Shinmin no Michi
The was an ideological manifesto issued by the Ministry of Education of Japan during World War II aimed at Japan's domestic audience to explain in clear terms what was expected of them "as a people, nation and race". Origins During the summer of 1941, Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe ordered the Minister of Education of Japan to compose a "Bible of the Japanese People", under the title of Shinmin no michi, which was also sometimes called Hito-do (Subject's Way), or Shinja-do (The Way of the Follower). The first edition of 30,000 was issued in August 1941 and distributed to all schools in Japan. The Shinmin no michi offered three chapters which required only a few minutes of reading, explaining how subjects of the Emperor were to behave. It also presented a brief overview of world history from the Japanese viewpoint in the first third of the first chapter. Themes One of the main theme of the book dwelled on the direct descent of Emperor Shōwa from the goddess Amaterasu and the religious characterization of the Kokutai which was identified as a "theocracy" in which "The way of subjects of the Emperor issues from polity of the Emperor, and is to guard and maintain the Imperial Throne coexistent with the Heavens and the Earth." Emperor Shōwa and his war (seisen) were described as "holy". The virtues he embodied were unique and immutable. "The Imperial Family is the fountain source of Japanese nation, and national and private life issue from this. The way of the subject is to be loyal to the Emperor in disregard of self, thereby supporting the Imperial Throne coexistensive with the Heavens and the Earth." Filial piety and loyalty were the supreme virtues of the subjects of the imperial state and the book denounced the "individualism", liberalism, utilitarianism and materialism that imperiled those virtues. "the country was contaminated by perverted thinking and our sacred duty is to clean this and to return to the virtuous customs of our ancestors. It is by working with harmony and cooperation and making manifest our national dignity that the Heavenly Spirits of our Ancestors should be obeyed in a dutiful manner, which, by working in harmony with others, is for the greater glory of the Throne". The Shinmin no michi also argued that the Allied powers had bent on world domination for centuries, and had been quite successful as evidenced by the fact that only a few thousand Europeans now ruled over 450 million Asians. The western values system, based on greed and self-indulgence, was seen as to blame for countless bloody wars of aggression, and for the current world economic crisis. America was singled out for special criticism, with mention made of black slavery and the mistreatment of minorities and immigrants. "the entry of Western countries in all parts of whole world, including the Far East, has given them international domination, and also led them to believe that they themselves possess the right to commit injurious acts against others". Regarding the "holy"