Did Fascist Japan have political units?

Discussions on all aspects of the Japanese Empire, from the capture of Taiwan until the end of the Second World War.
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Mehmet Fatih
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Did Fascist Japan have political units?

#1

Post by Mehmet Fatih » 20 Jun 2005, 15:14

Well,National Socialist Germany had the SS,Fascist Italy had the Black Shirts,what did the Fascist Japan have?
If they had that kind of units what was their role in the country?Was it similar to the role of the SS?Did they commit any crimes?
Thanks for the advance.
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Fatih

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waldorf
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#2

Post by waldorf » 21 Jun 2005, 23:45

From what I understand the Kempetai would fit the bill for what you are looking for.


Goldfish
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#3

Post by Goldfish » 22 Jun 2005, 03:15

Japan was not a "fascist" nation in political terms and so there are no direct equivalents to political organizations like the Nazi party, SS, or Black Shirts. There were patriotic societies that wielded a lot of power and influence, but the main organs of state control were the Army, Navy and Police.

The Army Military Police (Kempei tai) and its lesser known Navy equivalent (Hei Tai) performed many of the functions of the SS in Germany, such as running camps for POWs and political dissidents. They also rooted out dissidents in society like the Gestapo. They were also responsible for intelligence.

However, despite outward similarities, they were never as seperate or as "elite" within the military as the SS or Gestapo. There was no specific "party" or organization that controlled Japan in those days, and so there was no specific "party" army or police as existed in Germany or Italy.

I guess that the main equivalent to the Nazi Party would be the Imperial Army, but, although there were elites within the Army (like the Imperial Guards and the Kwangtung Army) and factions (like the Cherry Blossom Society), there was no direct equivalent to the SS or Black Shirts within the IJA.

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Mehmet Fatih
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#4

Post by Mehmet Fatih » 24 Jun 2005, 09:03

Thank you for the info.

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Fatih

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ghost1275
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Re: Did Fascist Japan have political units?

#5

Post by ghost1275 » 26 Jan 2021, 19:59

Japan had a dedicated political police organization known as Tokubetsu Koto Keisatsu (特別高等警察, or Special Higher Police in English), abbreviated as Tokko (特高). It was a special branch of the regular police forces under the supervision of Ministry of Interior's Police Bureau (内務省警保局) and every major police agencies throughout Japan at the time had its own Tokko, the largest one belongs to Keishicho (警視庁, or Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department). Tokko's modus operandi mostly resembles OVRA during Fascist Italy era, with main focus on anti-communism and counter subversion. You can call it the Japanese equivalent of Gestapo.
Kenpeitai (憲兵隊, Military Police Corps) and its smaller counterpart in IJN the Tokkeitai (特警隊, Special Police Corps) were military police. Kenpeitai also took the role of Gendarmerie as it had some jurisdiction of policing civilian population especially in occupied territories. Both organizations were assigned with limited counter intelligence duty but in no way they were comparable to Nazi SS. Kenpeitai was more in line with Wehrmacht's Feldgendarmerie and Geheime Feldpolizei combined.
As for Japanese militarism, it was the IJA who dominated the government and politics throughout war, the navy on the other hand played a much smaller role. However, being a island nation Japan's strategic outlook gave the navy higher priority when came to budget and modernization. IJN was first rate when IJA lag behind its peers.

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