Development
As soon as October 1940, the Imperial Rule Assistance Association systemized and formalized the Tonarigumi, a nationwide system of neighborhood associations. The November 6, 1940 issue of Shashin Shūhō (Photographic Weekly Report) explained the purpose of this infrastructure:
The Taisei Yokusankai movement has already turned on the switch for rebuilding a new Japan and completing a new Great East Asian order which, writ large, is the construction of a new world order. The Taisei Yokusankai is, broadly speaking, the New Order movement which will, in a word, place One Hundred Million into one body under this new organisation that will conduct all of our energies and abilities for the sake of the nation. Aren't we all mentally prepared to be members of this new organization and, as one adult to another, without holding our superiors in awe or being preoccupied with the past, cast aside all private concerns in order to perform public service ? Under the Taisei Yokusankai are regional town, village, and tonarigumi, let's convene council meetings and advance the activities of this organization.
In February 1942, all women’s associations were merged into the Greater Japan Women's Association which joined the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in May. Every adult woman in Japan, excepting the under twenty and unmarried, was forced to join the Association.
Likewise, in June, all youth organizations were merged into the Greater Japan Imperial Rule Assistance Youth Corps (翼賛青年団?), based on the model of the German Sturmabteilung (stormtroopers).
In March 1942, Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō attempted to eliminate the influence of elected politicians by establishing an officially-sponsored election nomination commission, which restricted non-government sanctioned candidates from the ballot. After the 1942 Japanese General Election, all members of Diet were required to join the Yokusan Seijikai (Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association), which effectively made Japan a single-party state. However, as the old political leadership within the Diet retained their seats and influence, Japan never evolved completely into totalitarianism. The Imperial Rule Assistance Association was formally dissolved on June 13, 1945.
During the occupation of Japan, the American authorities purged thousands of government leaders from public life for having been members of the Association.
Read more about this topic: Taisei Yokusankai
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