Needless to say, ‘National Socialism' will forever be associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party he led in Germany. However, as numerous scholars have shown, by the time Hitler and the Nazis came to power in 1933, the term ‘National Socialism’ had become little more than a façade used by Hitler and the Nazis to crush the political left and empower Germany’s corporate elites.

In Japan, the leaders of incidents like the Young Officers Uprising of February 26, 1936 are typically described as simply having been ‘militarists’ seeking an enhanced role, including additional funding for the military, especially the army. This applied term has contributed to a misleading understanding of the motivations of those involved in these incidents, something they themselves described as shōwa ishin: a ‘Shōwa Restoration’.

This keynote presents a new understanding of prewar Japanese history than we currently have. The national socialist-embracing proponents of a Shōwa Restoration sought major domestic economic and social reforms, especially land reform, in 1930s Japan, inspired by the ‘home-grown’ ideology of men like Kita Ikki, whose national socialist writings, especially his seminal 1919 work, An Outline Plan for the Reorganization of Japan (Nihon Kaizō Hōan Taikō), predate those of the German Nazis. The talk will examine how leading proponents of the Shōwa Restoration had clear political goals consisting of domestic social reforms that can only be described as ‘nationally socialist’ in nature.

Speaker Biography

Brian Victoria

Dr Brian Victoria is a native of Nebraska and a 1961 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University, United States. He holds an MA in Buddhist Studies from Sōtō Zen sect-affiliated Komazawa University in Tokyo, and a PhD from the Department of Religious Studies at Temple University, United States.

In addition to a second, enlarged edition of Zen At War (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006), Brian's major writings include Zen War Stories (RoutledgeCurzon, 2003); an autobiographical work in Japanese titled Gaijin de ari, Zen bozu de ari (As a Foreigner, As a Zen Priest), published by San-ichi Shobo in 1971; Zen Master Dōgen, coauthored with Professor Yokoi Yūhō of Aichi Gakuin University (Weatherhill, 1976); and a translation of The Zen Life by Sato Koji (Weatherhill, 1972). In addition, Dr Victoria has published numerous journal articles focusing on the relationship between religion, particularly Buddhism, and violence and warfare.

Dr Victoria was a Professor of Japanese Studies and Director of the AEA Japan and Its Buddhist Traditions Program at Antioch University, United States from 2005 to 2013. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, Japan from 2013 to 2015. His latest book, Zen Terror: The Death of Democracy in Prewar Japan was published by Rowman & Littlefield in February 2020. Dr Victoria is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and a fully ordained Buddhist priest in the Sōtō Zen sect.

About the Presenter(s)
Brian Victoria is a native of Omaha, Nebraska and a 1961 graduate of Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska.

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