16. Consolidation of the various nationalist groups
By the late 1930s, there were over 100 nationalist and ultranationalist groups in Japan and Prime Minister Kanoe moved to consolidate them in 1937. His purpose was to ensure that the policies of Japanese nationalism were to be heard through one voice, and that voice was to be the government’s, by then firmly under the control of the Japanese military. The National Spiritual Mobilization Movement consolidated over 90 separate movements, placing them under the control of the cabinet departments of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The new organization was headed by Admiral Ryokitsu Arima.
Individual newsletters by the member organizations were supplanted by those promulgated by the government. Two magazines were published weekly, one based on photographs for those unable to read sufficiently to understand the printed messages. The consolidation of the groups was intended to generate public support and commitment to the war against China. Radio broadcasts, public lectures, and other organized activities, often presented by celebrities, delivered the militaristic propaganda of the government to the citizens of Japan, replacing any dissenting views. The Japanese were exhorted to sacrifice for the benefit of the war effort, and heard only of the successes of the Japanese forces.
