The adversity and upheaval of the 1990s has led some pundits, intellectuals, cartoonists and leaders to seek solace and inspiration in a nostalgic nationalism. Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's recent comments are not really that unusual in the context of the LDP's intellectual history and ideological inclinations as elucidated in Yoshibumi Wakamiya's fine study, reviewed in these pages on March 28, "The Postwar Conservative View of Japan."
It is telling that Mori's predecessor, Keizo Obuchi, spent considerable time and energy passing legislation giving legal status to the national flag and anthem, a curious priority given the pressing need to deal with an array of urgent socioeconomic problems. The conscious manipulation of these symbols of national unity and wistful references to a glorious past, when the nation was centered on the Emperor and the people embraced proper morals based on the Imperial Rescript on Education (1890), are both revealing and banal.
A miserable present often leads people of all nations to hearken back to a golden age and to seek answers in the presumed values, traditions and practices of that reified past. However, it is odd that Mori has chosen the 1890-1945 era for his inspiration and emphasizes the importance of inculcating the morals and ethics of that time in today's youngsters.