Capital-Nation-State: a Genealogy of Yasukuni Shrine
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Capital-Nation-State: A Genealogy of Yasukuni Shrine by Joshua P. Baxter A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy Department of East Asian Studies University of Toronto © Copyright by Joshua P. Baxter November 2016 Capital-Nation-State: A Genealogy of Yasukuni Shrine Joshua P. Baxter Doctorate of Philosophy Department of East Asian Studies University of Toronto November 2016 Abstract Japan’s militaristic past continues to haunt the present and often at the center of these debates is the site that commemorates the war dead, Yasukuni Shrine. This dissertation seeks to address the political economy of the shrine and argues that this issue cannot be transcended if the history of the development of capitalism in Japan continues to be bracketed off in favor of narrating the shrine strictly through the discourse of the nation and the state. This claim derives from the observation that Yasukuni Shrine and the development of capitalism in Japan emerge at the same historical moment and thus they must also share an underlying logic. By adding capital to the equation, it becomes evident that the shrine is at the nexus of the operation of Capital- Nation-State and thus played a role in producing the very idea of modern Japan. Using a variety of primary sources, from state documents to personal diaries and newspaper reports, the archival research reveals how the shrine, as a state institution, was shaped by economic interactions just as much as it was by state ideology. In each chapter a different aspect of how the history of capitalism intersects with the space of the shrine is examined through the themes of everyday life, commodity exchange, urban planning, and universal conscription. Key to all of these themes is the relation of political economy to space. Whether it was facilitating commodity exchange on the shrine grounds or making land transactions, ii Yasukuni Shrine was an active agent in shaping not only the immediate space around it, but also in forming a national space. By examining the political economy of Yasukuni, it becomes evident that the shrine played an important role in propagating various types of exchanges (whether economic, religious or political) that were essential to forming this space. Thus, the results of this project show that Yasukuni was more than just a state institution that fostered the creation of national subjects; it was a space that brought together the three social forms, Capital- Nation-State, which characterizes and dominates our current socio-political landscape. iii Acknowledgments This project would not have been completed without the support and encouragement that I received from many people. First I would like to thank my supervisor, Ken Kawashima, who introduced me to political economy and taught me how to think critically as a historian. Without his direction and insights into Japanese history this project would not have taken the form it did. To Eric Cazdyn I owe a certain intellectual rigour that has inspired not only my own academic research but also my approach to politics and life. Through his writing and teaching I learned the importance of engaging the ‘impossible’ by pushing the limits and boundaries of thought; and to do so with a passion. To my other committee members, Yiching Wu, Kanishka Goonewardena and Katsuya Hirano, I express my gratitude for your insightful comments and for your generosity in seeing the potential for where this project might lead. I want to acknowledge the professors who influenced and encouraged me during my graduate career at the University of Toronto either through courses or through intellectual conversations: Rick Guisso, Tom Kierstead, Ikuko Komuro-Lee, Tong Lam, Ruth Marshall, Yue Meng, Janet Poole, Fabiano Rocha, Graham Sanders, Andre Schmid, and Lisa Yoneyama. During this time I also learned a lot through academic discussions as well as life lessons from many graduate students to whom I am thankful I was able to share time with—Martin Bastarache, Olga Fedorenko, Christina Han, Na Sil Heo, Jeremy Hurdis, Young Oh Jung, Banu Kaygusuz, Sunho Ko, Derek Kramer, Minna Lee, Mark McConaghy, Edwin Michielson, James Poborsa, Baryon Tensor Posadas, Alex Schweinsberg, Kristin Sivak, Joelle Tapas, Michael Tseng, Jing Wang, and Yuanfang Zhang. While in Japan I received lots of support, encouragement, home-cooked meals and occasionally a place to sleep from many friends. Specifically I would like to thank Steven Bohme, Brian Durrant, Shinobu and Takeki Hirai, Andrew Innes, Nana Ishida, Jeff Liu, and Stuart Metcalf. I want to thank the extended Teshigahara family (Susumu, Kikuyo, Mitsuya, Fusako, Kazuto, Sōta, Shū, Hisashi, Misato, Sara, Kaede, Mayumi and Yuzu) for their continuous support and for welcoming me into their family. I should also thank Matsumoto Takenori at the University of Tokyo for taking me in as a research student and the members of his Nōgyōshi seminar (in iv particular Tanai Hitoshi and Kohama Takeshi) for their intellectual support and interest in my research. Katō Yōkō was gracious enough to allow me to attend her graduate seminar despite my limited knowledge on the topic. Finally, I’d like to thank my family for their support and encouragement throughout my academic studies. Funding for this project was generously given by the Japan Foundation Doctoral Fellowship, the Dr. David Chu Scholarship in Asia Pacific Studies and the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies. v Notes For Japanese names I have followed the convention of placing family names first, except in cases where the Japanese author publishes outside of Japan and in languages other than Japanese. All translations of Japanese texts, unless otherwise noted, are my own. Up until December 31, 1872, all dates are in accordance with the lunar calendar. vi Table of Contents Contents Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... iv Notes .............................................................................................................................................. vi Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................x Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 From Kyoto to Tokyo: The Production of Space and the Everyday .............................24 1.1 The Everyday and the Production of Space .......................................................................30 1.2 From Kyoto to Tokyo as Spatial Practice ..........................................................................34 1.3 From Kyoto to Tokyo as Representations of Space...........................................................45 1.4 Spaces of Representation and Everyday Life at the Shrine ...............................................59 Chapter 2 Festival, Exchange, and the Political Economy of Yasukuni Shrine ............................74 2.1 From the Kaichō to the Annual Grand Festivals (Reitaisai)..............................................80 2.2 Tokyo’s Acropolis .............................................................................................................90 2.3 Nagano Uheiji’s Yasukuni .................................................................................................94 2.4 Fusing Capital-Nation-State.............................................................................................100 2.4.1 Mode of Exchange A: The Nation .......................................................................101 2.4.2 Mode of Exchange B: The State ..........................................................................105 2.4.3 Mode of Exchange C: Capital ..............................................................................109 Chapter 3 Grounding Yasukuni ...................................................................................................119 3.1 Transferring the Capital (Sento) Debate ..........................................................................124 3.2 The Samurai Estate Issue (Bukechi Shori Mondai) .........................................................129 vii 3.3 The Space of Kudan Hill..................................................................................................132 3.4 Land Tax Reform of 1873................................................................................................135 3.5 The Land Reforms and Tokyo .........................................................................................140 3.6 Making Landowners into Capitalists ...............................................................................142 3.7 Yasukuni Shrine and Finance Capital ..............................................................................151 3.8 Urban Planning and Fictitious Capital .............................................................................156 Chapter 4 Soldiers, Surplus Populations and the Nation .............................................................175 4.1 E. H. Norman and the Figure of the Peasant Soldier .......................................................182