Fukoku kyōhei

Japanese national slogan

Fukoku kyōhei

Japanese name

Kana

ふこくきょうへい

Kyūjitai

富國强兵

Shinjitai

富国強兵

Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn	Fukoku kyōhei

Fukoku kyōhei (富国強兵, "Enrich the Country, Strengthen the Armed Forces") was Japan's national slogan during the Meiji period, replacing the slogan sonnō jōi ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians"). It is a yojijukugo phrase, originally from the ancient Chinese historical work on the Warring States period, Zhan Guo Ce.

Etymology

During the Warring States period of China, the Qin—through its legalist policies—placed considerable focus on the enhancement of state wealth and military power, also known by the expression Fuguo Qiangbing.^[1] This expression was adopted in Meiji Japan as Fukoku kyōhei in Japanese.^[1]

Significance

The slogan was the central objective of the Meiji leaders. Fukoku kyōhei entailed the formulation of far-reaching policies to transform Japanese society in an all-out effort to catch up with the West. Although the government played a major role in providing the setting for industrialization, destroying old institutions that proved obstacles to industrialization, and creating new institutions that would facilitate economic and political modernization, private enterprise also played a critical role in the distinctly Japanese combination of public and private sector effort, later criticized in the 1980s as "Japan Inc." This symbolized an emerging nationalism in Japan.

References

^ ^a ^b Holcombe, Charles (2001). The Genesis of East Asia, 221 B.C.-A.D. 907. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. p. 16. ISBN 0-8248-2415-6.

Empire of Japan

Overview

Emperors

Meiji (Mutsuhito)
Taishō (Yoshihito)
Shōwa (Hirohito)

Symbols

Policies

Government

Administration (ministries)	Imperial Household Home Ministry War Army Navy Treasury Foreign Affairs Agriculture and Commerce Commerce and Industry Munitions Colonial Affairs Greater East Asia East Asia Development Board (Kōain)
Legislative and deliberative bodies	Daijō-kan Privy Council Gozen Kaigi Imperial Diet Peers Representatives

Military

Armed Forces	Imperial General Headquarters Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors Senjinkun military code Nuclear weapons program Kamikaze War crimes Supreme War Council Conscription
Imperial Japanese Army	General Staff Air Service Railways and Shipping Imperial Guard Imperial Way Faction (Kōdōha) Japanese holdout Taiwan Army of Japan Control Faction (Tōseiha) Kempeitai
Imperial Japanese Navy	General Staff Air Service Marines Tokkeitai Fleet Faction Treaty Faction

History

Meiji era	Meiji Restoration Beipu uprising Boshin War Two Lords Incident Satsuma Rebellion First Sino-Japanese War Triple Intervention Boxer Rebellion Anglo–Japanese Alliance Russo-Japanese War Invasion of Taiwan (1874) Invasion of Taiwan (1895)
Taishō era	World War I Entry Siberian Intervention General Election Law Washington Naval Treaty Manchuria–Mongolia problem Taishō Democracy Taishō Roman Tapani incident Truku War Racial Equality Proposal
Shōwa era	Shōwa financial crisis Jinan incident London Naval Treaty Musha Incident Pacification of Manchukuo January 28 incident Anti-Comintern Pact Second Sino-Japanese War Soviet–Japanese border conflicts Rape of Nanking Tripartite Pact Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact Japan during World War II Pacific War Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Soviet–Japanese War Surrender (Potsdam Declaration, Hirohito surrender broadcast) Occupation

Territories

Colonies	Karafuto (naichi after 1943) Chōsen Kantō-shū Nan'yō Taiwan
Puppet states	Manchukuo Mengjiang Wang Jingwei regime Second Philippine Republic Empire of Vietnam State of Burma Azad Hind
Occupied territories	Borneo Burma Dutch East Indies French Indochina Hong Kong Malaya Philippines Singapore Thailand
Ideology	Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere Yen Bloc