Did you know that #Shinzo Abe's grandfather was known as a #monster?
This is a 19-point #thread on the tumultuous years during & after #WW2 from Japan's POV, on the #problem of #US peace-keeping efforts & on Japan's ongoing nepotism issues.
2/ When Japan took over a part of #China & established a puppet state, Kishi was made leader. He had an ambitious plan to make the state an #industrial#powerhouse.
3/ To make this profitable, he lowered the wages of workers to such an extent, that by 1937, #slave labour was deemed acceptable as long as it benefitted the #war with China & profited the #investors.
4/ In the Fushu Mine - a key player in the industrial plan laid out by Kishi, 25k people a year needed to be replaced due to dying from #poor conditions. Kishi saw the Chinese as "more dog than human", so he wasn't much phased.
5/ During the 4 yr operation, Kishi infamously said that he "came so much, it was hard to clean it all up", referencing his extreme womanising & lavish spending. His #wealth came from investing governing funds into the #Opium#trade.
6/ He was eventually fired but given a new job quickly due to being friends with the new #Minister of #Commerce. In 1941, he voted for #war with the US & Britain.
7/ When Japan lost the war in '45, Kishi was imprisoned as a Class A war #criminal. US Ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew, however, liked Kishi so much that he helped in his release without a trial.
8/ In 1952, Kishi tried getting elected with a motto of rearming Japan - it did not go well. He flirted with joining the #Socialist Party, but they had no interest in him.
9/ Eventually, he settled on the #Liberals. His aim was to become #party leader, but he knew the best way would be to lure Liberal members away to form his own party. And that's exactly what he did.
10/ In '54, he had formed his #Democratic Party. He elected himself #secretary, not the leader - so that he could control the #finances. His leader won the #election.
11/ Kishi now had his own party & his enemy (the Liberal leader) had stepped down - so he arranged a party merger. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) would be headed by Kishi 65 days after its founding after the elected head fell ill.
12/ As #PrimeMinister of Japan, Kishi wanted 2 things: an armed Japan & a severance of US-Japan alliances. He had some support for this, as people were sick of US military bases. The #treaty between the nations was highly unequal, allowing the US overly much freedom.
13/ Kishi proposed a revision of the treaty in favour of Japan. In his usual style however, he planned to supress any detractors by force.
When he tried to extend his term as PM, assuming people would appreciate his treaty reversal, he learned something new:
14/ The #Japanese people wanted NO treaty, not a revised one! They weren't thankful to Kishi, but outraged that he forced a ratification of something they saw as making war in Japan possible once again. People decided to take action.
15/ When White House Secretary Hagerty arrived in Japan to prepare for Eisenhower's visit regarding the treaty, he had to be rescued from a rioting crowd. Soon, a protesting student died & the demonstrations escalated.
16/ This led to the #largest demonstration in Japanese history. Kishi meanwhile, was pressured to resign. He considered using the #Yakuza to tame the crowds, but eventually gave up.
17/ He stayed in the Diet until 1979, never tiring of his cause to revoke the treaty. He was still angry about his failure when he died in '87 at age 90.
18/ His #brother was also Prime Minister, he #grandson too, his SIL was Foreign Minister & his other grandson, Nobuo Kishi, who spent his first decade living with him, was the recent Minister of #Defense.
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