The purview and limits of “rational pacifism” in interwar period Japan in the light of Mizuno Hironori's “discourse on peace”

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Other Title
  • 戦間期日本における「合理主義的平和論」の射程と限界
  • 戦間期日本における「合理主義的平和論」の射程と限界 : 水野広徳の論説を中心に
  • セン カン キジツホン ニ オケル 「 ゴウリ シュギテキ ヘイワロン 」 ノ シャテイ ト ゲンカイ : ミズノコウトク ノ ロンセツ オ チュウシン ニ
  • 水野広徳の論説を中心に

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Abstract

This article focuses on the “discourse on peace” arising from the writing of Navy Captain Mizuno Hironori, a well-known Japanese “pacifist” during the war interim period. Mizuno's pacifism has been highly appreciated as one of the building blocks of Japan's postwar constitution, although there are serious difficulties in linking his pacifist views directly with postwar Japanese thought without an in-depth investigation of how his “discourse on peace” was in fact articulated. Moreover, there is the question of how his positive views concerning the right of national self-defense and total wartime mobilization fits in with his pacifism. After a thorough examination of Mizuno's writing, the author argues that he should be characterized as a “rational pacifist”, in that his ideas were based on a kind of rationalism that saw no benefit in war, while at the same time demanding the cultivation of “national strength”.<br> Mizuno's discourse was based upon a complementary relationship between pacifism and the idea of total war mobilization. However, since this reasoning largely stemmed from “general world trends” of the 1920s, its underlying basis was destroyed within the changing situation after the Manchurian Incident of 1931, which was used as a justification for armaments expansion. Nevertheless, Mizuno did develop in his discourse a view of international relations decrying such social problems as racial discrimination and chauvinism, and ultimately advocating national self-determination. It in this sense, the author argues, that the study of Mizuno's ideas helps us understand pacifism during the war interim period with its two dimensions of international cooperation and anti-colonialism.

Journal

  • SHIGAKU ZASSHI

    SHIGAKU ZASSHI 125 (10), 42-67, 2016

    The Historical Society of Japan

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