Social Nationalism (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Social Nationalism is a term for the philosophical works by Japanese philosopher, Nagayama Yoshida (1871–1952), for his approach to history regarding the role of community and individual, formation of ideas, theory of state, and social dynamism. Taken its root from traditional-nationalist Japanese school of philosophy, kokugaku (國學), Social Nationalist philosophy rejecting the Marxist concept of class struggle and interpreting Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to explain the nature of national identity and social morality, while at the same time exploring the emotional development on the society throughout the history.

Background
The origin of Japanese social nationalist movement can be traced from the First Japanese Civil War from 1865 to 1867. Key personalities of Japanese social nationalism mainly were the descendants of the former ruling class of gakke that lost its prominence after Emperor Tōbu reformed the political system of Japan in 1871. Gakke is the class of Japanese scholars that dominated the imperial bureaucracy for about a half of century. Unlike the aristocratic class of kuge, gakke title were not conferred on a hereditary basis and instead through state-sponsored civil service exams based on the Confucian tradition. While the kuge's responsibility limited only for the religious and imperial rites, the gakke was running the country's bureaucracy and mainly responsible for developing the Japanese Confucian doctrines.

When Japan's influences over its neighbouring countries declined in the 17th century and it secluded itself from the foreign influences, the gakke started to against the Neo-Confucian theories that regarded as "Sino-centric" and "un-Japanese". Japanese ancient literature was re-studied by the gakke and the interactions between Japanese mythology and neo-Confucian rationalism and materialism created the intellectual form of Japanese folk religion, called kokugaku. Kokugaku contributed largely to the revival of Japanese mythology as a national creed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that would serves as the core of Japanese nationalist movement.

The conflict between gakke isolationism and the wealthy merchants from shōnin class came ahead in 1850s, which later culminated into the First Japanese Civil War. When the Western bureaucracy system was implemented by Emperor Tōbu in 1875, all members of aristocratic kuge and bureaucratic gakke was merged and formed new aristocratic class called kazoku (華族). Although the gakke formed a part of kazoku, many former gakke families lost their prestige within the society as Japanese political system was Westernized and the ancient institutions abolished during the reform. Followed by the land nationalization by the shōnin liberal government, most of gakke families was impoverished and instead fell into the rank of commoners or the heimin.

However, the political struggle between the shōnin and the gakke was transformed into an ideological one. Gakke isolationism then combined with the ideas of anti-modernism, national exceptionalism, and romantic nationalism. Initially, gakke ideology was identified as "ultra-reactionary conservativism" opposed to shōnin "conservative liberalism". However, it was never endorsed by any major Japanese political party during Tōbu era, although many gakke elites within kazoku circles did join or support Rikken Teiseitō, the main Japanese conservative party at that time.

More populist gakke ideology emerged in 1890s among low-born gakke descendants. Japanese defeat in the Spanish-Japanese War (1898-1901) resulted to the awakening of new Japanese nationalist movement. Many low-born descendants of gakke had served at the army and experienced a harsh war in the Philippines. As a consequence, that low-born descendants increasingly became more socialist in ideology. Among of that low-born gakke is Nagayama Yoshida who later wrote an article on Tokyo Asahi Shimbun in 1899. The article criticized the government's expansionist policy, the aristocratic-oligarchic ruling class, and parliamentarian system of government.

National Struggle
While not rejecting the Marxist concept of class struggle, Social Nationalism promoted instead a Social Darwinian concept of national struggle. The concept of national struggle was first proposed by Nagayama Yoshida on his article on Asahi Shimbun in 1899 entitled "Understanding the Concept of Nation".

- Nagayama Yoshida, "Understanding the Concept of Nation" (1899)
 * Life is a big survival for every living beings and the Nature only selecting the fittest among them. Humans are the supremest and most perfect among other living beings. Human's natural instinct is to race toward supremacy over another in its own race [...] By competing, violently or peacefully, each nation in the world contributed to the progress of world humanity, culminating the best civilization over another, subjugating the weaker ones and incorporating them into the winner's civilization.

According to Nagayama, the true struggle within the history of humanity is a struggle between the nations and civilizations where one nation must subjugate or conquer the other in order to survive. Both war and territorial conquest are seen as the simplest reincarnations of national struggle. In the condition where no war is present, the struggle will evolve into an economic one in the form of state capitalism. If the State ceasing to be the main economic actor, then its position will taken over by the few who owning capitals and lands. In this case, the national struggle will replaced by a class struggle between the capital owners and the working classes.

Kokumin
- Nagayama Yoshida, On the Russo-Japanese War (1905)
 * My loyalty is not to the glory of Japanese Empire, but to the welfare of Japanese kokumin.

Kokumin is the Japanese word for "nation", a Sino-Japanese loanword from Chinese guómín (國民, "citizenry"). The concept of Nation in Social Nationalism is believed to be bounded by the common place of living, common culture, and a willingness to live together instead by the common blood. The term Kokumin is different with the term minzoku as the latter referring to more biological concept that can be equated with English race and German Volk. In this sense, kokumin can be understood as a community of individuals who pledged itself to one state and one cultural idea.

Nagayama Yoshida himself does not entirely rejected the concept of "common blood". For example, Nagayama believed that the Japanese, the Philippine peoples, the Takasago aborigines, the Malays, the Vietnamese people and other Austronesian peoples are originated from a common ancestor. However, as the time progressing, each of those peoples developed different national identities, different languages of communication, and different civilizations as a result of different political events. Social Nationalism does not seek to unite that peoples of common blood and promoting instead the "nationalism of current" in the existing territorial entity.

People's State
- Nagayama Yoshida, On the Chinese Revolution (1912)
 * There will be no true kokumin without a minkoku (people's state).

The concept of People's State (minkoku) commonly misinterpreted as "republicanism" since the term minkoku can be translated as "republic" in Japanese and cognate with Chinese word minguó (民國) and Korean minguk (민국). This term can be found in the formal native name of Japan (ダイワミンコク "Daiwa Minkoku"), of China (大汉民国, "Dàhàn Mínguó"), and of Korea (고려민국, "Goryeo Minguk"). However, the Social Nationalist concept of People's State is not equal with the Western concept of Republic as a People's State does not necessarily to have a republican form of government.

The theory of People's State is derived from the Fabianist ideology of Society for the Study of Socialism who Nagayama Yoshida joined in 1894. According to this concept, the State is obliged to protect the people's welfare and well-beings and, in reverse, the people must pledging their loyalty to the State. The class struggle viewed resulting from the failure of the State to protect its people's livelihood. In this sense, the People's State is can be said as a "socialism from above".

As a political philosophy
Political consolidation following the establishment of the Republic in 1920 led the ideological struggle between each political parties in Japan. Alerted by this situation, the propaganda chief of the Nationalist Party, Hotori Etsu, realized the party needed some fundamental basics in order to justify their supreme role in the politics of Japan.

On his speech before the 1921 Party Congress, Hotori declared the "ideas and works of President Nagayama Yoshida" as the party's official ideology and was approved by all of the delegates. The Party Department of Ideology and Political Science was established on May 7, 1921. With his dual controls on both Propaganda Department and Ideology Department, Hotori established himself as the party's main ideologist.

In 1922, the Ideology Department published the "Kokumin no Michi" (國民之道), literally means the "Path of Nation", the selected quotations from Nagayama Yoshida's works in order to justify the rule of the Republic and the Nationalist Party. This book was distributed to and must memorized by all members of the Nationalist Party. The Ideology Department regulated a duty to memorize and recite the first line of Kokumin no Michi for every government and military officers in any Party-related meetings and military marches.

Originally named as the "Nagayama Yoshida's Political Theory" (永山吉田の政治理論 Nagayama Yoshida no Seiji Riron), "Social Nationalism" name was officially given during the 1930 Party Congress and included into the Party Constitution to distinguish the ideology both from Fascism and mainstream Socialism.

Nationalism
Like Fascism, nationalism is the main foundation of Social Nationalism. Social Nationalist view on nationalism almost resemble Fascism and Integralism after all where the nation viewed as an organic entity of the people with same ancestry and must be placed over all else. Social Nationalism also emphasized and encouraged the unity and strength of the nation and sought for the purity of the national culture and identity. Adopting the concept of "national struggle", Social Nationalism also some time emphasized a "positive national superiority" of one nation over another nations through the international trades and the development on science and technology, instead through the wars or arms development, to achieve more progressive and civilized humanity.

Democracy
Unlike Fascism, Social Nationalism rejects the concept of totalitarian state and instead more leaning toward the left Populism which acknowledges the role of individual citizen within the society. Social Nationalism, while at the same time acknowledges the role of the individual citizen, also rejects the direct participation of the citizens for matter of the State. Social Nationalism denounces parliamentarian democracy as "a confusing, chaotic system" and instead promotes a "healthy, constructive democracy" that preserves social unity and harmony where the sole, vanguard Party acted as its guardian.

On economy
While viewing the competition as a natural instinct of human being, Social Nationalism denounces the liberalism of laissez-faire capitalism. Liberal capitalism believed can fracturing the unity of the nation through an economic competition between the citizens that can lead to the class struggle. The State must eliminated the capitalism and the class struggle altogether within a nation in order to secure national solidarity. A state-controlled economy is viewed more socialist and more acceptable to the nation, bearing the "Social" word on the name of ideology.

On religion
Social Nationalism has varied views regarding the religion. Japan, Korea, and Cambodia, for examples, employing the national mythologies on their official propaganda works, such as the personification of Japan as Amaterasu or the cult of personality of Norodom Sihanouk in Cambodia as the “people’s Boddhisatva.” However, there are significant movements within Social Nationalism that held a hostile view regarding religion. While most of them favoring a secular state modeled after the Kemalist Turkey, some of them are even militantly atheistic. Leading figures of Social Nationalism are known as either agnostic, such as Nagayama Yoshida and Fu Shanxun, or even atheist as Hotori Etsu.