Franck Michelin, Kôgun. History of the Japanese Army, 1853-1948, Passés Composés, 03/09/2026, 608 pages, €27
On July 23, 1853, in the harbor of what would become Tokyo, locals glimpse offshore ships unlike any they had ever seen, both in their size and in their black hue. Alarmed, the lords of the region move toward the shore, donned in shining armor and with swords at their waists, seemingly unafraid by this striking sight. They do not yet know it, but their world is about to crumble.
Franck Michelin, a professor at the prestigious Teikyō University of Tokyo and a research associate at the Sorbonne, is already the author of a remarkable work, published in both French and Japanese. With Kôgun, he delivers an indispensable reference work on the Japanese army.
The Black Ships of Commodore Perry
Japan had lived in isolation for 250 years. During the Edo period, a strictly codified society, kept in place by a dynasty of shoguns, guided the Japanese civilization to its most refined peak. Under an unforgiving code of honor, the samurai trained with their katana in the courtyards of their domains. Elite soldiers, they did not form an army: the land of the Rising Sun possessed none.
In 1853, Commodore Perry, a United States Navy officer, is given by his government the mission to end Japan’s isolation and to compel the islanders to sign commercial treaties. Heavily armed, his ships also carry a substantial contingent of seasoned troops. In a tense exchange, the officer states, under a barely veiled threat, that he will return a year later with more troops to witness the signing of an agreement.
Shogun Tokugawa understands that his samurai cannot compete with modern weapons. He dispatches loyalists to the West and seeks help from the French and the British to counter American demands. While the first advisers reach the shores of the archipelago, the Americans come back with force and impose unequal treaties. The Japanese will carry a deep resentment for this, which will culminate at Pearl Harbor.
Long Live the Emperor!
“Ten thousand years for the Emperor.” With the cry of this slogan, the opponents of the shogunate, determined to restore imperial authority, unleash a civil war in which they emerge victorious. They then undertake to create a modern army. Relying on astute counsel, they shape an elite corps, named Kôgun.
It remains to set a direction. The most bellicose political leaders quickly take charge. Gradually the idea emerges that Japan must exercise undisputed dominance over the region. China becomes the primary victim. Weakened by Western incursions that have imposed a permanent foreign presence, it appears as a vulnerable prey. Eager to claim their share of the spoils, the Japanese strike at a Middle Kingdom in disarray.
Severely beaten, the Chinese find themselves gradually deprived of large territories for the benefit of the Nipponese. International concessions, previously made up of Western contingents, must now reckon with a massive arrival of forces from the Sun, as well as enterprising merchants and deft diplomats.
The 55 Days of Beijing
Humiliated by the incessant demands of foreigners, some Chinese, calling themselves the “Boxers,” rise up in revolt. Assassinations, massacres, and numerous outrages precede the frontal assault on Beijing’s international concessions. The besieged, though outnumbered, hold out for 55 days against a fanatical foe. The members of the Kôgun, whose ranks are the largest, display heroic courage. The Japanese government deploys 35,000 men to back the other nations as they move toward the capital. It is essential for the Nipponese to be the first to reach Beijing to show the world whom they might confront in case of conflict. During this period, Japanese spies study the tactical methods of their allies with the evident aim of one day drawing inspiration from them. That day will soon come.
Port Arthur
Since seizing Chinese territories, notably Manchuria, and occupying Korea, the Russians have grown anxious about their regional dominance. The Japanese military, aided by crafty ambassadors, provokes the Russians and, in 1904, the two powers clash for control of Port Arthur. Officers have only one mission from their general staff: to win at any cost.
While the two Russian fleets are sunk within days by Admiral Tōgō, tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers fill the Siberian trenches with their dead. Yet the objective is achieved: the Russians beg for mercy. The world acknowledges the supremacy of the Mikado’s army. But at what price!
Imposing Alliances
When World War I erupts, Japan declares war on the Central Powers and quickly seizes all German possessions in the Pacific. The country offers the Allies, who had not requested anything, an alliance that, while advantageous, proves awkward. Benefiting from Prussia’s defeat, the Nipponese, also signatories of the Versailles Treaty, enter the League of Nations with great ceremony and maintain control over their conquests by obtaining mandates over a multitude of Pacific islands. Tensions rise between Japan and the United States.
Army vs Navy
During the interwar period, Japan is politically unstable. Parties clash through political assassinations. Ultra-nationalists oppose the hawks. All agree on making the Kôgun the world’s most powerful machine. drilled with batons, the soldiers have but one aim: to avenge the mistreatment of a weaker people.
The army is meant to be the nation’s steel. This is complicated by the sailors, still basking in their victories over the Russians. Their visions of ultimate victory clash. Each side seeks supremacy over the political leadership, with the army and the navy eventually becoming instruments within the hands of those leaders.
Nanjing or Infamy
In a China ravaged by a devastating civil war, Japan no longer content to merely take its bearings. In grand offensives, it conquers the eastern portion of the country. Undaunted by a stubborn defense at Shanghai, the military turns its anger toward the capital.
Crying out “Nanjing! Nanjing!”, drunk with rage and violence, they descend on Nanjing and commit the worst atrocities, first against soldiers who dared defend their city and then against a terrified population. Three hundred thousand people are mercilessly slaughtered. Faced with foreign countries reproaching this massacre, the Japanese diplomats, insulted, quit the League of Nations and the Hague Convention. They answer to no one anymore.
Pearl Harbor, the Beginning of the End
Obsessed with their superiority and deaf to external protests, the Japanese embark on a death-spiral that begins on December 7, 1941 at Pearl Harbor. Ignoring the often prudent warnings from naval leaders, the government, blinded by easy victories, heads toward its downfall.
The military, fed on false information, sinks deeper into defeat every day. The clashes with the Americans soon cause enormous losses. Members of the Kôgun commit mass suicides rather than surrender. In French Indochina, they commit one of the worst felonies by massacring French soldiers with whom they lived on March 9, 1945.
The bombs of Hiroshima and then Nagasaki settle the matter. While the members of the imperial staff grovel and plead with the Mikado for having lost the war, the Manchurian army surrenders to the Soviets. It heads toward captivity from which few will return.
In 1948, as a new Constitution is drafted, Japan renounces aggressive warfare. The Kôgun is dead; long live the new Self-Defense Forces!
The article Kôgun, a History of the Japanese Army, 1853–1948, first appeared on Mare Nostrum.
