Kokuhonsha

The National Foundation Society (国本社, Kokuhonsha) was a nationalist political society in late 1920s and early 1930s Japan.

Kiichirō Hiranuma, founder of the Kokuhonsha

History

The Kokuhonsha was founded in 1924 by conservative Minister of Justice and President of the House of Peers, Kiichirō Hiranuma. It called on Japanese patriots to reject the various foreign political “-isms” (such as socialism, communism, Marxism, anarchism, etc.) in favor of a rather vaguely defined “Japanese national spirit” (kokutai). The name “kokuhon” was selected as an antithesis to the word “minpon”, from minpon shugi, the commonly used translation for the word “democracy”, and the society was openly supportive of totalitarian ideology. The elder statesman Saionji Kinmochi publicly criticized the organization of promoting Japanese fascism.

Membership of the Kokuhonsha included many of Hiranuma's colleagues from the Ministry of Home Affairs, important businessmen, as well as some of the most powerful generals and admirals, including generals Sadao Araki, Jinzaburō Masaki, Makoto Saitō, and Yamakawa Kenjirō with war hero and admiral Tōgō Heihachirō serving as honorary Vice Chairman. By 1936, it claimed to have a membership of over 200,000 in 170 branches. The Kokuhonsha published a monthly newspaper called Kokuhon, and acted as Hiranuma's political support group.

Kokuhon openly advocated a concept they called Kokumin Zentaishugi ("National Totalitarianism"), which aspired to the "inclusion of all sections of the Japanese state and society in one embracing whole". According to Kokuhon, Kokumin Zentaishugi idea suited the mentality of the Japanese people better than Western democracy, stating that "The Japanese, in contrast to the Chinese or Jews, are incapable of living without a state."

However, after Hiranuma was appointed President of the Privy Council, he no longer needed the support of a political action group. The February 26 Incident of 1936, during which time many prominent members expressed support for the insurrectionists, provided Hiranuma with an excuse to order the organization dissolved.

See also

• List of Japanese nationalist movements and parties

References

• Bix, Herbert P. (2001). Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-093130-2.
• Neary, Ian (2002). The State and Politics in Japan. Polity. ISBN 0-7456-2134-1.
• Reynolds, E. Bruce (2004). Japan in the Fascist Era. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1-4039-6338-X.
• Sims, Richard (2001). Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868-2000. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-23915-7.