Shintoism believes that the Japanese Emperor is the only son of heaven, to be unquestionably obeyed. There are millions of kami (i.e. Gods) such as the creator of Japan named Izanagi (伊弊諾) for the 128 million living Japanese to pay respect, while surrounded by all dead Japanese (i.e. ghosts). In this polytheistic environment, 70% of Japanese believe in Shintoism, and almost all follow Buddhist values.
Japan was an insulated community until 500 years ago. The Portuguese Magellan arrived as part of a Spanish expedition to claim Japan as part of the Tordesillas and Zaragoza Treaties. Some Japanese slaves, especially women, were captured and shipped to Europe and other parts of the world.
Until 1868, there were two dimensions of “protection” around the Japanese son of heaven: Samurai warriors and Daimyos feudal lords. Shogun was the military commander of Japan over both Samurai and Daimyos. Often, Shogun had more power than the son of heaven.
Shoguns expelled Christian Europeans for several hundred years, just as a Daimyos Toyotomi Hideyoshi (豐臣 秀吉, 1537-1598) emulated Portugal’s claim on Japan by claiming Korea and China. Hideyoshi invaded and captured Korea in 1592, before Korea joined forces with China to defeat Japan.
When US Commodore Perry reached Japan in 1853, Japan already knew China’s inability to defend against the Christians’ illegal opium import into China against Chinese law. Japan signed the 1854 Treaty of Kanagawa when Commodore Perry returned, and implemented Meiji Restoration in 1868.
Like Hideyoshi, Tanaka Chigaku (田中智學 1861-1939) emulated the Portuguese by declaring Hakka Ichiu – the world belongs to Japan. Japan invited Britain to train its Navy, France to train its Army, and aligned with Germany. Togo Heihachiro (東郷 平八郎, 1848-1934) studied in Britain between 1871-78, and declared he was a reincarnated Britain Naval Commander after beating China in 1895 and Russia in 1905.
Japanese Emperor Hirohito (裕仁1901-1989) visited both Asia and Europe as a Prince. His Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe (近衞 文麿, 1891-1945) highlighted Hakka Ichiu again on January 8th, 1940, after Japan invaded China and started a puppet government. Hirohito’s Japan used chemical weapons against Chinese at least 375 times in Wuhan in 1938 alone. Japan abused refugees and bypassed international laws by not using the terms “war” and “prisoners of war.” Since the world belongs to Japan under Hakka Ichiu… why not bomb Pearl Harbor too?
Japan surrendered after Little Boy and Fat Man destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but Hirohito was never prosecuted for war crimes against humanity. Instead, Japan used US intellectual properties to develop consumer electronics before the Japanese entries into automobile and other industries. Japan also saved trillions of dollars over 75 years for accepting US agreement to defend Japan. In other words, Japan took trillions of dollars from USA to redress the use of atomic bombs.
The current Japanese Emperor does not have as much power, but he is still the only Shinto son of heaven. He can call for a realistic history curriculum in Japan that is strictly controlled. Today, Japanese students either 1) do not know the Japanese aggression or 2) learn wars were fought to defend Japan.
Moral Innovator 