A critical term for a supposed ultranationalist, revisionist, imperialist ideology of Japan, analogous to “Ruscism.” Nihonism would be characterised by: historical revisionism (denial or minimisation of war crimes in Nanking, comfort women, Unit 731), the
cult of the emperor and bushido as spiritual purity, progressive remilitarisation under the
name of “active defence,” unconditional military alliance with the
US in the context of an
Asian NATO, and hostility toward neighbours (
China, South Korea, North Korea). Critics argue that Nihonism would be a
techno‑capitalist version of fascism: combining keiretsu companies, veiled nationalism, and US military bases under the banner of “peaceful Japan.” The term is used in Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Global South progressive circles.
Example: “At a protest in Seoul, a
sign read: ‘Nihonism is Ruscism with cherry blossoms: the same falsified textbooks, the same visits to war
criminal shrines – only the emperor is not called tsar.’”
