Column: Maintaining high vigilance against resurgence of Japanese militarism

by Zhang Yuebin and Xu Shijia

Throughout its existence, Japanese militarism has always been an ideology that sabotages peace and order, undermines civilizational progress, and violates human morality and conscience. It has been a malignant tumor not only for East Asia but also for Japan itself.

THE INCOMPLETE POST-WAR RECKONING OF JAPANESE MILITARISM

After its defeat and surrender in World War II, Japan promulgated a "Pacifist Constitution" aimed at eradicating militarism under the guidance of the Allied Powers. Regrettably, as the global political landscape evolved, militarist remnants managed to survive and gradually regain strength.

With the emergence of the U.S.-Soviet rivalry, Japan became a frontline outpost in the Cold War between the two superpowers and began to rearm. In 1950, Japan established the National Police Reserve, a paramilitary force. In 1952, it was renamed the National Security Force. In 1954, it was reorganized into the Ground Self-Defense Force. Meanwhile, the Coastal Safety Force was reorganized as the Maritime Self-Defense Force. Together with the newly established Air Self-Defense Force, they formed a complete tri-service framework of Japan's self-defense system.

Meanwhile, a large number of militarist figures who had been purged after the war began to reenter public life and even return to the political sphere. In October 1950, 10,000 war criminals, former military personnel, right-wing extremists, Special Higher Police officers and gendarmes were released from restrictions. By the end of 1951, out of the more than 210,000 individuals purged in the immediate post-war period, 201,507 had their restrictions lifted.

Against this backdrop, in Japan's 1952 general election, among over 1,200 candidates, as many as 329 were newly rehabilitated right-wing and militarist figures, including the notorious former army colonel Tsuji Masanobu, who was elected to the House of Representatives. A consequential moment for post-war history occurred when Kishi Nobusuke -- a Class-A war crimes suspect -- was elected Prime Minister of Japan in 1957.

After taking power, Kishi promoted a series of policies that ran counter to the tide of history, precipitating a sharp turn to the right of Japan's political orientation -- a reflection of militarist remnants' refusal to accept defeat and their audacious attempts to stage a comeback. Following Kishi's forced resignation amid widespread domestic opposition, militarist remnants chose to lie low, biding their time. In the 1960s and 1970s, Japan seized favorable opportunities and achieved rapid economic growth. This economic boom spurred a social trend of seeking "success factors" from Japan's historical experience, fostering an uncritical reverence of Japan's historical and cultural traditions, and ultimately fueling the erroneous tendency to "reassess" its modern wars of aggression and expansion. Japan's rapid economic development thus became a catalyst for militarist resurgence.

THE RESURGENCE OF MILITARISM IN CONTEMPORARY JAPAN

The resurgence of Japanese militarism is mainly manifested in the following three aspects.

Firstly, reshaping perceptions of Japan's militaristic history. Based on the so-called "liberal historical view" and "revisionist historical view", right-wing forces have defamed the hard-earned "new historical perspective" established after the war as "masochistic" and "anti-Japan." They have denied Japan's war crimes and tried to whitewash its history of aggression.

As surviving witnesses of the war grow old and pass away, education about wartime history has become increasingly important. However, Japan's education system has long downplayed the country's wartime aggression, depriving the younger generation of the opportunity to understand the full picture of history. In recent years, Japanese right-wing forces have been quietly attempting to infiltrate militaristic ideologies into primary and secondary schools to pave the way for their policies of military buildup and expansion.

These actions contravene the guiding principles of Japan's post-war Pacifist Constitution, mislead young people's understanding of history and war, and erode the mutual trust between Japan and its neighboring countries. Some right-wing scholars have distorted history through their so-called "research" and "restoration" of historical facts, openly promoting the erroneous views prevalent during the war. For example, many right-wing scholars refer to Japan's war of aggression as the "Greater East Asia War" and revive deceptive slogans such as "a war of self-defense" and "a war of liberation". Furthermore, the forced recruitment of "comfort women" by the Japanese military constitutes an inhumane crime committed by Japan during the war, yet right-wing scholars persisted on the false claim that these women participated voluntarily.

Secondly, seeking to break free from constraints to expand military capabilities. In recent years, Japanese right-wing politicians and the media have clamored for lifting the constraints of the post-war Pacifist Constitution, seeking to redefine military buildup as Japan's core national goal. The Japanese government has gradually reduced the effectiveness of the Pacifist Constitution by revising judicial interpretations. Despite economic downturns, it has kept increasing military spending substantially and expanded its armaments. It has abandoned the long-standing principle of being "exclusively defense-oriented" and pursued the capability for "preemptive strikes." Some politicians have even meddled in the Taiwan question, challenging the red line of China-Japan relations and the post-war international order.

Japan's maneuvers in the nuclear field are also alarming. Under the guise of developing civilian nuclear energy, it has maintained the technology and potential to manufacture nuclear weapons, while continuously seeking opportunities to breach the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" of not possessing, not producing, and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons. During Shinzo Abe's tenure as the Prime Minister, the Japanese government pushed for reinterpreting the constitution and lifting restrictions on the exercise of collective self-defense. In January 2007, under Abe's strong push, Japan's Defense Agency was upgraded to full ministry status. In April 2014, the Abe administration replaced the decades-old Three Principles on Arms Exports with the new Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology, moving from an in-principle ban to permission of the export of weapons and related technologies. In September 2015, Japan's parliament passed the so-called "Security Legislation," which granted the Japanese military greater flexibility in conducting military activities overseas.

Thirdly, threatening with war to reshape the East Asian order in line with its own interests and needs. In recent years, Japan has repeatedly meddled in the Taiwan Strait. During a parliamentary debate on November 7, 2025, Sanae Takaichi openly claimed that "a Taiwan contingency constitutes a survival-threatening situation for Japan," implying potential military intervention in the Taiwan Strait. This constitutes a brazen interference in China's internal affairs.

Takaichi, who visited Yasukuni Shrine many times, embodies the hardline right-wing stance in Japan that rejects the Murayama Statement and seeks to whitewash Japan's history of aggression. Amid volatile international circumstances, the right-wing conservative forces she represents have exploited the growing rightward political climate since the 2000s to gradually hollow out the public foundations of democracy and pacifism, while steadily expanding the influence of militaristic discourse.

It is imperative to maintain high vigilance against Japanese militarism, especially regarding the Taiwan question. The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Looking back at history, the war crimes committed by Japanese militarism can never be erased, and the historical facts of its aggression must never be distorted. Any tolerance toward the provocative words and deeds of Japanese right-wing forces will only lead to the resurrection of the specter of militarism, once again putting the people of Asia in danger.

It is the responsibility and obligation of all countries to safeguard the victorious fruits of World War II, uphold the post-war international order, and ensure enduring global peace and stability. To that end, nations must work together to prevent any attempt to revive militarism.

Editor's note: The authors are Research Fellow and Assistant Research Fellow at the Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.