ABSTRACT
ANDREW LEVIDIS
The War Is Not Over: Kishi Nobusuke and the National Defense Brotherhood, 1944–45
Were military commanders and radical young officers the only opponents of surrender in 1945? What of their civilian collaborators? Focusing on the “continue the war” faction, this essay highlights Kishi Nobusuke’s leadership of the National Defense Brotherhood, a radical civilian association formed of Imperial Diet members who openly opposed efforts by the Japanese government to end the war. The history of the civilian opponents of surrender, and their ferocious commitment to the New Order for East Asia, opens up a range of reflections on the militarization and radicalization of Japanese political culture in the total war era of the 1940s.
Volume 49, Number 1 (Winter 2023)
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