Taisho Period - Japanese History - week three extra information
Our primary business activity is teaching Japanese language in London, but each week we invite a guest speaker to talk about a particular Japanese cultural theme to our students each session. Our intention is to give our students a little bit extra Japanese education! This article is part of our week threeJapanese History session and is designed to give you a little background into the subject.
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The Taisho Period spans from 1912-1926, follows from the Meiji Period. The short reign of Emperor Taisho saw the 20th century welcome Japan and this era is associated with a pretty turbulent time.
World War 1 proved an enormous economic boom for Japan and she certainly seized the chance to enter Asian markets vacated by the European powers. But with every boom comes a bust and the inevitable deflation hit hard and there were major rice riots in Tokyo in 1918.
The following year, most politics became extremely polarised as the labour movement and leftists gained momentum. A new right, which believed in the politics of assassination rather than the ballot box, emerged from the political shadows.
A series of political murders, including the prime ministers and former prime ministers, followed over the next 15 years, helping to create the climate of violence that eventually would let the military intervene in politics.
The big event of the 1920's was the Great Kanto Earthquake. It struck around noon on the 1st September 1923, when a good percentage of the city's charcoal and gas stoves were lit. Fire, not the quake itself, caused the most damage. 90% of Yokohama was destroyed.
During the Taisho period, Japan began to bubble intellectually. The growing prosperity (and the accompanying problems), the shrinking size of the world, the the relative youth of Japan as a world power contributed to the 'Taisho democracy', which was actually little more than a time of good, healthy, intellectual ferment. Nevertheless, this bright spot was important as a precursor to Japan's plunge into the dark period of militarism and war as a foundation for the country's emergence afterwards.
