Course Description

This course aims to review issues on the independence of the Supreme Command of the military forces of Imperial Japan. It directly belonged to the Emperor and was independent from the Cabinet under the Meiji Constitution. This course mainly examines the realties of the Supreme Command and review the stringency of the prevailing orthodoxy that the system of the independence of the Supreme Command was the hamper for the Cabinet to control the military forces and enabled political interventions from the military forces. Participants are expected to obtain basic understandings of major issues on the independence of the Supreme Command and think about their implications for contemporary matters.