The First Two Decades of the Showa Era and the Heisei Era
NISHIKAWA Megumi / Journalist
January 21, 2010
*Note: Japan adheres to its traditional custom of changing the name of the era to coincide with the reign of an Emperor. In 1989, the Showa era ended and the Heisei era began when the current Emperor Akihito ascended to the throne following the death of his father, Emperor Hirohito.
Last year marked the 20th anniversary of the end of the Cold War. For the Japanese, 1989 was another turning point, the year the Showa era gave way to the Heisei era. Two decades of Heisei have now passed, and one wonders what these twenty years have meant for the Japanese people. I sought the significance of the first twenty years of Heisei by juxtaposing it with the first twenty years of the Showa era.
In a word, the first twenty years of Showa – from 1926 to 1945 – was a time of war. A year before the era began, in 1925, the Peace Preservation Law was enforced as a system for clamping down on domestic ideology, and the start of the Showa era signaled the beginning of a policy of overseas expansion. Japan sent troops to Shandong, China, for the first time in 1927, which was followed by the assassination of Zhang Zuolin in 1928 and the Manchurian Incident in 1931. In 1937 the Marco Polo Bridge Incident triggered an all-out war between Japan and China. Japan went on to enter the Pacific War in 1941 and was defeated in 1945. The death toll of both soldiers and civilians from the Pacific War alone exceeded three million.
I was born in the postwar era and only know about these events from history books, but the first two decades of Showa, packed with events, seem to have lasted much, much longer. However, it is the same length of time since the death of the Showa Emperor in 1989 up to recent years - a period in which we led our lives quite comfortably.
In the first twenty years of Showa, countless young people with promising futures were left dead, the country was scorched to the ground, and all was lost. In contrast, the balance sheet for the first twenty years of Heisei is quite obvious. To be sure, economic depression and natural disasters may have brought misfortune to some on a personal level. However, Japan as a whole managed to build a mature society within a peaceful environment.
Compared with other countries, Japan can take pride in the high levels of security, cleanliness and orderliness of its society, its well-behaved people and the excellence of its social services. High levels of food safety and quality, as well as the longevity of its people, which ranks among the top of the world, are also measures of maturity.
These achievements of the Heisei era were the result of efforts spanning nearly 45 years since Japan's defeat in World War II to the 64th year of Showa, or 1989. During this period the economy enjoyed expansion after expansion in terms of quantity, and Japan was even cited as proof of the superiority of capitalism over socialism. Today's Japanese society is founded on the national wealth accumulated during this period.
Nevertheless, as we made our transition to Heisei, our past methods of quantitative expansion began to fail and we are now seeking new ways. While it is only natural that economic and industrial policies should differ between times of material deficiency and times of sufficiency, Japan has yet to discover a new method, perhaps because the impact of 45 years of success has been too powerful. This has even led to the creation of the phrase "the lost two decades."
Although our society has matured, many challenges still lie ahead. These is something inherently wrong about a society with over 30,000 annual suicides. And Japan's closed attitude towards immigrants and refugees is a known fact abroad. It is an unfortunate defect that mars the otherwise good impression generally held about Japan. In these times of globalization, Japan must seek out a better way to coexist with foreigners.
Having learned its lesson from the first twenty years of Showa, Japan forged ahead to create itself a new society. I only hope it will continue to do so in the times ahead.
The writer is Expert Senior Writer on the Foreign News Desk at the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.
Last year marked the 20th anniversary of the end of the Cold War. For the Japanese, 1989 was another turning point, the year the Showa era gave way to the Heisei era. Two decades of Heisei have now passed, and one wonders what these twenty years have meant for the Japanese people. I sought the significance of the first twenty years of Heisei by juxtaposing it with the first twenty years of the Showa era.
In a word, the first twenty years of Showa – from 1926 to 1945 – was a time of war. A year before the era began, in 1925, the Peace Preservation Law was enforced as a system for clamping down on domestic ideology, and the start of the Showa era signaled the beginning of a policy of overseas expansion. Japan sent troops to Shandong, China, for the first time in 1927, which was followed by the assassination of Zhang Zuolin in 1928 and the Manchurian Incident in 1931. In 1937 the Marco Polo Bridge Incident triggered an all-out war between Japan and China. Japan went on to enter the Pacific War in 1941 and was defeated in 1945. The death toll of both soldiers and civilians from the Pacific War alone exceeded three million.
I was born in the postwar era and only know about these events from history books, but the first two decades of Showa, packed with events, seem to have lasted much, much longer. However, it is the same length of time since the death of the Showa Emperor in 1989 up to recent years - a period in which we led our lives quite comfortably.
In the first twenty years of Showa, countless young people with promising futures were left dead, the country was scorched to the ground, and all was lost. In contrast, the balance sheet for the first twenty years of Heisei is quite obvious. To be sure, economic depression and natural disasters may have brought misfortune to some on a personal level. However, Japan as a whole managed to build a mature society within a peaceful environment.
Compared with other countries, Japan can take pride in the high levels of security, cleanliness and orderliness of its society, its well-behaved people and the excellence of its social services. High levels of food safety and quality, as well as the longevity of its people, which ranks among the top of the world, are also measures of maturity.
These achievements of the Heisei era were the result of efforts spanning nearly 45 years since Japan's defeat in World War II to the 64th year of Showa, or 1989. During this period the economy enjoyed expansion after expansion in terms of quantity, and Japan was even cited as proof of the superiority of capitalism over socialism. Today's Japanese society is founded on the national wealth accumulated during this period.
Nevertheless, as we made our transition to Heisei, our past methods of quantitative expansion began to fail and we are now seeking new ways. While it is only natural that economic and industrial policies should differ between times of material deficiency and times of sufficiency, Japan has yet to discover a new method, perhaps because the impact of 45 years of success has been too powerful. This has even led to the creation of the phrase "the lost two decades."
Although our society has matured, many challenges still lie ahead. These is something inherently wrong about a society with over 30,000 annual suicides. And Japan's closed attitude towards immigrants and refugees is a known fact abroad. It is an unfortunate defect that mars the otherwise good impression generally held about Japan. In these times of globalization, Japan must seek out a better way to coexist with foreigners.
Having learned its lesson from the first twenty years of Showa, Japan forged ahead to create itself a new society. I only hope it will continue to do so in the times ahead.
The writer is Expert Senior Writer on the Foreign News Desk at the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
昭和と平成の20年
西川 恵 / ジャーナリスト
2010年 1月 21日
昨年は冷戦終結から20年だったが、１９８９年は日本人にとっても昭和から平成になった節目の年だった。平成の最初の20年が過ぎて、改めて思うのはこの20年間は日本人にとって何だったのか、ということだ。昭和の最初の20年と重ね合わせ、平成の20年間の意味を考えてみた。
昭和の最初の20年（１９２６年～45年）は、ひと言で戦争の時代だった。昭和に入る前年の25年、治安維持法によって国内の思想的な引き締め体制が完了し、昭和の時代から体外的な膨張政策が始まった。27年の第一次山東出兵、28年の張作霖爆死事件、31年には満州事変が起きた。そして37年の盧溝橋事件で全面的な日中戦争になる。41年には太平洋戦争に突入し、45年に敗戦。太平洋戦争だけで日本は兵士、民間合わせ３００万人を超える死者を出した。
私は戦後生まれで歴史教科書でしか知らないせいか、この凝縮した昭和の20年間は長い長い歳月のように感じる。しかし考えてみれば、たかだか昭和天皇が亡くなって（89年）からつい最近までの、安穏と暮らしてきた期間と同じなのだ。
前途有為の若者が幾多と亡くなり、国土が焦土と化し、すべてを失った昭和の最初の20年。これと比べれば、平成の20年間の収支は言うまでもない。不況や震災があり、個々のレベルでは不遇もあっただろう。ただ日本全体としては平和な環境の下で一つの成熟した社会を築いてきた。
諸外国と比べても、日本社会の治安の良さ、清潔さ、秩序正しさ、人々の行儀の良さ、社会的サービスの高さは誇っていい。食の安全とその質的レベル、世界的な長寿も成熟の物差しだ。
この平成の成果は、敗戦から昭和64年（89年）までの約45年間の努力の上に獲得された。この間、経済は量的な拡大に次ぐ拡大で、冷戦時代、日本は社会主義に対する資本主義の優位性の見本とまで言われた。この時に築いた国富が今の日本社会の土台を作っている。
ただ平成になって、それまでの量的拡大の手法が通じなくなり、新たな模索が始まった。モノが不足していた時と、充足した時の経済・産業政策は違ってしかるべきだが、45年間の成功体験が強烈だったせいか、まだ新しい手法が見い出せていない。「失われた20年」という言葉も生まれている。
社会も成熟したとはいえ、課題はなお多い。自殺者が年間３万人を超える社会はやはりどこかおかしい。移民や難民に対する閉鎖性は外国でも知られている。全般的な日本のよきイメージにあって残念な瑕疵である。グローバル時代、日本はもっと外国人と共生していく方途に考えを巡らさねばならない。
昭和の最初の20年の教訓を踏まえ、日本は新しい社会建設にまい進した。これからの時代がそうあってほしいと思う。
（筆者は毎日新聞 外信部 専門編集委員。）
昭和の最初の20年（１９２６年～45年）は、ひと言で戦争の時代だった。昭和に入る前年の25年、治安維持法によって国内の思想的な引き締め体制が完了し、昭和の時代から体外的な膨張政策が始まった。27年の第一次山東出兵、28年の張作霖爆死事件、31年には満州事変が起きた。そして37年の盧溝橋事件で全面的な日中戦争になる。41年には太平洋戦争に突入し、45年に敗戦。太平洋戦争だけで日本は兵士、民間合わせ３００万人を超える死者を出した。
私は戦後生まれで歴史教科書でしか知らないせいか、この凝縮した昭和の20年間は長い長い歳月のように感じる。しかし考えてみれば、たかだか昭和天皇が亡くなって（89年）からつい最近までの、安穏と暮らしてきた期間と同じなのだ。
前途有為の若者が幾多と亡くなり、国土が焦土と化し、すべてを失った昭和の最初の20年。これと比べれば、平成の20年間の収支は言うまでもない。不況や震災があり、個々のレベルでは不遇もあっただろう。ただ日本全体としては平和な環境の下で一つの成熟した社会を築いてきた。
諸外国と比べても、日本社会の治安の良さ、清潔さ、秩序正しさ、人々の行儀の良さ、社会的サービスの高さは誇っていい。食の安全とその質的レベル、世界的な長寿も成熟の物差しだ。
この平成の成果は、敗戦から昭和64年（89年）までの約45年間の努力の上に獲得された。この間、経済は量的な拡大に次ぐ拡大で、冷戦時代、日本は社会主義に対する資本主義の優位性の見本とまで言われた。この時に築いた国富が今の日本社会の土台を作っている。
ただ平成になって、それまでの量的拡大の手法が通じなくなり、新たな模索が始まった。モノが不足していた時と、充足した時の経済・産業政策は違ってしかるべきだが、45年間の成功体験が強烈だったせいか、まだ新しい手法が見い出せていない。「失われた20年」という言葉も生まれている。
社会も成熟したとはいえ、課題はなお多い。自殺者が年間３万人を超える社会はやはりどこかおかしい。移民や難民に対する閉鎖性は外国でも知られている。全般的な日本のよきイメージにあって残念な瑕疵である。グローバル時代、日本はもっと外国人と共生していく方途に考えを巡らさねばならない。
昭和の最初の20年の教訓を踏まえ、日本は新しい社会建設にまい進した。これからの時代がそうあってほしいと思う。
（筆者は毎日新聞 外信部 専門編集委員。）
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟