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Japanese scholars compare today’s politics with the 1930s and 1940s
Two Japanese political scholars say today’s country shows echoes of its 1930s and 1940s past in a new book and interview.
They point to declining regional towns, where shops are closing, farms are shutting and some rail services have ended.
One scholar says rural poverty helped shape the story behind the 1936 February 26 Incident, though today’s political system is different.
The authors argue that past leaders pursued national industrial growth at the cost of rural areas, while today there is no comparable national vision.
They say economic insecurity has helped fuel demand for stronger leaders, as older restraints on concentrated power weaken across generations.
Their comparison warns of conditions that can make authoritarian control and war more possible, but they do not say Japan will follow the same path.
Japanese scholars argue that economic decline in rural areas and public demand for strong leadership resemble conditions in Japan during the 1930s and 1940s.
Political scientist Shunsuke Tanaka says rural decline can create a climate in which people seek someone to blame.
Professor Morihide Katayama says Japan today lacks the national vision that once drove industrialisation, while economic pressures have intensified.
The scholars say historical similarities do not mean Japan will follow the same path, but warn that conditions for a wartime mobilisation are not entirely absent.
They also argue that a postwar restraint on concentrated power has weakened as public support for strong leaders has grown.
- Who
- Political scientists Morihide Katayama and Shunsuke Tanaka.
- What
- They compared present-day Japan with the 1930s and 1940s and discussed conditions that can lead a state toward war.
- When
- The interview was published on October 25, 2026.
- Where
- Japan.
- Why
- They examined historical and economic factors behind the appeal of strong leadership and the mechanisms by which a state can move toward war.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
This story does not have a timeline yet.
- Interviewees
- Morihide Katayama and Shunsuke Tanaka
- Historical period compared
- 1935–1944
- Publication date
- October 25, 2026
- Book discussed
- When the State Moves Toward War: Japan’s Present Position Returning to the Showa 10s
- Publisher and format
- Asahi Shinsho; 272 pages
- Price
- 990 yen
What people are saying
When people become poor, they want to find someone to blame.
Now there is not even such a vision.
An atmosphere seeking a strong leader has spread.