Hello and welcome to the history of Japan podcast, episode 608, The Final Frontier, Part 4.

Japan in the 1920s is a bit of a hard place to wrap your head around, even with the benefit

of hindsight.

The main story of 1920s Japan, so to speak, is the glory days of the so-called Taisho democracy.

This was the slightly over a decade-long interlude,

where Japan's political and social system

genuinely seemed to be transitioning in a more democratic direction.

After the 1918 Rice riots led to compromises

with Japan's political parties,

most notably the powerful Sayyukai party,

to bring the unrest under control, the new political order that resulted was much more democratic

than what the framers of Japan's imperial system had intended.

Prime ministers were now selected from the strongest political parties, no longer just appointed

by the emperor.

The vote was expanded, culminating in a 1925 law granting universal male suffrage.

The cause of women's suffrage even made great strides, though ultimately the bill to

extend nationwide voting rights to all women above the age of 20 was blocked by the

unelected House of Peers. Liberal-minded politicians pushed Japan towards supporting the new

liberal international order represented by the League of Nations. They signed Japan up for arms

limitation treaties intended to place limits on the arms races that had

contributed to World War I, and even made Japan a signatory to the highly idealistic

Kellogg-Briand pact that attempted to outlaw aggressive warfare for good.

...