of his grandfather. Rather,
Hirohito began his reign by per- forming all the
ceremonial duties flawlessly but appearing in public
only for highly orchestrated formal state occasions. Over
time as the political climate within Japan shifted to a
more militaristic stance, so did the role of the emperor.
One specific gesture is emblematic of the changes
occurring in the role and power of the emperor. When
Hirohito first appeared in public in the early years of his
reign, commoners would always remain dutifully seated
to avoid appearing above the emperor, but they were
permitted to look at him. By 1936 it was illegal for any
ordinary Japanese citizen to even look at the emperor.

Citations

1 : Professor Kevin M. Doak also argues that it is

important to recognize that “nationalism, especially
the popular ethnic version, were the central
ingredient in what has come to be known as Taisho
democracy.” Doak, “Culture, Ethnicity, and the State
in Early Twentieth-Century Japan,” 19.

2 : Wm. Theodore de Bary, Carol Gluck, and Arthur

E. Tiedemann, eds., Sources of Japanese Tradition,
2nd edition, vol. 2, (New York: Columbia University
Press, 2005), 838.
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3 : In 1914 over 5,700 workers were involved in

strikes and by 1918 over 66,000 were involved.

4 : Bob Tadashi Wakabayashi (professor, York

University), private correspondence with the
author, January 22, 2014.

5 : Ironically, this conservative faction passed the

1925 Universal Manhood suffrage Act, increasing
the number of males eligible to vote from 3.3 million
to 12.5 million. It also transformed the most
devastated areas of earthquake-ravaged cities by
building parks and erecting modern concrete
buildings that would withstand future quakes with
funds that came from cutting military spending in
half. Nevertheless, the early stages of repression
and militarism during the final years of the Taisho
era foreshadowed the extreme rise in nationalism
and militarism that followed in the coming decades.

Connection Questions

1. By the Taisho period, Japan had already officially

become a constitutional monarchy. What
observations did Yoshino Sakuzo make about the
transition to democracy in Japan? What does he
suggest is necessary for real change to take root?

2. What changes did reformers in the Taisho era bring

about? What were the greatest challenges
reformers faced as they attempted to bring about
democratic change?

3. Considering what you have learned so far, why do

you think some people felt a need for more
authoritarian rule after the Taisho period? What
gains had Japan made earlier in the century? What
happened during emperor Taisho’s rule?
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Related Content
https://www.facinghistory.org/nanjing-atrocities/nation-
building/taisho-democracy-japan-1912-1926

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