Tsuyoshi Hasegawa (Professor, History, UC Santa Barbara)
| DATE: | Monday, October 27, 2003 |
|---|---|
| TIME: | 12:00-2:00 p.m. |
| PLACE: | IEAS Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., 6th Floor |
| FORMAT: | Brown Bag Lecture |
| SPONSOR: | Center for Japanese Studies |
Although hopelessly divided over whether and on what terms they ought to terminate the Pacific War, Japanese policymakers during 1945 were unanimous about the need to preserve the kokutai, the national polity. Yet, what was meant by this ambiguous term? What Japan's leaders meant by kokutai remained unclear until intense debates took place triggered by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6th and the Soviet entry into the war on August 14th. Advocates of peace successfully challenged the prevailing mythical view of the kokutai as a national essence that transcended the mere political structure surrounding the emperor. In so doing, they jettisoned two of the most crucial features of the kokutai: the emperor's monopoly of the military command and the notion of the emperor as a living god. Drawing on research from his recently completed book manuscript, the speaker demonstrates how concern for preserving the imperial institution and political calculations made in anticipation of peace negotiations with the United States and the Soviet Union influenced this redefinition of kokutai.
This event is free and open to the public.
