Japan in 1960 was insane.

Seriously, it was a really wild (and dark) year.
What would omnipotence feel like? Probably something like AnyDesk. Get it now for free: anydesk.com/spectacles
The research for this video video relied extensively on the book Japan at the Crossroads, by Nick Kapur.
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Spectacles is a love letter to democracy, its values, its caretakers, and its ideas. Around the world, individual rights and representative government are facing unprecedented attacks from the forces of reaction and revisionism. But despite liberal democracy’s real shortcomings and today’s all-too-fashionable cynicism, we remain committed to its preservation and improvement. Join us as we explore just what liberal democracy is, how it comes about, and how it can best be maintained in a changing world.
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SOURCES
A = Nick Kapur, Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo (Harvard University Press, 2018)
B = Constitution of Japan
C = William Manchester, American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964 (Little, Brown, and Co. 1978)
D = “The Miraculous Deliverance From a Titanic Tragedy,” for the National World War II Museum, 25 August 2020
E = Robert Fahey, “Japan Explained: The House of Councilors,” in TokyoReview, 18 July 2019.
F = Wikipedia, “1960 Japanese general election.”
G = Michelle Toh, “Living standards are still falling in Japan. That’s a recipe for more stagnation,” CNN 12 April 2023
H = Naoki Abe, “Japan’s Shrinking Economy,” for the Brookings Institute, 12 February 2010.
I = Modern Japan: An Encyclopedia of History, Culture, and Nationalism, ed. James L. Huffman (Routledge, 2013)
CITATIONS (footnotes in English CC)
1. D.
2. I, 16; A, 14.
3. C, 472.
4. A, 8-9.
5. A, 9.
6. B.
7. A, 9-10.
8. A, 9-10.
9. A, 19.
10. A, 11.
11. A, 10.
12. A, 10.
13. A, 12.
14. A, 11-13.
15. A, 17-18.
16. A, 25.
17. A, 2.
18. A, 25.
19. A, 18.
20. A, 17-18.
21. A, 20-21.
22. A, 22-23. CORRECTION: The Diet session was scheduled to end on May 26. All succeeding event dates are correct.
23. A, 23.
24. A, 23.
25. E.
26. A, 23.
27. A, 26.
28. A, 27-29.
29. A, 29-30.
30. A, 31.
31. A, 32.
32. A, 50.
33. A, 34.
34. A, 169.
35. A, 34.
36. I, 16.
37. A, 74, 84.
38. A, 75-76.
39. A, 76.
40. A, 254.
41. A, 254.
42. A, 85-86.
43. A, 84.
44. A, 77-78.
45. A, 84-85, 98.
46. F.
47. A, 84.
48. A, 105.
49. A, 80-81.
50. A, 82.
51. A, 265.
52. A, 267; G; H.
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00:00 - Intro
02:19 - Occupation
06:33 - I. The Treaty
10:50 - II. The Protest
15:24 - III. The Murder
22:17 - Conclusion

[@spectacles-dm]

Any device, anywhere in the world, at any time. Get AnyDesk now at anydesk.com/spectacles

[@teru797]

Yukio Mishima is my hero

[@catercarr3081]

not gonna lie, best ad integration I have seen in awhile. Will be checking this out because of your ad read!

[@VIK_1903]

I love your channel and content, but I think it's funny that you always say AMERICA instead of US when you're talking about democracies and imperialism. I guess some roots run too deep.

[@VIK_1903]

And before someone says something, even according to the UN, America is a continent. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_geoscheme It just feels weird the way you use these terms when you're talking about these subjects. It simply doesn't fit. It feels like I'm watching a documentary on CNN or Fox News. Anyway, doesn't matter...

[@awareclueless]

scammers will love this advertisment!

[@D.S.handle]

The 60’s were wild wherever.

[@Fallout3131]

True 😂

[@damonroberts7372]

The world of the 1940s (and by extension the early 1950s) was comprehensively shaped by international conflict. Growing pains during the period of re-construction (late 1950-60s) were inevitable and equally widely felt.

[@jose.montojah]

Comparing this to the videos of how machines and human systems learn, we can see there's a tradeoff but we could overcome it with "good memory". Stationary algorithms aren't smart, and we'll die as a species if we steadfastly stay at the gates of this golden age instead of coming right through on an age of love for all life and truth. We could learn!

[@D.S.handle]

@@jose.montojah how can we learn?

[@jasper677]

In Germany the 50s and 60s are seen as the boring decades

[@ElectrostatiCrow]

Fun fact Nobusuke Kishi was also the grandfather of Shinzo Abe.

[@kormagogthedestroyer]

Of course…

[@dr.woozie7500]

He came from a long line of monsters

[@gabmartini_]

... With links with the Yakuza. Like Koizumi and tons of LDP politicians.

[@mRahman92]

That is disgusting.

[@lincolnhaldorsen5649]

@@kormagogthedestroyerso he’s at fault for his grandpa 😆

[@Sirstarfish]

this reeks of CIA

[@zpydawebb2344]

100%

[@PressGaneyLive]

Exactly what I was thinking.

[@MM-lg4ni]

​@@PressGaneyLive reeks of the group of "people" that invented/created cia, invented and spread communism killing HUNDREDS of millions in the process, the group that is responsible for both worldwars and tens of millions of dead europeans, the group responsible for every single war ever since and before ww, the invention of transgenderism, feminism, banks, cetain "epidemics" and the "cures" for them that also killed HUNDREDS of millions etc etc, the group that always seeks the decimation of the german poeple, and the european kind as a while, and japanese also. Guess who they are.

[@Volvith]

It was the 60's. Everything did.

[@rscvideos]

I just saw the intro and was about to post same thing

[@edie9158]

My grandparents grew up in the 60s in Japan. And I never understood why they were so… solemn and felt very isolated. The more I look into the historical development of post-war Japan, the more I realize what my family had to endure up until this point.

[@SmellyBodega]

arguably just a prevalent aspect of Japanese culture.

[@edie9158]

@@SmellyBodega Lmao, maybe

[@minirock000]

I hope you use better sources than this for your information, unless this as complex as you can handle otherwise as we used to say go for it. Ever think about just asking them? They should still be knocking about, unless they were screwed by poor genes.

[@jonathanbyrd90]

famaree

[@gourdguru]

@@minirock000 it's possible he can't because they ARE still alive, but some people just don't talk about hard times, trying to keep it in the past. - the soldier who saw and did heinous things in war, and now says war is hell and tells his kids and grandkids to never enlist, but refuses to go into details, hoping if he keeps it in the past, it will haunt him slightly less often. - the japanese citizen who was rendered homeless and did desperate things to survive the aftermath of the A-bombs or the firebombings that destroyed their home - the holocaust survivor with a number on their arm that won't talk about the concentration camp, but wakes up screaming in a mix of yiddish and german at night, because they dreamt it was still 1942. (this one's personal. my great aunt survived the camps, but the things they did to her broke her completely and she never really left that camp mentally, it haunted her like it was yesterday, right up until the day we had to put her in the ground. she never spoke about it by choice, the only things we knew about her time in the camp was what we could make out of her incohent screaming when she would wake up in the middle of the night. and i'm glad that's all we know. i know just enough yiddish and german to get the jist of the horrors she relived in her midnight panic attacks, and i don't want to know any more than that.) - the man who was lost at sea and had to resort to cannibalism to survive, and never talks about it, but hoards food in his attic for the rest of his life as a result of his trauma. some people wear their scars out in the open, some people bury them deep...either for their own sake, or for yours. going from being a "warrior empire" to being bombed into the stone age and then dealing with the political, social, and economic strains of the next 20 years while being essentially completely rebuilt under the guidance of your former enemy, sounds to me like something some people might choose to leave in the past 'where it belongs'. this period from 1945 to 1960 is also the height of certain unpleasant leftovers from the war, like the way surviving kamikaze pilots were treated, often considered cowards and traitors because they were supposed to die to protect japan, and now japan is burning and they return home in one piece, sometimes even their own families treated them like ghosts and just pretended they weren't even there. if your father or uncle was a surviving kamikaze and for decades your family acted like he was already dead and told you to ignore him, and your last memory of him is him laying alone on his deathbed and none of your family seemed to even care, that might be something you want to leave in the past. some people handle their traumas by just bottling it up.

[@USBearForce]

23:15 This segment about unavoidable tradeoffs reminded me of a quote from a famous Japanese sci-fi series: "A good autocracy might be better than even a good democracy, but a bad democracy is far better than a bad autocracy." -Yang Wen-li, from 'Legend of the Galactic Heroes' by Yoshiki Tanaka.

[@frenzalrhomb6919]

Er, any guy with the name Yang Wen- Ii, is Chinese, not Japanese.

[@USBearForce]

@@frenzalrhomb6919 The series was written by the Japanese author Yoshiki Tanaka. Yang Wen-li is the character in the story who says the line.

[@Benjamin_Kraft]

Haven't read the novels, but I've rewatched the OVA several times. Love it. Though I think some people give it more credit than it deserves for presenting autocracy vs democracy on an even playing field, when I think the story quite clearly argues that democracy is preferable. The lasting through-line, the underlying critique of democracy is always primarily that it can decline into autocracy, like with the first emperor Goldenbaum. Meaning, the bad thing with democracy is that it can turn into autocracy, which isn't really a criticism of democracy itself. Also, when portraying Reinhard as a good autocrat, he is done so by adopting democratic ideals, if not the democratic political structure. He seemingly listens to the needs of the people and adopt progressive legislation (such as less censorship and more free speech), and he defers to expert ministers in matter he himself isn't an expert rather than imposing his leadership. The good thing with autocracy, LOGH argues, is that it can kinda be like a democracy if the leader is good. All of this isn't necessarily my views or my arguments on the matter, but it's just what I perceive are the viewpoints and arguments that LOGH presents (but I think they are eloquent - especially for a space opera). I enjoyed this video overall, but I think he dropped the ball at the end, presenting a stability vs wide horizons causality that I honestly think lacks real world applicability - he even gave an example with Russia contradicting it and I would add China to that list seeing its drastic economic changes in the latest decades. Though politics nowadays seem tumultuous in many western democracies (and they are), in general it seems that democracies are historically speaking more stable than autocracies IMO, and autocracies are just by their nature more susceptible to sudden change given that fewer individuals need to change their minds (or be changed outright) to change society. And in real life, those changes in autocratic countries are seldom of the kind Reinhard espouses...

[@mishmohd]

it sounds rosy but what does the evidence say.

[@jeremyjackson7429]

"A good autocracy might be better than even a good democracy" Would Singapore fall into this category?

[@gypsy547]

Remember when Kellogg’s CEO said poor Americans could eat cereal for dinner.

[@welfaiewfb8802]

I love cereal

[@SuperCatacata]

He wasn't wrong.. Cereal/oatmeal got me thru school

[@gypsy547]

@@SuperCatacata we can also live off ramen, bugs, possum so if you’re overlords tell you to grab a fork you better do it. Of course they will still be eating strawberries, chicken, beef, mushrooms. But yeah you go ahead and live off cereal.

[@soap9816]

@@SuperCatacatacereal has effects on your testerone levels

[@zyourzgrandzmaz]

Kellogg's cereal is a nutrient formula. You genuinely can eat most Kellogg's or kraft food and survive on it fine. Kraft dinner for example is a balanced nutrition its genuinely good for you. And Kellogg's corn flakes have protein infused and b vitamins and don't need preparation. They're genius inventions of food. And have save millions from dying of starvation. Myself included. When I was like 18 I had only KD for a good 6 months. Cost about $80. I wouldve died if it didn't exist. And if you just eat random noodles like spaghetti you'll die not the same thing.

[@christianmartires729]

CIA: Don't worry, we'll control Japan CIA trying to control Japan:

[@ultimategamer876]

it's worked out so far

[@MrOlivergonzalez]

@@ultimategamer876 Japan is an immovable aircraft carrier against the Soviet Union during the cold war

[@kingace6186]

CIA failed hard. Good thing that Ikeda moderated his party.

[@terukiito8153]

​​@@kingace6186actually, the CIA ended up being VERY successful. They actually funneled cash into LDP election campaigns for years, guaranteeing their political dominance.

[@takeonedaily]

@@kingace6186 Anime is a direct result of CIA meddling in Japan. Look up Operation Mockingbird and MK Ultra.

[@u-mos8820]

Being able to explain very complex things in such a concise and simple way while also sneaking in a Warhammer reference has got to be a new intellectual milestone.

[@majestichuman4333]

I was about to say...

[@TTOS69]

Kind of like tism...

[@thephelddagrif2907]

Interesting how that assassination and the assassination of shinzo abe both ended with less support for the one assassinated

[@dandare1001]

Cowardice?

[@Old299dfk]

Isn't that the whole point?

[@worawatli8952]

It was the other way around, less supports came first, then when the assassination happened, people suddenly feel less restraint to speak about it as the event had brought out the most hateful people.

[@jamesbooth3360]

Or perhaps he was the source of the friction that blocked reasonable social compromise.

[@pengu5950]

Was Shinzo Abe not well supported before? I thought that he was well admired

[@dr.woozie7500]

The US allowed war criminals to stay in power to the point many of them are still revered today. Ironically, this is why Japan still believes they are the victim in WWII.

[@tritium1998]

It's also all the weebs saying Japan is a victim for only surrendering after Nagasaki instead of blaming Japan for prolonging the total war it started which plenty of its people supported.

[@jeremyb5634]

The usa does not care about crime or Justice just power and money. Look no further than our politicians.You wanna look at World War 2?We hired most of the scientists and weapons creators and human Experimenters, look through our own history. Theres also the Tuskegee man. The CIA's heart attack gone the f. B. I killing Martin Luther king. Mk ultra. Fast and furious operation the list is endless

[@scythal]

@@BlubberBuddha Their neighbours would like to have plenty of words with you...

[@saturationstation1446]

lets discuss how the uk killed more people in india during ww2 than germans killed europeans/minorities in europe.

[@saturationstation1446]

then lets discuss the role the uk played in establishing the cia in america so that they could forever remain in covert control of it and use it to rebuild the british empire

[@tenacious_takakumi2680]

Can’t lie I had just a Place: … Place, Japan: !!!

[@ElectrostatiCrow]

Place 😐 Place Japan 😍

[@Akrafena]

@@ElectrostatiCrow Place :) Place, Japan :) (He is mesmerized by the beauty of this world)

[@historysuit9418]

People who don’t get it 👇

[@adfi5316]

​@@historysuit9418*People who get it but hate the joke because it's personally offended people who like Japan and anime

[@the_bean_farmer]

⁠@@adfi5316how is it offending webs

[@johnnyharris]

Such good concise writing. Thanks for this vid.

[@spectacles-dm]

OMG, Johnny, thank you so much! Your work is a massive inspiration for us, and you probably noticed how your fingerprints are all over this one. This means a lot to us coming from you. If you've ever got the time, we'd love to connect and pick your brain about some things. Thanks again, and keep up the amazing work!!

[@banditmain6401]

Johnny Harris! No way!

[@haidenlotze7530]

Speaking of Inspiration and all that, Your schedules are probably *plenty* full as-is, but two ideas i want/have partially done (as a wannabe muckraker doing these types of videos lol) are: Could either of you cover the war in the breakup of Yugoslavia. In particular the use of Chemical Weapons including Incapacitating Weapons like BZ? Could do a part 1 covering the war and genocide itself although this has already been done well by others. Could be like “The Breakup of Yugoslavia was a MESS” with a pretty *map* thumbnail etc. Part 2 would be A Series on Chemical Weapons titled “A New Kind of Warfare” / “An Alternative War” or something like that emphasizing those points made in a really neat article I read a while back on incapacitating weapons. This could tie into your history of the MIC @johhnyharris quite well too. FINALLY this would tie into North Korea as if I understand correctly their stock of chemical weapons is a major threat if war breaks out. *ALSO* the whole “Chemical Weapons Free by 2023” milestone (or how the USA had Chemical Weapons and a biological weapons program to begin with) was basically completely under the radar news wise. This could be a “How we got rid of a whole class of WMDs…and how this relates to nukes” video on it’s own! Basically how we went from MASSIVE stockpiles of Chemical Weapons to none. I’m rambling a bit but there is plenty of content there, and i would be glad to help (although no stable patreon money yet due to still getting stable employment reasons) I have done some low level digging myself, but most of the data/reports are in the chemical weapon use are old. The stories are there but *rotting* My second idea is related to that issue of Stories Rotting. Basically do what vox did for the Before and After of NYC with Urban Freeways and all that, but WAY more *Maps* for other cities, most people think just the big cities had streetcars but all sorts of places did and it ties into current economic situations (along with things like redlining). Asking around in areas on people’s experiences here in the USA with the “Urban Renewal” demolition of Housing for Highways, and Streetcar lines that have been torn down is important as once those “average joes” die out that story dies out too. My Muckraking skills aren’t too finely honed yet, but digging for old maps + aerial photos of cities for those nice graphics are important too. I’m rambling, and KZbin comments are a bad way to do all this, but those are two-ish ideas i have, which i also believe are important. Their window is closing to an extent due to data getting old, and people who were there getting older and dying. Also they tie well into current events (WMDs in the context largely Nuclear Proliferation Post-Cold War Treaties Ending, but also Unit 731 Truth and Reconciliation, The Fight for New Urbanism and recent trends on people viewing that etc)

[@whisper1776]

Do you actually watch KZbin videos?

[@TheLily97232]

But these videos are true

[@historysuit9418]

This was so interesting! I always thought Japan was a perfect democracy after WW2 and then started an economic miracle. But what really happened is wild.

[@miladmoradi9987]

Japan has been a one party state since 1955. Albeit that same one party government are the ones who Industrialized and built Japan into a powerhouse, it struggles to even be called a democracy.

[@epck]

Gotta look into Korea too, if the nazis were left wing military state Korea was a right wing one

[@quan-uo5ws]

@@miladmoradi9987 East asia and democracy dont go well together it seems.

[@pdffile9924]

​@@miladmoradi9987then why were the LDP voted out of power in 2009?

[@hollister2320]

@@miladmoradi9987 😂 oh yeah, that so chief? Ask the villagers in inner China/Russia, who live on $5 a week and no toilets whether they’d trade their life for that “one state” country which leads in nearly every important metric, but military.

[@gagamba9198]

Though he was arrested and jailed, Kishi was not charged, tried, or convicted of _anything_ .

[@katethegoat7507]

Yknow, I'd always assumed that Japanese people were just sort of culturally unable to do protests or demonstrations. Glad to know i was wrong.

[@9ENSOKYO]

Well... they probably are now

[@KT-ki6gz]

Oh I don’t think current Japan would be able to do anything this courageous like this generation in the 60’s did, but we’re also decently governed right now so 🤷‍♂️ hopefully our politicians remember the past enough to keep corruption and personal ambition to a minimum

[@ignatiusj.reilly2124]

It's not that they're incapable, it's that they are undermotivated. The goverment simply adopts the talking points of serious demonstrations, like Ikeda did in 1960; it also happened with the environmentalist demonstrations of the 70s, and suddenly Japan became obsessed with clean air and water.

[@Dayvit78]

i'm sorry what? Do you know anything about Japan?

[@user-sg7so5cd6m]

thats from an exoticization lens, where people who arent western are seen as fundamentally different and incapable of doing thinks like "normal" westerners

[@entertainmentcreators1814]

AMAZING FUCKING WORK. LOVING THIS CHANNEL

[@spectacles-dm]

THANK YOU VERY FUCKING MUCH :DDD

[@bredsheeran2897]

@@spectacles-dm💀

[@changingpeopleslivesmoon2993]

@@spectacles-dm💀

[@changingpeopleslivesmoon2993]

Agree

[@carman2139]

It's so aggressive I love it

[@ElGlaz]

This is a great video about 1960, but a rather limited view of Japan's recent political history because although it is true that 1960 was a decisive year, protest and revolutionary ideas continued throughout the decade, climaxing in 1968, like most other similar movements around the world. There's also the fact that the fascist tendencies of Japan weren't extinguished after the war, hell in 1970 Yukio Mishima attempted a rather miserable failed coup, and apologia for the attrocities committed by Imperial Japan continues to this day. Political assassination, infamously, has happened as recently as the Shinzo Abe's murder in 2022, so yeah, it is rather reductive to say that after 1960 Japan chose stability and that was that.

[@BenedictBonifacio]

Good point indeed

[@gagamba9198]

_'climaxing in 1968'_ I think later than that. It was the torture and murder of 14 United Red Army members by their comrades, culminating in the Asama-Sanso incident in 1972 viewed by 90% of the public on TV, that shifted public perception, especially amongst their same-age peers. Thereafter criminal activities were perpetrated mostly overseas by a variety of leftwing militant groups such as the Red Army and the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front.

[@gagamba9198]

_'climaxing in 1968'_ I think later than that. It was the deaths of 14 United Red Army members at their comrades' hands, culminating in the Asama-Sanso incident in 1972 viewed by 90% of the public on TV, that shifted public perception, especially amongst their same-age peers. Thereafter criminal activities were perpetrated mostly overseas by a variety of leftwing militant groups such as the Red Army and the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front.

[@hayaokakizaki4463]

Shinzo Abe was unalived because he broke bread with a cult, not because the guy who unalived him disagreed with Abe's policies.

[@ElGlaz]

@@gagamba9198 you're completely right, radical political action went on into the 1970's. I referenced 1968 thinking just in terms of mass political action, thanks for complementing the info. @hayaokakizaki4463 I don't think that disqualifies the incident as political in nature, the perpetrator felt personal annimosity towards Abe beucase of what the Church of Unification did to his mom, but also said that he allowed the church too much influence in government.

[@Mori650]

Great video on how Japanese politics got to how it is today. Boring, technocratic, and probably the true embodiment of what an End of History truly looks likes. My grandma was a university student during the Anpo protests as a right-winger, but many of her friends dropped out of university and devoted themselves to left-wing politics. One of them got pregnant and then become disillusioned with politics altogether. My grandfather who was quite conservative until his death did vote against the LDP once out of complete disgust for them, he would only do this again in the 90s. Also, at the time it seemed like the socialist parties were the party of small businesses as he was a factory owner while the LDP was the party conglomerates. And in the late 60s and 70s, there was a wave of left-wing student protests which were incredibly violent. My mother's tutor from UTokyo got sent to prison for throwing a molotov at a police officer. Also during this time one of the most notorious terrorist groups in the world came from Japan. And the political infighting within the Japanese left was so bad that I think it was not until the early 2000s when there wasn't at least one person who was injured or killed from sectarianism. And I am sure a lot of people here visited Narita airport which probably represents some of the best things about Japan, but it was the battleground of a years long battle between an unusual alliance of farmers who did not want to give up their land and leftists against Japanese riot police and construction workers which got incredibly violent. There is quiet a few footage you can find of the "Sanrizuka" movement on KZbin that shows just how crazy things got. But if anyone is interested in literature from the 1960s, check out the short stories "Seventeen" and "Death of Political Youth" by Oe Kenzaburo. It is based off of the guy who murdered Inejiro Asanuma. Some of the most intense literature I have ever read.

[@spectacles-dm]

Thanks for your amazingly thoughtful comment.

[@Tinil0]

Oh man, the battles over Narita were absolutely insane, that would be another wonderful topic for someone to make a video on. Japan's left is interesting in that to a large degree it suffered from the anti-communist needs of the United States enforcing crack downs (Though the LDP was obviously more than happy to comply...) but also the in-fighting that you mentioned really never allowed the left to crystalize behind a single candidate. It was always individual issues and the protests were always popular but could never really transition into actual electoral success. Though actually I guess "leftist infighting" isn't a rare thing...

[@clockhanded]

In what way is Japanese politics technocratic? Everything I've seen suggested that elderly (the majority) Japanese policy makers lag far behind in adopting the use of technology. In 2019 the nation's cyber minister admitted to having never used a computer. The proliferation of using paper versus digital storage is something you come to notice right away when you need to do anything regarding official documents. In some local governments, floppy discs are still being used.

[@thastayapongsak4422]

​@@clockhandedtechnocratic does not mean they will be tech savvy. It just means authority is given to "professionals" and "experts", doesn't matter if they are actually one.

[@ElSuperNova23]

@@clockhanded You could've just googled what a Technocracy is but noooooo

[@kenzou776]

Incredible. You guys are my favorite channel. So happy that finally you got the recognition you deserve!!

[@kingdm8315]

crazy how the school cirriculum is allergic to teaching anything actually intresting

[@antoniobabb1938]

For Drones of Work rather than free thinkers

[@colemitchell3426]

If they tought you interesting things then Americans wold find out how truly terrible America (the ruling class) has been throughout history

[@GalacticTradingPost]

learning about slavery and civil war era was important. illegal immigration might lead this country down the same path.

[@user-fu1yt7vb8h]

I’ve always wanted to see a video in the post war Japan. Like the student revolutions, the assasinations, and just… SO MANY REVOLUTION ATTEMPTS it’s such an overlooked but interesting aspect of Japan

[@prod-Sane]

No more compliments to be made mate. Fucking stunning production you talented fuck! Amazing quality! Informational! Good sources! Cohesive! I've been subscribed to you since the beginning of your channel, and I absolutely love how you treat your channel and videos. Top tier content and well researched.

[@prod-Sane]

@@WhatDemocracy Mate they didn't state that. Japanese had been invading countries all around East Asia before the Pearl Harbor attacks even happened. And they killed A LOT of people.

[@jevinday]

Those playing card graphics alone are works of art! I agree, the video looks fantastic

[@user-xl5kd6il6c]

Too many unjustified labels attributed to the people involved I guess the bias are hard to hide

[@warpigs9069]

No fucking cussing goddamn it SHIT!

[@satanicdude]

11:15 This is literally the Gigachad vs Virgin meme.

[@tom_demarco]

Mewing vs Mouth breathing

[@kingace6186]

lmao ikr

[@210clevenger9]

The Virgin Communist VS The CHAD Right Wing Extremist

[@Elogamer15]

Was looking for this comment lmao

[@nathanseper8738]

I recently became a subscriber and think this video proves you deserve more views! It was very professional in its presentation.

[@lonesome3958]

This video is super well-made and structured. Sick!

[@justafellagaming]

The thumbnail drew me in, the details and knowledge kept me interested, and seeing you cite your sources out after I finished watching was the cherry on top.

[@TrappedTrea]

My god this is an amazing channel. Keep up the amazing work!

[@lokezhang-fiskesjo2903]

spectacular, never thought a youtuber could be this concise

It’s Wikipedia pop history

[@Nossieuk]

But is this Japans JFK mystery?

[@smasongarrison]

Good choice of topic and thumbnail!

[@levivanzoelen]

this channel makes me so happy being a history student and a graphic design and storytelling enthousiast. really makes you want to pursue youtube as a carreer path (bad idea)

[@Onlooker71]

Great video. Very well produced and educational. +1 for the “Greetings from Kansas City” t-shirt!

[@simonboucher7152]

As a companion, similar analysis but for Canadian democracy, specifically the Charlottetown and Meech accord event, Quebec separatism and how powerful is the Canadian Prime Minister.

[@JWar-]

RIP Otoya Yamaguchi. A single person can have a tremendous positive impact on the world.

[@epipen22]

Thanks for the thoughtful video

[@diegofu3007]

Your work is on par with the top channels in this niche 👍

[@drzerogi]

Great video. The fact that you framed the matter in terms of trade-offs is refreshing. Perhaps its the economist in me, but I find that government policy is not really about solutions, but trade-offs, despite what many politians and idealists presume.

[@andrewhall7930]

Crazy fact: Isoroku Yamamoto, the Naval Admiral who orchestrated the Pearl Harbor Attacks, and who was in charge of the entire Japanese Navy for the majority of WWII... Was a student at Harvard University in Massachusetts, USA. before the war...

[@matercan5649]

This video was so good, i really apreciate it, well done.

[@arthurneddysmith]

Fascinating mini-documentary, only interrupted by the claimed diametric opposition between "low stability" and "autocracy" at the end ... which was immediately shown to be untrue in relation to modern Russia. Still, it suggested a useful framework for understanding Japanese political history.

[@Goutlard]

Exactly, the documentary overall was great. But presenting "on the left" war and chaos with opportunity, and on the right "stability" which is "amazing when everything is good" but limits opportunity seemed dishonest because it was presented like a blanked statement. It really doesn't fit the standards of the rest of the documentary.

[@krishnathiagarajan8290]

This is a phenomenal video. Thanks!

[@punch_ace8449]

Love the video. But can you leave the quotes up for a bit longer

[@hdoglesby]

Well edited, informative video. This format is consumable for people over 25 and the graphics appealing enough to keep the youth engaged long enough to sneak information into their brains before their attention wanders. Teachers, even professors, should use thisbin their classrooms

[@confusedbud_yt7973]

Here's a comment to boost this video. Love your work, keep it up!!!!

[@HarlequinDuck]

ive been waiting for this vid

[@Volition1001]

This is your best video by far. Great work

[@zakuraiyadesu]

Love the videos, man. Keep it up!!!

[@albertito77]

Long live the memory of Otoyo Yamaguchi!!

[@majestichuman4333]

Channels like this make me want to start my own channel to talk about similar, niche topics. This is some really polished work man. Love it.

[@youwayo]

1960’s Japan is child’s play compared to South Korea. It was a Military Junta at one point, the Park Chung Hee established S Korea’s third republic.

[@Angus_fO]

Great video, loved the writing around 19:30

[@orkun62431]

Very distinct topic i was always curious thx

[@calvauxsound6409]

Amazing job on the video, content and quality. Nice work Specs

[@hallquiche]

This is the kind of political history I would never learn about if it wasn't for you guys. Love this channel. Can't wait to give a snobby lecture about Japanese politics to my friends in a bar.

[@spectacles-dm]

That is what we're here for! Thanks for tuning in :)

[@countpicula]

Hopefully you never run into anyone who knows what their talking about. As a regular traveler to asia with family their, this is all slanted to a liberal socialist western view based on very recent modern politics. It also takes 0 account of the hypersonic differences between western Anglo pro distant liberal sensibilities and tolerances vs cino confucianism atheism and homogeneity. His ending is by far the biggest give away his head is up his ass. As Asians will always pick safety over freedom. As it’s a cultural and societal Theme. Unlike Americans they are not rabid individualists. They are conformists by nature. The time when freedom and opportunity outrage safety will never come. Otherwise Yukio Mishima wouldn’t be dead. Oh, I guess he forgot that part of the 1960-70’s of japanes politics😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 This is the skibidi toilet equivalent of cino poli-sci. Go watch a Japanese person chsnnle before you try and impresses people bruh.

[@ratchet2505]

Amazing work, Well done.

[@spectacles-dm]

Really appreciate the tip. Thanks for tuning in.

[@WezeldeStenheid]

A well sourced, well structured, interesting video with great visuals! Wow!

[@Chimpyboi]

Excellent presentation! I like how the information is presented in a concise and pointed manner, keep it up!

[@aloispoth9859]

Nice video dude

[@rakkaaghanska7434]

What a video. Keep it up lad !

[@dundee2858]

Easily the most underrated channel on KZbin, the production quality is unreal

[@edwinchester7092]

Dude is a partisan hack paid by china

[@FinlandFan2002]

So much good quality. You should get more subs!

[@FALL-LAFF-7477]

Crazy how people never took a glance on how Cold War affect Japan. Hell, even this one topped how chaotic Asia with the Cold War mania all around, even on the Blue Turfm

[@eduardomolinov]

I am so happy I discovered this channel with the last video. This one is amazing.

[@willo7734]

Brilliant episode! I didn’t know much about that period in Japanese history. Very insightful and a very compelling watch.

[@mcsweats7460]

I’m glad a video was made about this. It’s such an interesting piece of history that isn’t talked about enough.

[@JunoMeHistory]

hey just a question, Have you guys ever heard of the youtube channel Fern. ? Theyre a group from germany, taht do very simmular videos as you in english (Fern is their english channel, simplicissimus is their german one) your artstyles and video structure is very simmular, so i thought id just ask if theres any relation,

[@Griff00]

i wish you went a bit more into asanuma's political beliefs and history including the whole thing with his support for fascism in WW2 and his plan to restore the co-prosperity sphere with mao, kim, and soekarno; guy was nuts

[@hk-4738]

Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere with Socialist Characteristics™.

[@andylorimer1407]

leaving the keywords of the quote a few seconds after the rest disappears is such a cool thing

[@GustavEule]

great work as always!

[@korakys]

I think you did very well with the historical parts, I'm not so sure about the conclusion though. Countries like the Nordics show you can have high stability and wide horizons at the same time. The pattern has more exceptions than cases that follow the rule and is just fundamentally not how socio-political advancement happens. Instead how educated the populace is and how many people there are has a lot more to do with it.

[@dekikkerfan]

THIS. Also, I find it suspicious to charge the left with instability, violence, revolution (mentioning anarchy), where the right side is pictured as a serene and stable if somewhat conservative environment (but never mentioning fascism). As if fascism isn't violence, war and repression against which the left wages war to begin with. Lost all focus after that.

[@mrsupremegascon]

Uh.... You might to look at Nordic countries again lol. Sweden is very much unstable and is on the verge of being out of history for good. Danemark made a huge shift to the right, where even the leftist parties policies are branded as right wing in most of Europe. Norway is isolating itself from Europe and live on oil exploitation.

[@simonjeonghwangbo7864]

Yes. Blindly assuming that a tradeoff must be made, that democracy works is ignorance and/or brainwashed indoctrination. In our current iteration of human society all governments have operated by the principle of stateism. That pride of locality and exclusivity which all governments indoctrinate to make ppl worship the land and flag that represents it, which excuses violence onto others from different localities. I do not advocate for one world government, instead for the government to get out of our way, so that we can be free to try new ways of nurturing respect for each other.

[@MultiRedskull]

The Nordics. 😂😂😂

[@meatybtz]

Which is why Japan's current population crisis has not been addressed. In the interesting political position they placed themselves, desire to help fix the problem has been blocked by the narrow and rigid system. A system which was fine before two decades of stagnation. But the rigidity is now essentially becoming suicidal for the future of their Nation and Culture. They are dying out, and their political system is too rigid to allow, even those in government actively working to solve the problem, solutions that work to be implemented. They are once again, at a point of decision which will decide if their culture, their nation, will live.. or slowly die out as a people. Right now, it appears they will die out as they are simply unable or unwilling to make changes that will actually work to both increase productivity as well as create an environment where re-population becomes something their people want to participate in. Without those changes, people will continue to live feeling economically unstable, work to long hours to be able to have stable relationships, and as such will not have children. You cannot just pay them to have a child and then leave them in the wind. That very kind of instability disincentivizes having children. You either commit to incentivize or economic revitalization so that people have both economic hope AND believe that the future is something they will want their children to live in, or you embrace cultural death. There are mathematics formula that we have that deal with these subjects. We know what is coming, they know, their government knows. So far they have utterly failed at the task, because of what you mention in the video. They may not even have the ability to fix the problem before it becomes terminal, though some analysts already believe it has turned terminal in trajectory. I hope they can find a way, as a people, to save themselves.

[@mulamulelilumadi4717]

Interesting, other countries with less rigid political structures have similar issues as it concerns demographics. Atleast the Japanese don't have the income inequality and homelessness problem at a scale as great as other developed nations.

[@meatybtz]

@@mulamulelilumadi4717 Indeed, it is a very complex problem. The issue in Japan with it's rigidity is only about said rigidity's impact on the nation's ability to address the issue itself. It is not a cause, only more of a roadblock to full implementation of solutions when discovered. However, there are documented solutions, but they are not "good" solutions when one looks at the social cost/GDP impact/outcome of said increases in specific demographic in developed nations with much higher rates of reproduction. This is a HUGE problem, one with many, many, facets and causes. It is one where there is no "one solution" because it's a problem both of vast scale and vast, intricate, causes. An economic solution will not impact the portion of decreased rates of reproduction in regard to physical problems, such as in certain demographics in Europe and the USA where said demographic has significantly reduced physical capacity for reproduction (documented medical fact). So an economic solution won't net the results in that specific case as that portion of degradation must be addressed in and of itself with a physical/medical solution. The scale of it is daunting, but as with how one moves a mountain, you do it one piece at a time. It is a problem though that is hampered by a lot of social and political.. entanglements. But it is a real problem and one that does not care about your feelings or political goals. Those peoples who do not recover from it, will die out over time. It's how nature works and nature cares nothing for the various vices and vicissitudes of mankind.

[@Hideyoshi1991]

the problem is so much worse in Japan because there's virtually no immigration, but birthrates are declining everywhere so that "solution" isn't really one at all. It'll likely be a while before the world's population stabilizes and countries figure out how to deal with that.

[@Dasistrite]

​@@Hideyoshi1991 There is only on way to fix that. Make the native population reproduce by propaganda, tax write offs etc. Make the culture to favour families with lots of children.

[@jonakason4451]

Falling birthrates is something happening globally and so far no country seems to have broken the code on how to solve it. South Korea has allegedly used 250 billion $ on measures to stop or turn this development but is today the country with the lowest birthrate in the world and still falling.

[@poop-for-brains]

The idea that Japan is a democratic society really starts falling to pieces when you look into figures like Kodama Yoshio and among LDP founders like Kishi. Democracy is more than putting a piece of paper in a box.

[@uruselessKYS]

"Democracy" is a scam to distract minimum wage bums

[@davidnorth3411]

2:45 The details of workers to unionize and self advocate may give you why Japanese auto industry is strong on quality in engineering . Your workers are at their best when they get to build a life with vested interest. Ever positive produces a positive .

[@TomTreutlein]

Thank you for making this video. Lots of information that explains why things are as they are.

[@biggestfanof300]

Referring to Japan as the "country that started a war that killed 30 million people" is grossly and majorly historically inaccurate. That war was started in Europe, and was quite frankly a result of the French treaty from the first world War that completely destroyed the lives and economy of Germany up to the beginning of the war in which Germany chose to violate the treaty. While Pearl Harbor was the first major strike against the Allies Japan made, it was already halfway through the war. Similar to what Hitler did in Eastern Europe against the Russians - they attacked what was essentially a neutral faction hoping to quickly cripple them to prevent the potential future conflicts. Both actions ended up backfiring and being a large factor into the downfall of each faction. Saying Japan started the war, is like saying America won the war.

[@einundsiebenziger5488]

After having occupied Manchuria in the 1920s, Japan attacked China in 1932 which sort of marks the beginning of WW2 in Asia. The war this video is talking about is not all of WW2 with almost 60 million victims in total, but its East Asian theater which was indeed started by Japan.

[@contentsdiffer5958]

Historical illiteracy. WW2 absolutely begins with Japan's attacks on China, as well as the sanctions that followed. Russia wasn't a neutral party either. They were effectively an ally of Germany.

[@desanipt]

Go home, Ami, Ami, go home

[@cerisskies]

That line near the beginning saying that Japan started the conflict is a bit of an over-simplifacation. Japan had started a war against China, and the West was scared and put an embargo on oil and ore for Japan. This didn't only threaten the Japanese military, but Japan functioning as a nation.

[@mrsupremegascon]

They started the conflict by invading China

[@Kunfucious577]

Very cool video. I always appreciate when I learn something I didn’t even know I should know about.

[@kingace6186]

Very well-research. I learn a lot from this. My only criticism with this video is a flaw in its conclusion, 23:30. That is not the Left-Right political spectrum (the X-axis) of a political compass. That is the Up-Down political spectrum (the Y axis) to measure civil order. The Up half represents authority based politics, and the Down half represents individual based politics. The examples this video used were two political extremes: Authoritarianism ("far-up" lol) and Libertarianism ("far-down" lol). It's important not to confuse the two axes. Because the Left-Right spectrum is meant to measure priority: egalitarian values vs hierarchical values. The Japanese LDP under Kishi was authoritarian AND militaristic. The JSP under Asanuma was constitutionalist AND revolutionary socialists. Two complex extremes. So it is not possible to accurately lump them in basic spectrum. You have to use a political compass. +The LDP under Ikeda was transformed to constitutional liberalism, a moderate solution. At least, that's how I gauge it.

[@allanchon1361]

I was bugged by this too. It felt like details were being left out and patted the back of liberal democracy too much. I enjoyed most of the vid, but a little more nuance could've been implemented at the end

[@khookeyi6709]

Well done

[@tnekkc]

My red haired wife grew up in 60's Japan attending Japanese schools. When Peter Paul and Mary were in Japan, my wife was the baby sitter for Mary's daughter. When I was in japan in 1982, Japanese were short. Then in 2000, they were tall.

[@HR-td8iw]

Spectacles, Nexpo, fern, lemmino and Imperial are creating pieces of art for us to watch for free. The level of content is unrivalled by standard tv from those 5 and many more. A collab of those 5 would be an insaneeeeee series/video

[@spectacles-dm]

Hoog helped the channel in the early days in a big way. Imperial is a friend. Would love to get acquainted with the others. Any collab would be great fun. Honored to be compared to them :)

[@HR-td8iw]

⁠@@spectacles-dm how could I forget Hoog! Truly you are a master at your choice of creation. Don’t know how it would be done but people like you should be given the funds to produce docuseries on Netflix/Amazon

[@TheMintyMelon]

Barely Sociable and Kento Bento cannot be ignored here…

[@F15ElectricEagle]

My college political science professor said in one of his lecture that sometimes the opposite of the extreme left is not the extreme right, and the opposite of the extreme right is not the extreme left. In both cases, sometimes the opposites of both extremes is the middle. This video about the history of Japan politics and society during the 1960s is a pretty good example.

[@user-po7iv4ni3o]

Damn straight. The spectrum is a circle not a line - we all belong together and united. Anyone or any government that seeks great control is 180° from us on that circle. We need everyone to understand this so we stop fighting each other over the stuff those power grabbers WANT us fighting over.

[@willumbermarchant5510]

We need to all fight against extremism by being open-minded and open handed. We must stop treating opposing political parties as an invading force.

[@nevermindmeijustinjectedaw9988]

18:16 omg i just shed a tear...this was beautiful! what a legend! i bow before you

[@TeethToothman]

This was an awesome video! Thanks for making it.

[@Tuckerslam]

>democratic omegalul

[@panwamave]

The objective of the US in Japan after the war wasn't to "rebuild Japan" or to "bring democracy", but to occupy an occupying power. Taking the power of the Japanese empire and expanding the US empire on top of it. The atomic bomb was the first act of the cold war, meant to keep the soviets out of the negotiations on how to rebuild the world after the war. Then the Korean war solidified the role the US and Japan were to take in the region. What today is happening in Taiwan is a continuation of this tactic and directly related to previous Japanese occupation in the region. We are presented with Japanese society in every media as an example of what capitalism can accomplish, big economic gains for the few but a deeply alienated population exploited beneath a vassal state for the US in the end.

[@I_Have_The_Most_Japanese_Music]

Another "This channel has no content" Russian or CCP government propaganda worker.

[@captainfreedom3649]

Well said, I hate how many of these TV-like YT channels have popped up in recent times, who shamelessly promote the official, compliant narrative of western democracy and rainbows. Instead of user created content, it feels like your watching 1000 different flavours of CNN. Totalitarian, corporate control over once free media.

[@filipberger2979]

I just found this chanel and Im in awe, astonishing work!

[@PeterHamiltonz]

Thank you for the video. A subject I wasn't knowledgeable in. Glad I found your channel.

[@yuyutubee8435]

Post-war Japan up until the late 1950s was destitute, riddled with black markets and illegally constructed buildings, and full of violent meth addicts. Incredible how it turned itself around.

[@Nakuke3]

Funny how it coincided with the zayonist occupation government leaving.

[@yuyutubee8435]

@@Nakuke3 The meth epidemic was the result/carryover of their alliance with the Germans during WW2, FYI. And as this very video summarizes, Japanese nationalists like Nobusuke Kishi were often the cause of the corruption and economic stagnation holding Japan back.

[@yuyutubee8435]

@@Nakuke3 The meth addicts were the result/carryover of their alliance with the Germans during WW2, FYI. And as this very video summarizes, Japanese nationalists like Nobusuke Kishi were often the cause of the corruption and economic stagnation holding Japan back.

[@HanyaAngulooke]

Nice video but that last bit randomly just saying that stability is negatively correlated with political possibility? What the fuck does that even mean? Are we saying that when there is low stability there is more likely another ideology takes place? Why couldn't this just be correlatation be caused by other factors? Why can't there be a lot of political possibility in a highly stable system? Basically just implying that the state has to silence other political parties for you to consider it stable? Such a large assumption just based off of nothing except correlation that you literally the next second prove evidence against it to quickly dunk on russia I guess. Maybe I missed a point but this all just seems like a vague ideological push towards general authoritarianism so it's more "peaceful" when uhh there's god knows whatever example to just say otherwise. It's nearly impossible to argue how "wide" the definition of a wide political possibility, like doesn't polarisation technically increase the possibility while in a stable society? For it to be wide how extreme are we talking? Absolute anarchy and authoritarian in the same system? I guess that might be unstable I'm not sure but that entirely depends on how much they can express themselves politically and how it's taken up by the system no? Nice video again but just the most random point at the end.

[@SignificantNumberOfBeavers]

I thought it was interesting until the thesis too. Autocracies aren't necessarily stable and democracies aren't necessarily unstable. Even his own example of Russia completely undermines this point. It is highly unstable yet entirely dominated by a single megalomaniac. Denmark is highly stable yet is one of the most democratic nations on Earth.

[@alphajackal6648]

@@SignificantNumberOfBeavers As an anarchist I also find the idea that representative democracies correlate with wide horizons also questionable.

[@aldousisme]

Yeah it didn't make sense in the end, like there were so much good points only to fall into a middling conclusion? How'd that happen?

[@dirckthedork-knight1201]

His claims about Russia are also inaccurate

[@eurybaric]

Very interesting topic, and really good vid mate subbed 🍻

[@buyungferdiansyah5309]

Great video ... Not many video makes me know someone new about Japan. Thank you so much...🙏

[@britfox7766]

Interesting history. I don't like the characterisation of Japan's approach as pragmatic and economically prosperous; today, Japan's economy is stagnant and the absence of democracy means people are stuck in a system that doesn't work without any clear out.

[@SeruraRenge11]

Actually COVID caused Japan to finally pull itself out of their 30-year deflation through forcing the government to spend money in ways that pumped more currency into the system. See, inflation is self-correcting because eventually prices reach a point where people are just unwilling to pay and thus prices have to be lowered in order to sell anything. Deflation however is self-perpetuating, because deflation creates the problem where prices are low, so people are uncertain and hold onto their money out of fear they'll have less down the line, which means things don't get bought, which lowers prices even more causing people to not buy, and when businesses can't sell anything then they can't afford as many workers which means less people with money and money they don't have to spend means things don't get bought which means businesses don't have money and I think you understand the circular problem here. Japan was trapped in that situation since 1991, they're finally escaping it now with some minor recessions along the way.

[@Workingatm]

"oligarchy" :( "oligarchy, Japan" :D

[@dirckthedork-knight1201]

All democracies end up like that do you seriously believe that democracy is the "will of the people "?

[@SeruraRenge11]

@@dirckthedork-knight1201 They are, generally. If politicians didn't have to care at all about what their constituents want, they wouldn't have to constantly fundraise for their reelection. People like to say "if voting didn't matter then they wouldn't let you do it", but the counterargument to that is "if voting didn't matter then they wouldn't expend such massive amounts of time and money gerrymandering"

[@Game_Hero]

the opposition is actually doing great now, they unite together and are getting more and more support. Japan is simply a society that values stability and keeping things the same (or "stable") for the sake of it, so voting a surefire choice or not caring (Especially the youth with the constant political nihilism by commentators online worstening the problem). It is a democracy, they elected the opposition party in the late 2000s, which got the worst PR possible in the horrible management of 2011 that is still stuck in people's minds these day, can you blame them for still feeling unsure and taking time to learn to trust other parties as well?

[@TheWanderingPlayer]

Why did you not include the knife attack on Kishi?

[@spectacles-dm]

We mistook the date of the attack! Should've made it in, but alas...

[@contentsdiffer5958]

@@spectacles-dm Why didn't you mention that the student trampled was also a hardline communist?

[@snoussiaymen5877]

Amazing work sir , great editing and story telling interesting subject 10\10

[@grungegod1991]

Great storytelling and amazing editing to back it up

[@MamaJayde]

Any desk sucks people only ever want me to download it to scam me. I skipped the ad. Thank you for the video.

[@clarenceonyekwere5428]

It's useful in a corporate setting for IT teams. I struggle to see it's use for individuals

[@VVayVVard]

7:19 He wasn't actually convicted (nor even suspected) of anything defined as a war crime under modern international law. Instead he was detained for engaging in war in general, which the Allies (many of whom were actual war criminals, especially on the Soviet and Chinese side) decided to brand as a "Class A war crime" in an attempt to demonize their adversaries. This is a major reason for why he was released---his actual conduct and decisions had not been deemed overly problematic.