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I have added a 'not to be confused with' to Distinguish it from the IRA (Irish Republican Army), as when you type in IRAA it redirects here. 84.64.14.35 ( talk) 16:49, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
I believe the current title is in violation of WP:COMMONNAME - I have never seen it referred to as anything other than the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in English. Slac speak up! 01:51, 9 December 2013 (UTC)
I'm confused.
Under "Ideals" it says: Prior to creation of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, Konoe had already passed the National Mobilization Law, which effectively nationalized strategic industries, the news media, and labor unions, in preparation for total war with China.
But under "Political position" it lists "Far-right".
I know of no laissez–faire capitalist government that "nationalizes strategic industries" or the other institutions. These are the actions of socialist, totalitarian regimes, such as the National Socialist German Workers Party that nationalizes private industries.
I suggest that "far-right" is erroneous in the extreme. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:2000:6A96:5A00:3DBF:DB24:16A6:9B4B ( talk) 00:44, 6 September 2016 (UTC)
Recent edits (e.g.
[1]) have added the following: 1) Fascism to the Ideology list in the Infobox, 2) the Fascism Navbox, 3) Categories for Fascist parties & Fascism in Japan.
However, "Fascism" is not mentioned in the article text, and I have, therefore, removed these additions. Do we have
reliable sources which directly support article text which would, in turn, support the additions? -
Ryk72
talk 06:03, 17 August 2019 (UTC)
Ongoing tug of war in this page's edit history. While the "party" did include some socialists, I would argue that given its leadership and overall ideological orientation, the IRAA should be regarded as far-right in practice (in the same way that Italian Fascism is regarded as such despite its roots in socialism). 73.175.36.237 ( talk) 06:07, 10 January 2020 (UTC)
So, we finally have some ostensible sources; listed in this edit summary
[3]. Sources should be referenced in the article itself, not just in an edit summary. But, putting that aside for the moment, now that we have them, lets look at them.
First, Fukuzawa Yukichi’s Bourgeois Liberalism: The Betrayal of the East Asian Enlightenment
[4] has a passing mention of the IRAA in a footnote: This <"Expel the Barbarians"> was one of the most famous propaganda slogans used by the government and the military of the Empire of Japan during the Pacific War. It was mainly promoted by far-right organisations such as the Imperial Rule Assistance Association (Taisei yokusan kai). For more about the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, see Jansen 631.
There is no discussion of the IRAA itself; per WP:RSCONTEXT, a passing mention is not necessarily a reliable source.
Second, Postwar Emigration to South America from Japan and the Ryukyu Islands
[5] is again a passing mention: Some of the main critics of the prewar migrants were also high-level statesmen during the war. Some of them, like Murata Shozo, Aoki Kazuo, and Shigemitsu Mamoru, were detained by U.S. forces after the war. Murata was a minister in Konoe Fumimaro's cabinet and member of the far right-wing association Taisei Yokusankai while Aoki headed various ministries between 1931 and 1944.
Again, there is no discussion of the IRAA itself; per WP:RSCONTEXT, a passing mention is not necessarily a reliable source. Articles should be based on sources which primarily deal with the article subject, not on sources which make only passing mentions.
Sources that do mention either the IRAA or Taisei Yokusankai, and which do not describe it as far-right or Fascist are by far more numerous, and more likely to engage in a discussion of the IRAA with some depth.
Examples include:
Konoe seems to have judged that the time was right for a new political order, and during the summer of 1940 he had representative of all major interest groups meet to work out proposals for such a structure. The result of this was the Imperial Rule Assistance Association (Taisei Yokusan Kai, hereafter IRAA) that was launched in October 1940. Designed to penetrate and coordinate Japanese society by organising from village hamlet to metropolis, this was Japan's answer to the mass political parties of the fascist states. A preparatory commission of thirty-seven members represented all important interest groups. Konoe's intent was a structure that would replace the existing political parties, have repesentative organisations on both regional and national levels, and thereby dominate the administrative and legislative organs of the state. Institutionally the chief gainer of this institutional change would be the office of the prime minister; long ineffective and unable to coerce or to coordinate, it would now be at the centre of the new structure, able to represent Japanese from city to hamlet and draw on every constituent body and interest group. ...NOTE: This is the same Jansen referenced by Fukuzawa Yukichi, above.
a large amorphous organization that was meant to be a nationwide popular movement, like the Nazi or Fascist parties; so, intriguingly similar to National Socialism or Fascism - but only insofar as being a "nationwide popular movement". The next paragraph has
The Japanese experience is often compared to the fascism of interwar Europe, and certainly the resemblances are in some ways striking. But, unlike the Italian and German cases, there was no dictator and the system was not the product of a well-defined, popular movement, but more a vague change of mood, a shift in the balance of power between the elite groups in Japanese society, and a consequent major shift in national policies.... Does not describe the IRAA as either "right-wing" or "Fascist".
The Imperial Rule Assistance Association (IRAA) is the English translation of Taisei Yokusan Kai (established 12 October 1940). This association was formed as an attempt to establish a unified leadership in view of the problems described above <power vacuums due to inconsistencies in the Meiji Constitution>. In the early stages, many idealists such as socialists, communists and liberals, in addition to right-wing groups joined its membership, although they later withdrew in disappointment with the government's ban on the IRAA's political activities.Additionally, a footnote lists notable communists & socialists who were involved in the movement to create the IRAA.
Through its extensive organization, the IRAA concentrated on building and maintaining popular morale and support for the war. It promoted conservation, increased production, and civil defence among citizens.
Many men who had been prominent in the labor and socialist party movement during the interwar period served in the New Order in the years that followed. Members of the Nichirokei <Japan-Labor clique> ... were particularly active in the Imperial Rule Assistance Association or in Sampo <Industrial Patriotism Federation>. ... In sum, other than the New Order's profession of 'assistance to Imperial Rule' and the 'fulfillment of our duties as loyal subjects', the New Order was devoid of political content.
Given the predominance of sources which do not describe the IRAA as either "far-right" or "Fascist", it seems that for our article to categorise it as such, based on two passing mentions (one in a footnote) falls firmly foul of WP:NPOV@WP:UNDUE. - Ryk72 talk 05:47, 13 January 2020 (UTC)
It's not necessary for the party to be repeatedly called Far-Right. Well, considering WP:DEFINING has
A central concept used in categorizing articles is that of the defining characteristics of a subject of the article. A defining characteristic is one that reliable sources commonly and consistently define the subject as having, it seems that it is rather necessary. Everything above about the Japanese Communist Party is WP:OR; but it should be noted that the JCP was banned in 1925, fifteen years before the IRAA, likely because it was an extremist organisation that advocated violent revolution. - Ryk72 talk 21:08, 26 January 2020 (UTC)
reliable sources commonly and consistently define the subject as havingthat property. Based on a neutral canvassing of sources (see above), reliable sources do not seem to commonly and consistently define the IRAA as any of those. Taking the banning of the JCP in 1925 and using that as support for describing the IRAA as "anti-communist" is original research. Yoshimi Yoshiaki's Grassroots Fascism says many things about the IRAA; including
in practice ... it actually functioned as little more than an apolitical auxiliary channel of bureaucratic administration. To cherrypick one sentence, which does not clearly describe the IRAA as any of "far-right, fascist, anti-communist", and interpret it as support for that categorisation is original research. Issues of editor behaviour should be taken up at the appropriate noticeboards; but were I not me, I would think carefully about that. - Ryk72 talk 23:53, 26 January 2020 (UTC)
Periodic unsourced additions of either fascism or far-right to either the Infobox or Categories have occurred over the last few years. These have been regularly reverted as unsourced, and contradicted by the article text.
Recently, a series of edits has added "Japanese Fascism" (piped to Fascism), and "Far-right" to the Info box; sourced to World Fascism - A Historical Encyclopedia (ed: Cyprian Blamires & Paul Jackson; pub: ABC-CLIO).
The source, editors & publisher are (presumably) reliable, but the source text does not appear to support the additions. The source goes to extensive lengths to describe the differences between Japanese politics of the period & (European) Fascism; and does not directly (nor indirectly) describe the IRAA as either "fascist" or "far right".
Invite discussion. - Ryk72 talk 12:05, 21 July 2022 (UTC)
Category:Fascist Parties has again been added; with edit summary Added "fascist parties" category, as Showa Statism is a form of fascism and Imperial Japan is recognized as a fascist state.
This rationale aligns poorly with
WP:SYNTH.
Additionally, unlike German Nazism and Italian Fascism, statism within Showa era Japan is not a singularity. While there were a number of philosophers, politicians, militarists, etc who are identifiable as "statist", only some (e.g. Kita Ikki) are also broadly considered "Fascist". There is no one "Showa Statism".
The addition also aligns poorly with our policies & guidelines on categorisation, particularly WP:CATPOV & WP:CATDEF, the latter of which suggests that articles should be categorised by their defining characteristics - those that reliable sources commonly and consistently refer to in describing the topic.
Reliable sources do not commonly and consistently refer to this article subject as "Fascist". - Rotary Engine talk 03:24, 19 September 2023 (UTC)
The article as currently written asserts a list of ideologies in the Infobox. At least some of these are not supported by either referenced sources or the content of the article. Propose attempting to find sources, expanding the article and, if sources cannot be found, cleaning up the Ideology list. - Ryk72 talk 05:29, 16 October 2022 (UTC)
Taking each of the currently listed ideologies & referenced sources in turn...
Showa Statism, sourced to:
Militarism piped to Japanese militarism, sourced to:
Totalitarianism, sourced to:
Conservatives such as Hiranuma Kiichiro, who served as prime minister for eight months in 1939, objected that the proposed totalitarian IRAA was nothing but a "new shogunate" that would usurp the power of the emperor's government, and Japanists declared that the national polity, the hallowed kokutai, already united the emperor with subjects who naturally fulfilled their sacred obligation to "assist imperial rule." On a more mundane plane, senior officials within the Home Ministry feared the loss of bureaucratic turf and complained that the proposed network of occupationally based units would interfere with local administration at a particularly crucial time in the nation's history.
Imperialism piped to Japanese imperialism, sourced to:
Ultranationalism piped to Japanese nationalism, sourced to:
.2 All existing political parties "voluntarily" dissolved themselves, replaced by a single authorized political body, the ultranationalist Imperial Rule Assistance Association.
Pan-Asianism sourced to:
It had been created by idealists who wanted to free Asia from the white man. As with many dreams, it was taken over and exploited by realists... Corrupted as the Co-Propserity Sphere was by the militarists and their nationalist supporters, its call for pan-Asianism remained relatively undiminished
Rotary Engine talk 21:22, 10 June 2023 (UTC)