Were there anti-war groups in Japan during WWII?

Question

Were there anti-war groups in Japan during WWII?

Answer 1

No.Japan had the dreaded Kempeitai and Tokko.These agencies were referred to as the thought police and were very effective at destroying any opposition inside Japan to the government's policies.

Answer 2

At the time Japan had an emperor (and still does). The emperor did not object to his parliament deciding to go to war. Many of his subjects still believed at the time that the emperor was a half-deity.Therefore there was no opposition to his will

One of the conditions the Japanese asked for in their surrender was that the allies allowed their emperor to remain in power. The allies allowed this, but on the condition that he reveal to his people he was a mortal man.

Answer 3

The people of Japan were 100% loyal to the Emperor. What he said was golden. They saw the Emperor as a descendant of God, thus he was infallible. If there were any opposition to him, it would be squashed very, very quickly.

Answer 4

All dissidents had been carefully and very thoroughly weeded out from the early 30s onwards. The "thought police" targeted communists, pacifists (even monks and priests) journalists, politicians and intellectuals to start with-anyone who didn't follow the "yamato" policy. The general public were pretty much cowed into line.

The effect of a godhead as your ruler and the all important need to be part of the group and to do things the right way (tadashi) meant no anti war groups survived the mid thirties.

There was no equivalent of the "White Roses" in Japan.

Don't forget, in the democracies, civil liberties were greatly curtailed also, with hundreds of thousands of people arrested for their politics or even just because of their race! Jehovah's Witnesses and the Society of Friends (Quakers), for example, had it tough no matter what country they were in!

Answer 5

if there were, they were in jail, or in graves

Most countries (except the US and some "western" nations) treat opposition to one's own country to be an act of treason- and treat those who commit it accordingly

This counts double in time of war- quite regardless of the question of "defensive", "offensive", "justified" or not. In time of war -especially in time of war- this is irrelevant.