Paper short abstract:

Much scholarship examines postwar Japan in post-colonial and Cold War contexts but the aftermath of fascism has faded from view. Many Japanese responded by creating institutions such as the Kamakura Akademia, which engaged in reparative efforts now characterized as mitigating PTSD.

Paper long abstract:

Much excellent scholarship examines postwar Japan in its post-colonial and Cold War contexts but the context that most riveted Japanese themselves has faded from view: the aftermath of fascism, or "post-fascism." After the war many thoughtful Japanese continued to take fascism's popularity seriously because it had addressed real problems. Fascist movements' core constituencies everywhere are young men in higher-educational, military, and—especially-- para-military organizations, including veterans' associations. (Michael Mann, Fascists, 2004 p.24) Japanese who feared the return of fascism after 1945 not only articulated new strategies to create a sense of belonging along different lines—replacing fascism's key social function--- but also established new non-violent institutions to reintegrate young people, particularly young men, often through secondary or tertiary education.

One such group created the Kamakura Akademia, which taught about 500 students from 1946 to 1951. The school engaged in the reparative efforts we characterize today as mitigating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a responsibility Japanese owed to others, not just themselves. As their first postwar acts, such noted intellectuals as Saigusa Hiroto, Takami Jun, Hayashi Tatsuo, and Murayama Tomoyoshi provided an education grounded in both "global culture" and the resources of "eastern Japan's cultural city Kamakura" to counterbalance nationalism.

The relatively low level of violence in postwar Japan and the speed with which people—including three million veterans of an ugly protracted conflict--found pathways out of the wartime system remain impressive, particularly when we consider the aftermaths of other recent wars. This was due in no small part to the concerted efforts of many people to create new institutions that shaped and encouraged future behavior, including shortlived ones, such as the Kamakura Akademia.