JAPAN'S "SWING TO THE RIGHT”

Kanto Earthquake and Fire of September 1, 1923: a disaster that destroyed half of Tokyo, most of Yokohama, and took 130,000 lives

Zaibatsu (Japanese: "wealthy clique"): large pre-WWII capitalist cartels in Japan, organized around a single family. Mitsubishi, formed in 1873 by Iwasaki Yataro, as such an enterprise.

Yoshino Sakuzo (1878-1933): Christian Socialist politician and educator who led efforts to democratize aspects of the Japanese political order during the early part of the 20^th century. Although many of his students became Marxists, the majority of Japan's intellectuals did not lend support to Yoshino's overtly Marxist ideas.

Minponshugi ("people as the base"-ism): Yoshino's notion that the needs of the people ought to form the foundation of all government service.

Kokusai: a rightist “national polity” shaped by the directives of the emperor.

Kita Ikki (1883-1937): former socialist, political writer and co-founder of the

influential nationalistic Yuzonsha (Society for the Preservation of the National Essence) in 1919. Kita was executed in 1937 in the aftermath of the February 26, 1936 coup attempt in Tokyo.

Kwantung Army: Japanese military units occupying the Kwantung (Liaodong)

Peninsula and protecting the South Manchurian Railway zone, which were shaped by a core of rightwing expansionist-minded young officers. These young soldiers provoked the first shots of WWII in Asia.

OUTBREAK OF WWII

Marco Polo Bridge Incident (July 7, 1937): first shots of WWII, involving a skirmish between Chinese and Japanese troop 10 miles north of Beijing.

Rape of Nanjing (Dec. 1937- Feb. 38): Japanese military assault on Chinese civilians left behind in the KMT retreat. In the raping and looting that followed, between 40,000 and 300,000 civilians were killed. The city remained the site a puppet regime until Japan's defeat in 1945.

Battle of Midway (June 4, 1942): decisive naval battle that became known as the turning point in the Pacific during WWII.