View source for Imperial Rule Assistance Association

{{Short description|Empire of Japan's sole political party during much of World War II}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Expand Japanese|topic=hist|大政翼賛会|date=September 2019}}
{{Missing information|article|the merging of all political parties into the association before the [[1942 Japanese general election]], military influence and lengthier comparisons to the [[Nazi Party]] and [[National Fascist Party]]|date=March 2021}}
}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox political party
| colorcode        = {{party color|Imperial Rule Assistance Association}}
| name             = {{nowrap|Imperial Rule Assistance Association}}
| native_name      = {{nobold|{{lang|ja|大政翼贊會}}{{pb}}{{Transliteration|ja|Taisei Yokusankai}}}}
| logo             = Taisei Yokusankai.svg
| logo_size        = 150px
| leader1_title    = President
| leader1_name     = {{ubl|class=nowrap|[[Fumimaro Konoe]] <small>(1940–1941)</small>|[[Hideki Tojo]] <small>(1941–1944)</small>|[[Kuniaki Koiso]] <small>(1944–1945)</small>|[[Kantarō Suzuki]] <small>(1945)</small>}}
| leader2_title    = Deputy President
| leader2_name     = {{ubl|[[Heisuke Yanagawa]] <small>(1941)</small>|[[Kisaburō Andō]] <small>(1941–1943)</small>|[[Fumio Gotō]] <small>(1943–1944)</small>|[[Taketora Ogata]] <small>(1944–1945)</small>}}
| founder          = Fumimaro Konoe<ref>Berger, Gordon M. (1974). ''Japan's Young Prince. Konoe Fumimaro's Early Political Career, 1916–1931''. Monumenta Nipponica. '''29''' (4): 451–475. pp. 473–474. {{doi|10.2307/2383896}}. {{ISSN|0027-0741}}. {{JSTOR|2383896}}.</ref>
| foundation       = {{start date and age|12 October 1940}}
| dissolution      = 13 June 1945; 79 years ago
| headquarters     = [[Chiyoda, Tokyo|Chiyoda]], [[Tokyo]], [[Empire of Japan]]<ref>^ 東京會舘編『東京會舘いまむかし』（東京會舘、1987年）、pp.159-162</ref>
| youth_wing       = [[Great Japan Youth Party]]
| womens_wing      = {{ill|Greater Japan Women's Association|ja|大日本婦人会}}<ref>婦人団体を統合、婦道修練を目指す（『朝日新聞』昭和15年6月11日夕刊）『昭和ニュース辞典第7巻 昭和14年-昭和16年』p428 昭和ニュース事典編纂委員会 毎日コミュニケーションズ刊 1994年</ref><ref name=nipponica>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=[[:ja:米田佐代子]]|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%A4%A7%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E5%A9%A6%E4%BA%BA%E4%BC%9A-91837|date=|title=大日本婦人会 だいにほんふじんかい|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Nipponica]]|publisher=[[Shogakukan]]|page=|accessdate=2017-01-08}}</ref>
| wing1_title      = {{nowrap|Paramilitary wing}}
| wing1            = [[Yokusan Sonendan|Young Men's Corps]]<ref name=Shillony>{{cite book | last = Shillony | first = Ben-Ami | title = Politics and Culture in Wartime Japan | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1981 | pages = 23–33, 71–75 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PN1VOByJjE8C&q=young+mens+corps+japan&pg=PA23 | isbn = 0-19-820260-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Payne | first = Stanley G.  | title = A History of Fascism, 1914-1945 | publisher = Routledge | year = 1996 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9wHNrF7nFecC&dq=young+mens+corps+japan&pg=RA1-PA335 | isbn = 1-85728-595-6 | page = 335}}</ref> <br> [[Volunteer Fighting Corps|Volunteer Corps]]
| ideology         = {{bulleted list|[[Kokkashugi|Statism]]|[[Totalitarianism]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baker |first1=David |title=The political economy of fascism: Myth ''or'' reality, or myth ''and'' reality? |journal=New Political Economy |date=June 2006 |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=227–250 |doi=10.1080/13563460600655581 |s2cid=155046186 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Japan: A Modern History|last=McClain|first=James L.|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.|year=2002|isbn=0393041565|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/japanmodernhisto00mccl/page/454 454]|quote=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.|url=https://archive.org/details/japanmodernhisto00mccl/page/454}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Wolferen |first=Karel van |date=1989 |title=The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pkiQAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |page=351 |isbn=0-679-72802-3 |access-date=2025-02-18 |quote=Known as Konoe's 'brains trust', the Showa Kenkyukai was a source of inspiration for the New National Structure Movement (also known as the New Order Movement, or Shin Taisei Undo), which aimed to overhaul the political system, to purge Japan of conflicting interests and to promote a totalitarian national The Imperial Rule Assistance Association (IRAA or Taisei Yokusankai), intended as the controlling organisation of the 'new order', was launched in October 1940 in the hope of liberating Japan once and for all from the perennial 'sectionalism' that deprived the empire of its full potential.}}</ref>|{{nowrap|[[Ultranationalism (Japan)|Japanese ultranationalism]]<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=James R. |editor-last=Brandon |title=Kabuki's Forgotten War: 1931-1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Cqu7HjqVtoC&dq=ultranationalist+Imperial+Rule+Assistance+Association&pg=PA113 |quote= .2 All existing political parties "voluntarily" dissolved themselves, replaced by a single authorized political body, the ultranationalist Imperial Rule Assistance Association. |date=2009 |page=113 |publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]]|isbn=9780824832001 }}</ref>}} |[[Japanese imperialism]]}}
| affiliation1_title = [[Parliamentary group|Political wing]]
| affiliation1     = [[Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association]]<ref>Edward J. Drea, The 1942 Japanese general election: political mobilization in wartime Japan (Lawrence: Center for East Asian Studies University of Kansas, 1979), 145.</ref>
| colours          = {{Color box|#CE2029|border=darkgray}} [[Red (color)|Red]] {{Color box|#FFFFFF|border=darkgray}} [[White]]<br />([[Flag of Japan]])
| merger           = {{ublist
 | ''[[Rikken Seiyūkai]]''
 | ''[[Constitutional Democratic Party (Japan)|Rikken Minseitō]]''
 | ''[[Kokumin Dōmei]]''
 | ''[[Shakai Taishūtō]]''
}}
| successor        = 
| anthem           = ''{{ill|Taisei Yokusan no Uta|ja|大政翼賛の歌}}''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oMaZXWJaio&t=136s |archive-url=http://ghostarchive.org/varchive/8oMaZXWJaio |archive-date=2021-04-28 |url-status=live|title=大政翼賛の歌 / Taiseiyokusan'nouta / Anthem of Taisei Yokusankai - With Lyrics}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
| position         = [[Far-right politics|Far-right]]<ref name="Iacobelli">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f3UpDwAAQBAJ&dq=taisei+yokusankai+far-right&pg=PA54|title=Postwar Emigration to South America from Japan and the Ryukyu Islands|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|author=Iacobelli, Pedro|pages=54|isbn=9781474297271|year=2017}}</ref><ref name="Hwang">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i86kDwAAQBAJ&dq=imperial+rule+assistance+association+far-right+japan&pg=PA33|title=Fukuzawa Yukichi's Bourgeois Liberalism: The Betrayal of the East Asian Enlightenment|author=Hwang, Minhyuk|pages=33|isbn=9783030215309|year=2019|publisher=Springer }}</ref>{{refn|group=n|name=fascism|IRAA is a far-right [[para-fascist]] organization,<ref name="pf"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODEyDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22para-fascist%22+Japan&pg=PA45 |title=Sanitized Sex: Regulating Prostitution, Venereal Disease, and Intimacy in Occupied Japan, 1945-1952 |date=September 26, 2017 |page=45 |publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-96869-1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bbK8DgAAQBAJ&dq=%22para-fascist%22+Japan&pg=PA33 |title=Colonial Taiwan: Negotiating Identities and Modernity Through Literature |date=April 3, 2017 |page=33 |publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-34450-1 }}</ref> defined by [[Masao Maruyama (scholar)|Masao Maruyama]] as "[[Emperor-system fascism]]". [[Encyclopedia Britannica]] referred to [[Hideki Tojo]] as a ''fascist''.<ref>{{cite web |title=fascism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/fascism |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2025-04-20}}</ref> It was founded under the influence of [[European fascism]] based on the {{illm|New Political Order|ja|新体制運動}}, but many IRAA members were drawn from the pre-existing Diet, covered the whole of the [[left-right political spectrum]], and did not adhere to a particular ideology.}}
| religion         = [[State Shintō]]
| national         = [[League of Mobilization in Korea|League of Mobilization]] ([[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]])<br>[[Imperial Subject Public Service Association]] ([[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan]])
}}
{{Infobox Chinese
| kyujitai = 大政翼贊會
| shinjitai = 大政翼賛会
| kana = たいせいよくさんかい
| revhep = Taiseiyokusankai
}}
{{Shōwa Statism}}
The {{nihongo|'''Imperial Rule Assistance Association'''|大政翼贊會/大政翼賛会|Taisei Yokusankai|lead=yes}}, or '''Imperial Aid Association''', was the [[Empire of Japan]]'s ruling political organization during much of the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] and [[World War II]]. It was created by [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Fumimaro Konoe]] on 12 October 1940, to promote the goals of his {{Transliteration|ja|[[Shintaisei]]}} ("New Order") movement. It evolved into a [[Statism in Shōwa Japan|statist]], [[Para-fascism|para-fascist]]<ref name="pf">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1-iXGKN1AK4C | isbn=978-1-134-60952-9 | title=The Routledge Companion to Fascism and the Far Right | date=16 August 2005 | publisher=Routledge|quote=Para-fascist 'single-party' organisation established in Japan in 1940.}}</ref> [[Ruling party|ruling]] [[political party]] which aimed at removing [[sectionalism]] and [[Political faction|factionalism]] from politics and economics in the Empire of Japan, creating a [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] [[one-party state]] in order to maximize the efficiency of Japan's [[total war]] effort against [[Nationalist government|China]] and later [[Allies of World War II|the Allies]].<ref>Wolferen, ''The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation'', page 351</ref> When the organization was launched officially, Konoe was hailed as a "political savior" of a nation in chaos; however, internal divisions soon appeared.

==Origins==
[[File:Establishment of Imperial Rule Assistance Association.JPG|thumb|left|Establishment of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association|140px]]
[[File:Imperial Rule Assistance Association Cadre.JPG|thumb|left|Imperial Rule Assistance Association cadres, 1940]]
Based on recommendations by the {{nihongo3|Shōwa Research Association||[[Shōwa Kenkyūkai]]}}, Konoe originally conceived of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association as a [[Reformism|reformist]] political party to overcome the deep-rooted differences and political cliques between [[bureaucrat]]s, [[politician]]s and the military. During the summer of 1937, Konoe appointed 37 members chosen from a broad political spectrum to a preparatory committee which met in [[Karuizawa, Nagano]]. The committee included Konoe's political colleagues [[Fumio Gotō]], Count [[Yoriyasu Arima]] and entrepreneur and [[right-wing]] spokesman [[Fusanosuke Kuhara]]. A radical wing of the military was represented by [[Kingoro Hashimoto]], while the [[tradition]]alist military wings were represented by [[Senjūrō Hayashi]], [[Heisuke Yanagawa]] and [[Nobuyuki Abe]].

Konoe proposed originally that the Imperial Rule Assistance Association be organized along [[national syndicalism|national syndicalist]] lines, with new members assigned to branches based on occupation, which would then develop channels for mass participation of the common population to "assist with the Imperial Rule".<ref>Sims, ''Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000'', p. 220</ref>

However, from the start, there was no consensus in a common cause, as the leadership council represented [[big tent|all ends of the political spectrum]], and in the end, the party was organized along geographic lines, following the existing political sub-divisions. Therefore, all local government leaders at each level of village, town, city and prefectural government automatically received the equivalent position within their local Imperial Rule Assistance Association branch.<ref>Duus, ''The Cambridge History of Japan'', page 146</ref>

==Ideals==
[[File:Announcement ceremony of Taisei-yokusan no Uta.JPG|thumb|200px|Celebrations on founding of the IRAA|right]]
Prior to creation of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, Konoe had already passed the [[National Mobilization Law]], which effectively [[nationalization|nationalized]] strategic industries, the [[Domei Tsushin|news media]], and [[labor union]]s, in preparation for [[total war]] with [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|China]].

Labor unions were replaced by the Nation Service Draft Ordinance, which empowered the government to draft civilian workers into critical war industries. Society was mobilized and indoctrinated through the [[National Spiritual Mobilization Movement]], which organized patriotic events and mass rallies, and promoted slogans such as {{nihongo3|Japanese spirit||"[[Yamato-damashii]]"}} and {{nihongo3|All the world under one roof||"[[Hakkō ichiu]]"}} to support [[Japanese militarism]]. This was urged to "restore the spirit and virtues of old Japan".<ref>[[Edwin P. Hoyt]], ''Japan's War'', p 189 {{ISBN|0-07-030612-5}}</ref>

Some objections to it came on the grounds that {{Transliteration|ja|[[kokutai]]}}, imperial polity, already required all imperial subjects to support imperial rule.<ref>James L. McClain, ''Japan: A Modern History'' p 454 {{ISBN|0-393-04156-5}}</ref>

In addition to drumming up support for the ongoing [[Second Sino-Japanese War|wars in China]] and in the [[Pacific War|Pacific]], the Imperial Rule Assistance Association helped maintain public order and provided certain public services via the {{Transliteration|ja|[[tonarigumi]]}} neighborhood association program.<ref>Aldus, ''The Police in Occupation Japan: Control, Corruption and Resistance to Reform'', page 36</ref> It also played a role in increasing productivity, monitoring rationing, and organizing [[civil defense]].

The Imperial Rule Assistance Association was also militarized, with its members donning khaki-colored uniforms. In the last period of the conflict, the membership received military training and was projected to integrate with the [[Volunteer Fighting Corps]] in case of the anticipated [[Operation Downfall|Allied invasion]].

==Development==
As soon as October 1940, the Imperial Rule Assistance Association systemized and formalized the {{Transliteration|ja|[[Tonarigumi]]}}, a nationwide system of neighborhood associations. The 6 November 1940 issue of {{nihongo3|Photographic Weekly Report||Shashin Shūhō}} explained the purpose of this infrastructure:

<blockquote>The {{Transliteration|ja|Taisei Yokusankai}} movement has already turned on the switch for rebuilding a new Japan and completing a new Great East Asian order which, writ large, is the construction of a new world order. The {{Transliteration|ja|Taisei Yokusankai}} is, broadly speaking, the New Order movement which will, in a word, place One Hundred Million into one body under this new organisation that will conduct all of our energies and abilities for the sake of the nation. Aren't we all mentally prepared to be members of this new organization and, as one adult to another, without holding our superiors in awe or being preoccupied with the past, cast aside all private concerns in order to perform public service? Under the {{Transliteration|ja|Taisei Yokusankai}} are regional town, village, and {{Transliteration|ja|tonarigumi}}; let's convene council meetings and advance the activities of this organization.<ref>David C. Earhart, ''Certain Victory'', M.E. Sharpe, 2008, p.142, citing ''Shashin Shūhō''</ref></blockquote>

[[File:Imperial Rule Assistance Election Speech.JPG|200px|thumb|right|Imperial Rule Assistance Association election speech, 1942]]
In February 1942, all women's associations were merged into the ''[[Greater Japan Women's Association]]'' which joined the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in May. Every adult woman in Japan, excepting the under twenty and unmarried, was forced to join the Association.<ref>''Modern Japan in archives, the Yokusan System'', http://www.ndl.go.jp/modern/e/cha4/description15.html</ref>

Likewise, in June, all youth organizations were merged into the {{nihongo|''[[Yokusan Sonendan|Greater Japan Imperial Rule Assistance Youth Corps]]''|翼賛青年団|Yokusan Sonendan}}, based on the model of the German {{lang|de|[[Sturmabteilung]]}} (stormtroopers).<ref name=Shillony>{{cite book | last = Shillony | first = Ben-Ami | title = Politics and Culture in Wartime Japan | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1981 | pages = 23–33, 71–75 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PN1VOByJjE8C&q=young+mens+corps+japan&pg=PA23 | isbn = 0-19-820260-1}}</ref>

In March 1942, Prime Minister [[Hideki Tōjō]] attempted to eliminate the influence of elected politicians by establishing an officially sponsored election nomination commission, which restricted non-government-sanctioned candidates from the ballot.<ref>Stockwin, ''Governing Japan: Divided Politics in a Major Economy'', page 22</ref> After the [[1942 Japanese general election|1942 Japanese General Election]], all members of Diet were required to join the {{nihongo3|[[Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association]]|Yokusan Seijikai}}, which effectively made Japan a one-party state.

The Imperial Rule Assistance Association was formally dissolved on 13 June 1945, around three months before the [[End of World War II in Asia|end of World War II]] in the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]]. During the Allied [[occupation of Japan]], the [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers|American authorities]] [[Purge (occupied Japan)|purged]] thousands of government leaders from public life for having been members of the Association. Later, many of them returned to prominent roles in [[Politics of Japan|Japanese politics]] after the end of the occupation on 28 April 1952 by the [[Treaty of San Francisco]].
{{Clear}}

==Leaders==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! No.
! Leader<br />{{small|{{nowrap|(birth–death)}}}}
! class="unsortable" | Portrait
! Constituency or ''title''
! Took office
! Left office
|-
| 1
| [[Fumimaro Konoe]] {{smalldiv|(1891–1945)}}
| [[File:Fumimaro Konoe(cropped).jpg|80px]]
| [[House of Peers (Japan)|House of Peers]]
| 12 October 1940
| 18 October 1941
|-
|2
| [[Hideki Tojo]] {{smalldiv|(1884–1948)}}
| [[File:Hideki Tojo 2 (cropped).jpg|80px]]
| [[Imperial Japanese Armed Forces|Military]] ([[Imperial Japanese Army|Army]])
| 18 October 1941
| 22 July 1944
|-
|3
| [[Kuniaki Koiso]] {{smalldiv|(1880–1950)}}
| [[File:Kuniaki_Koiso.jpg|80px]]
| [[Imperial Japanese Armed Forces|Military]] ([[Imperial Japanese Army|Army]])
| 22 July 1944
| 7 April 1945
|-
|4
| [[Kantarō Suzuki]] {{smalldiv|(1868–1948)}}
| [[File:Kantaro Suzuki suit.jpg|80px]]
| [[Imperial Japanese Armed Forces|Military]] ([[Imperial Japanese Navy|Navy]])
| 7 April 1945
| 13 June 1945
|}

==Election results==
=== House of Representatives ===
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
!Election
!Leader
!Seats won
!Position
!Status
|-
| [[1942 Japanese general election|1942]]
| [[Hideki Tojo]]
| {{Composition bar|381|466|{{party color|Taisei Yokusankai}}}}
| 1st
| {{yes2|Government}}
|}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=n}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
*{{cite book
| last = Aldus
| first = Christop
| year = 1999
| title = The Police in Occupation Japan: Control, Corruption and Resistance to Reform
| publisher = [[Routledge]]
| isbn = 0-415-14526-0
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Duus
| first = Peter
| year = 2001
| title = The Cambridge History of Japan
| publisher = Palgrave Macmillan
| isbn = 0-312-23915-7
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Sims
| first = Richard
| year = 2001
| title = Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000
| publisher = Palgrave Macmillan
| isbn = 0-312-23915-7
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Stockwin
| first = JAA
| year = 1990
| title = Governing Japan: Divided Politics in a Major Economy
| publisher = Vintage
| isbn = 0-679-72802-3
}}
*{{cite book
| last = Wolferen
| first = Karel J
| year = 1990
| title = The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation
| publisher = Vintage
| isbn = 0-679-72802-3
}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Japanese Empire political parties}}
{{JapanEmpireNavbox}}
{{Shōwa nationalism}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1940 establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:1945 disestablishments in Japan]]
[[Category:Banned political parties]]
[[Category:Defunct political parties in Japan]]
[[Category:Far-right political parties in Japan]]
[[Category:Government of the Empire of Japan]]
[[Category:Japan in World War II]]
[[Category:Japanese statist political parties]]
[[Category:Monarchist parties in Japan]]
[[Category:Pan-Asianism]]
[[Category:Para-fascist parties]]
[[Category:Parties of one-party systems]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1945]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1940]]
[[Category:Political parties in the Empire of Japan]]
[[Category:Kokkashugi]]
[[Category:State Shinto]]
[[Category:Ultranationalist parties]]