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Anti-American conservative
Anti-American conservative (Japanese: 反米保守, Hepburn: han-Bei hoshu)[1] is a political term used in Japan that refers to a case in which conservatives in the country display anti-American views diplomatically or culturally. Today, most establishment conservatives maintain diplomatic pro-Americanism. Anti-American conservatives are mentioned individually in Japan because conservatives have fewer anti-American views than the political left; Japan's ruling right-wing conservative Liberal Democratic Party is highly pro-American.[2] HistoryPrewar JapanIn the Edo period, there was a "Kokugaku" to preserve traditional philosophy against Western philosophy inflows, including in the United States. In addition, anti-American conservatism emerged through "Nōhon shugi" (農本主義, lit. Agrarianism) and "Pan-Asianism" (アジア主義, lit. Asianism) during the Meiji period. During the prewar Shōwa period, "Ultra-nationalism" (超国家主義, chō kokka shugi, lit. "extreme state-ism") emerged, and to justify Japan's invasion of the Asian region, the cause of "liberating Asia from the West" was put forward; at this time, there is 鬼畜米英 (kichiku beiei) as a racist propaganda, meaning "American and British demonic beasts". Postwar JapanIn postwar Japan, "anti-American conservative" are relatively few among institutional conservatives; Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is widely known as "pro-American conservative" (親米保守).[3] From the 1960s onwards, an ethno-nationalist movement called "minzoku-ha" (民族派) emerged, which was critical of major conservatives of the day for prioritizing "anti-communism" over "[ethnic] nationalism". Today, anti-American conservatives have a wide spectrum; some are negative for the United States for harming Asian values but are friendly to China (Sinophile), and some are ultranationalists who are hostile to China and Korea (both South and North) and seek a return to the Empire of Japan, but all anti-American conservatives have a common negative view of cultural globalization (led by the West) and neoliberal economic policy. Tanzan Ishibashi, who opposed Japanese imperialism during the prewar Japan, was one of the most unfriendly politicians to the United States among politicians in the LDP during the postwar Japan. In contrast, Ishibashi had a dovish diplomat in the People's Republic of China.[4] The Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, a Japanese nationalist group, is known as an "anti-American conservative".[3] See also
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