ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the history of conservatism in modern Japanese history, 1868–1941.
It first examines the role of conservatism in the formation of the Meiji state by looking at both the views of the opponents of the Westernizing reforms of the government and the views of the founders of the Meiji state who strove to create a state that would be conservative, yet modern. It then describes how, after the promulgation of the Constitution in 1889, some founding fathers and other conservatives concentrated on protecting Japan from real and perceived threats posed by liberal ideals and by the rise of party politics. By the late 1930s, the conservatives had realized that militarism and totalitarianism, no less than liberalism, posed a threat to their conception of the state. They subsequently did all they could to eviscerate the reforms the radicals now in charge were putting into effect.
