Many people feared and hated Japanese because of the terror they’ve brought in the World War II. However, if we will analyze it very well, those Japanese in prewar era were actually kind and obedient people because of their education. Their obedience lead them to follow the intentions and goals of their nation through the ideas of their leaders and their leader’s advisors – the emperor. Japanese believe that their emperor was ordained by heaven or in other words, chosen by God. Showing unconditional obedience by Japanese gave them the title Ultra-Nationalist.
If we will study their lives before the war, we will see how education was effective to impose the nationalism of Japanese. People in prewar era were taught about their duties and to act kindness in generous way to their families and their state. They were taught at their very young age. Also, their imperial orders had rescripts on their education before. Two of the three imperial rescripts on education provided Japanese’s Ultra-Nationalism behavior. First, their imperial ancestors have founded their empire on a broad and everlasting basis, and have deeply and firmly implanted virtue. Thus, the empire made their subjects ever united in loyalty and filial piety, or being obedient to their parents, have from generation to generation. Second, be filial to their parents and showing benevolence to all. Their benevolence always lead them to respect the Constitution and observe the laws, and if ever emergency arise, offer themselves courageously to the State of Japan (Curl 8).
The imperial leadership taught their people the family state concept wherein they believed that their emperor was their father (Curl 9). Combining the concept and rescript of education, emperor did have the full control of his people. No wonder, most of the Japanese in World War II had sacrificed their lives for the sake of the state and their emperor’s will. They really had shown benevolence to the state and their emperor. Such obedience they did show providing victories in the first year of their invasions.
Japanese are disciplined people and obedient too. Wicked leaders will lead their people in chaos because of their beliefs in the governance’s desires of improving their state. They’ve proven how they rise again after the war and how they improve their economy despite of the loss they’ve had in the war. We must observe and learn their behaviors then apply to our society, we will see kind people to one another leading to development.
Works Cited
Curl, Rob. When Will Japan Attack Again? - Japanese Ultranationalism. 2 December, 2014. Print.
Hall, Robert. Shushin: The Ethics of a Defeated Nation. 1949. Print.
Colegrove, Kenneth. The Japanese Emperor. The American Political Science Association, August 1932. Web. 12 December 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1946532?uid=3738824&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104837408601>
