Danny Orbach is a military historian of Europe and Japan and a historian of intelligence, with special interest in the Modern period, WWII and the early Cold War. He wrote extensively on the German resistance to Hitler, rebellions in the Imperial Japanese Army and on other uprisings and war atrocities.
This book has shown how a culture of insubordination, an ideological pattern of rebellion and res... more This book has shown how a culture of insubordination, an ideological pattern of rebellion and resistance, developed as a constant feature of Japanese military life from the Meiji Restoration onward. Tracing its roots in the shishi culture of the late Tokugawa period, military insubordination persisted into the 1870s and reached new heights during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. It broke into two independent components: elite resistance to state policy and the shishi tradition of the mixed gangs. The book concludes with a discussion of three “bugs” that allowed the Imperial Japanese Army's rebellious culture to grow, prosper, and radicalize with the passing years: the first bug was the hazy political legitimacy of the Meiji regime; the second was the one-way nature of territorial expansion; and the third was the endless nature of territorial expansion.
This chapter focuses on the supreme prerogative system (tōsui-ken) and how it secured the indepen... more This chapter focuses on the supreme prerogative system (tōsui-ken) and how it secured the independence of the Japanese armed forces from any civilian institution apart from the imperial throne. In the postwar years, the “prerogative of supreme command” became a bogeyman to be blamed for all disasters from early Meiji to the end of the Pacific War. The novelist Shiba Ryōtarō claimed that the Imperial Japanese Army, entrenched within their own “supreme prerogative country,” became as wild and murderous as the Pixiu, a gold-eating monster from Chinese mythology. The chapter first considers the Japanese military reforms of 1878 and the motives behind them before discussing the flaws of the supreme prerogative system, arguing that it created a rich background for the future development of military insubordination.
<p>This chapter examines the assassination of Zhang Zuolin, the powerful warlord of Manchur... more <p>This chapter examines the assassination of Zhang Zuolin, the powerful warlord of Manchuria, in 1928 by a group of young Japanese officers led by Kōmoto Daisaku. It begins with a discussion of the two military ideas on which Kōmoto's plot was based: a reinvigorated version of the supreme prerogative system and the concept known as "operational discretion" (<italic>dokudan senkō</italic>). It then considers Japan's dilemma regarding <italic>Manmō</italic>, the Japanese abbreviation for "Manchuria and Inner Mongolia." It also analyzes Kōmoto's personality and his tendency for insubordination, along with the conspiracy to kill Zhang Zuolin. It shows that Kōmoto plotted the assassination of Zhang Zuolin in complete defiance of both government and military high command.</p>
<p>This chapter discusses the murder of Queen Min of Korea by Japanese Lieutenant General M... more <p>This chapter discusses the murder of Queen Min of Korea by Japanese Lieutenant General Miura Gorō in 1895. On October 8, 1895, a group of Japanese officers, policemen, and civilians broke into the private apartments of Queen Min, hacked her to death with swords, killed several of her court ladies and burned their bodies on the lawn. The minister of the royal household was also slain, and the crown princess was beaten. This heinous act planned by Miura, the Japanese envoy, without the knowledge of the Japanese government. The chapter examines the assassination of Queen Min within its historical and political context before discussing how it brought together, with dire consequences, two distinct roads of military resistance to state policy. It also considers the trial and subsequent acquittal of Miura in Hiroshima.</p>
<p>This chapter examines the Taishō political crisis of 1912–1913. It first considers Home ... more <p>This chapter examines the Taishō political crisis of 1912–1913. It first considers Home Minister Hara Kei's "positive policy" and the military budget dispute of autumn 1912 involving the army and navy before discussing the imperial ordinance known as the "rule of active duty ministry." It then turns to Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi's conflict with the army and his successor Katsura Tarō's dispute with the navy. It also explains how the "active duty rule" and the political tools it had generated turned the budgetary dispute of autumn 1912 into a government crisis, and finally, into a military coup d'état. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the ramifications of the Taishō political crisis for the future.</p>
<p>This chapter discusses the rise of a new political order in Japan during the period 1868... more <p>This chapter discusses the rise of a new political order in Japan during the period 1868–1873. In order to legitimize their rule, the leaders of the interdomainal alliance chose to "hide" their power behind the prestigious institution of the emperor, without giving him real power. When the interdomainal alliance collapsed in autumn 1873, it left in its wake formidable waves of military insurgency. The chapter first describes the reign of the Japanese emperor, who was compared to a "jewel" held by the leaders of the government—well respected, but devoid of real power. It then considers the Meiji regime, which was established through a series of decisive reforms, as well as the rifts and rivalries of the interdomainal alliance, particularly between the Chōshū and Satsuma domains. Finally, it examines Japan's conflict with Korea and the collapse of the interdomainal alliance.</p>
This chapter traces the origins of military insubordination in Japan during the period 1858–1868.... more This chapter traces the origins of military insubordination in Japan during the period 1858–1868. It first provides a background on the samurai during the Tokugawa period before discussing the ideology of the shishi, a term associated with fugitive samurai who used violence against foreigners, Shogunate officials, and pro-Bakufu elements in the various domains. It then considers the organizational structures of the shishi, with particular emphasis on the mixed gangs and their rise and fall. It also examines the heyday of the militarized gangs, focusing on Takasugi Shinsaku, a middle-ranking samurai, and the Chōshū Wars. Finally, it describes the birth of the final pattern of shishi organization, the interdomainal alliance and how the shishi became cultural heroes and role models for intellectuals, patriotic organizations, nationalistic societies, and military groups in Japan over the years.
This chapter examines the February coup d'état of 1936, also known as the February Incident, ... more This chapter examines the February coup d'état of 1936, also known as the February Incident, and how it exposed the limits of violent military insubordination in Japan. On February 26, 1936, a group of radical lieutenants and captains mobilized 1,400 soldiers, took over large parts of central Tokyo, and launched attacks on several prominent leaders. When the army minister, General Kawashima Yoshiyuki, asked Captain Yamaguchi Ichitarō, a company commander in the First Infantry Regiment, what to do, the latter replied that it was Kawashima's prerogative to decide whether the mutinous troops were “righteous” or “rebellious.” The chapter first considers the Young Officers movement and their involvement in two events, the May Incident and the Military Academy Incident, before discussing the coup of February 1936 led by Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki. It also analyzes Emperor Hirohito's interventions in the coup and concludes with a commentary on the trial and punishment of the ...
<p>The soldiers and sailors of Imperial Japan (1868–1945) are often presented in Western po... more <p>The soldiers and sailors of Imperial Japan (1868–1945) are often presented in Western popular publications as obedient robots, unblinkingly following their commanders to certain death. In fact, however, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy were among the most disobedient military forces in modern history. Structural flaws in the political code of the early Japanese state, as well as a series of misguided reforms to the Army, incubated an ideology of military independence from civilian rule. The Army, placed directly under the Emperor, did not institutionally believe it had to unconditionally obey the civilian government. Even worse, generals used their connections with the sovereign as an excuse for their individual disobedience.</p> <p>In the 1920s, this ideology of military independence converged with a subculture of insubordination from below, recalling revolutionary traditions of the mid-19th century. According to this ideology, prevalent among both officers and civilian activists, spontaneous political violence was justified when motivated by sincere patriotism and imperial loyalty. By the 1930s, insubordination from above and from below converged to produce a strong sense of military superiority, independence from any kind of civilian supervision, and endemic violence. The result was an unending series of unauthorized military operations, political assassinations, and coups d'état. These terrified the civilian leadership and eventually drove Japan to imperial overreach and disastrous, unwinnable wars.</p>
Why was the legal system in 1930s Japan so friendly to right-wing offenders, even when they tried... more Why was the legal system in 1930s Japan so friendly to right-wing offenders, even when they tried to assassinate leading statesmen and generals? The answer is intertwined with a cultural narrative defined here as “subjectivism”, that assigned vital importance to a criminal’s subjective state of mind when evaluating his or her transgressions. Though influenced by Western thought, this narrative was indigenous to Japan. It originated in the late Edo period, shortly prior to the establishment of the Meiji State in 1868, under specific historical circumstances and was later reinforced by the policy of the early Meiji State. Consequently, it pervaded education, politics and popular discourse alike, in the civilian sphere and even more so in the army. Until the early 1920s, this trend had a relatively modest influence on the Japanese justice system. It then began to gain traction in military courts dealing with political crimes of army personnel. From 1932 it influenced civilian courts as...
International Journal of Middle East Studies, 2013
A political trial, according to Steven E. Barkan, is a trial revolving around highly publicized l... more A political trial, according to Steven E. Barkan, is a trial revolving around highly publicized legal controversies. In some cases, such a trial may determine fundamental political questions, exceeding the legal realm, which are in debate inside a given polity. The 1957–58 trial related to the 1956 massacre in Kafr Qasim, Israel certainly belongs to this category. The trial established the doctrine of a “manifestly unlawful order” in Israeli military law, contributed considerably to the reshaping of civil–military relations, and influenced the civic status of the Arab minority in Israel. In this article, using hitherto underexamined primary sources, I argue that the most important contribution of the trial, the doctrine of a “manifestly unlawful order,” was not only a creation of the bench but also a result of a complicated interaction between the actors present in the courtroom: the defendants, their defense lawyers, the prosecutors, and the judges. Above all, the article shows how...
This book has shown how a culture of insubordination, an ideological pattern of rebellion and res... more This book has shown how a culture of insubordination, an ideological pattern of rebellion and resistance, developed as a constant feature of Japanese military life from the Meiji Restoration onward. Tracing its roots in the shishi culture of the late Tokugawa period, military insubordination persisted into the 1870s and reached new heights during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. It broke into two independent components: elite resistance to state policy and the shishi tradition of the mixed gangs. The book concludes with a discussion of three “bugs” that allowed the Imperial Japanese Army's rebellious culture to grow, prosper, and radicalize with the passing years: the first bug was the hazy political legitimacy of the Meiji regime; the second was the one-way nature of territorial expansion; and the third was the endless nature of territorial expansion.
This chapter focuses on the supreme prerogative system (tōsui-ken) and how it secured the indepen... more This chapter focuses on the supreme prerogative system (tōsui-ken) and how it secured the independence of the Japanese armed forces from any civilian institution apart from the imperial throne. In the postwar years, the “prerogative of supreme command” became a bogeyman to be blamed for all disasters from early Meiji to the end of the Pacific War. The novelist Shiba Ryōtarō claimed that the Imperial Japanese Army, entrenched within their own “supreme prerogative country,” became as wild and murderous as the Pixiu, a gold-eating monster from Chinese mythology. The chapter first considers the Japanese military reforms of 1878 and the motives behind them before discussing the flaws of the supreme prerogative system, arguing that it created a rich background for the future development of military insubordination.
<p>This chapter examines the assassination of Zhang Zuolin, the powerful warlord of Manchur... more <p>This chapter examines the assassination of Zhang Zuolin, the powerful warlord of Manchuria, in 1928 by a group of young Japanese officers led by Kōmoto Daisaku. It begins with a discussion of the two military ideas on which Kōmoto's plot was based: a reinvigorated version of the supreme prerogative system and the concept known as "operational discretion" (<italic>dokudan senkō</italic>). It then considers Japan's dilemma regarding <italic>Manmō</italic>, the Japanese abbreviation for "Manchuria and Inner Mongolia." It also analyzes Kōmoto's personality and his tendency for insubordination, along with the conspiracy to kill Zhang Zuolin. It shows that Kōmoto plotted the assassination of Zhang Zuolin in complete defiance of both government and military high command.</p>
<p>This chapter discusses the murder of Queen Min of Korea by Japanese Lieutenant General M... more <p>This chapter discusses the murder of Queen Min of Korea by Japanese Lieutenant General Miura Gorō in 1895. On October 8, 1895, a group of Japanese officers, policemen, and civilians broke into the private apartments of Queen Min, hacked her to death with swords, killed several of her court ladies and burned their bodies on the lawn. The minister of the royal household was also slain, and the crown princess was beaten. This heinous act planned by Miura, the Japanese envoy, without the knowledge of the Japanese government. The chapter examines the assassination of Queen Min within its historical and political context before discussing how it brought together, with dire consequences, two distinct roads of military resistance to state policy. It also considers the trial and subsequent acquittal of Miura in Hiroshima.</p>
<p>This chapter examines the Taishō political crisis of 1912–1913. It first considers Home ... more <p>This chapter examines the Taishō political crisis of 1912–1913. It first considers Home Minister Hara Kei's "positive policy" and the military budget dispute of autumn 1912 involving the army and navy before discussing the imperial ordinance known as the "rule of active duty ministry." It then turns to Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi's conflict with the army and his successor Katsura Tarō's dispute with the navy. It also explains how the "active duty rule" and the political tools it had generated turned the budgetary dispute of autumn 1912 into a government crisis, and finally, into a military coup d'état. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the ramifications of the Taishō political crisis for the future.</p>
<p>This chapter discusses the rise of a new political order in Japan during the period 1868... more <p>This chapter discusses the rise of a new political order in Japan during the period 1868–1873. In order to legitimize their rule, the leaders of the interdomainal alliance chose to "hide" their power behind the prestigious institution of the emperor, without giving him real power. When the interdomainal alliance collapsed in autumn 1873, it left in its wake formidable waves of military insurgency. The chapter first describes the reign of the Japanese emperor, who was compared to a "jewel" held by the leaders of the government—well respected, but devoid of real power. It then considers the Meiji regime, which was established through a series of decisive reforms, as well as the rifts and rivalries of the interdomainal alliance, particularly between the Chōshū and Satsuma domains. Finally, it examines Japan's conflict with Korea and the collapse of the interdomainal alliance.</p>
This chapter traces the origins of military insubordination in Japan during the period 1858–1868.... more This chapter traces the origins of military insubordination in Japan during the period 1858–1868. It first provides a background on the samurai during the Tokugawa period before discussing the ideology of the shishi, a term associated with fugitive samurai who used violence against foreigners, Shogunate officials, and pro-Bakufu elements in the various domains. It then considers the organizational structures of the shishi, with particular emphasis on the mixed gangs and their rise and fall. It also examines the heyday of the militarized gangs, focusing on Takasugi Shinsaku, a middle-ranking samurai, and the Chōshū Wars. Finally, it describes the birth of the final pattern of shishi organization, the interdomainal alliance and how the shishi became cultural heroes and role models for intellectuals, patriotic organizations, nationalistic societies, and military groups in Japan over the years.
This chapter examines the February coup d'état of 1936, also known as the February Incident, ... more This chapter examines the February coup d'état of 1936, also known as the February Incident, and how it exposed the limits of violent military insubordination in Japan. On February 26, 1936, a group of radical lieutenants and captains mobilized 1,400 soldiers, took over large parts of central Tokyo, and launched attacks on several prominent leaders. When the army minister, General Kawashima Yoshiyuki, asked Captain Yamaguchi Ichitarō, a company commander in the First Infantry Regiment, what to do, the latter replied that it was Kawashima's prerogative to decide whether the mutinous troops were “righteous” or “rebellious.” The chapter first considers the Young Officers movement and their involvement in two events, the May Incident and the Military Academy Incident, before discussing the coup of February 1936 led by Lieutenant Nakahashi Motoaki. It also analyzes Emperor Hirohito's interventions in the coup and concludes with a commentary on the trial and punishment of the ...
<p>The soldiers and sailors of Imperial Japan (1868–1945) are often presented in Western po... more <p>The soldiers and sailors of Imperial Japan (1868–1945) are often presented in Western popular publications as obedient robots, unblinkingly following their commanders to certain death. In fact, however, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy were among the most disobedient military forces in modern history. Structural flaws in the political code of the early Japanese state, as well as a series of misguided reforms to the Army, incubated an ideology of military independence from civilian rule. The Army, placed directly under the Emperor, did not institutionally believe it had to unconditionally obey the civilian government. Even worse, generals used their connections with the sovereign as an excuse for their individual disobedience.</p> <p>In the 1920s, this ideology of military independence converged with a subculture of insubordination from below, recalling revolutionary traditions of the mid-19th century. According to this ideology, prevalent among both officers and civilian activists, spontaneous political violence was justified when motivated by sincere patriotism and imperial loyalty. By the 1930s, insubordination from above and from below converged to produce a strong sense of military superiority, independence from any kind of civilian supervision, and endemic violence. The result was an unending series of unauthorized military operations, political assassinations, and coups d'état. These terrified the civilian leadership and eventually drove Japan to imperial overreach and disastrous, unwinnable wars.</p>
Why was the legal system in 1930s Japan so friendly to right-wing offenders, even when they tried... more Why was the legal system in 1930s Japan so friendly to right-wing offenders, even when they tried to assassinate leading statesmen and generals? The answer is intertwined with a cultural narrative defined here as “subjectivism”, that assigned vital importance to a criminal’s subjective state of mind when evaluating his or her transgressions. Though influenced by Western thought, this narrative was indigenous to Japan. It originated in the late Edo period, shortly prior to the establishment of the Meiji State in 1868, under specific historical circumstances and was later reinforced by the policy of the early Meiji State. Consequently, it pervaded education, politics and popular discourse alike, in the civilian sphere and even more so in the army. Until the early 1920s, this trend had a relatively modest influence on the Japanese justice system. It then began to gain traction in military courts dealing with political crimes of army personnel. From 1932 it influenced civilian courts as...
International Journal of Middle East Studies, 2013
A political trial, according to Steven E. Barkan, is a trial revolving around highly publicized l... more A political trial, according to Steven E. Barkan, is a trial revolving around highly publicized legal controversies. In some cases, such a trial may determine fundamental political questions, exceeding the legal realm, which are in debate inside a given polity. The 1957–58 trial related to the 1956 massacre in Kafr Qasim, Israel certainly belongs to this category. The trial established the doctrine of a “manifestly unlawful order” in Israeli military law, contributed considerably to the reshaping of civil–military relations, and influenced the civic status of the Arab minority in Israel. In this article, using hitherto underexamined primary sources, I argue that the most important contribution of the trial, the doctrine of a “manifestly unlawful order,” was not only a creation of the bench but also a result of a complicated interaction between the actors present in the courtroom: the defendants, their defense lawyers, the prosecutors, and the judges. Above all, the article shows how...
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