Volunteer Military Service Law

Japanese: 義勇兵役法 - ぎゆうへいえきほう

...When Japan dispatched troops to Taiwan (1874), about 300 volunteers from the former Satsuma Domain joined the regular army, and during the Seinan War (1877), the regular army was joined by the Battotai, a group recruited by the Metropolitan Police Department; these could also be considered volunteer soldiers. Later, this type of system was no longer used due to the establishment of a military service system, but on June 23, 1945, at the end of World War II, the Volunteer Military Service Law was enacted in preparation for the decisive battle on the mainland. As a result, men aged 15-60 and women aged 17-40 were called up as volunteers to cooperate and support the military (protecting facilities, communicating information and communications, repairing military roads, etc.)...

From "The Pacific War"

... However, as the war situation worsened, cracks appeared in the fascist regime, and the Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association, which saw many members leave, was reorganized as the Great Japan Political Association on March 30, 1945. On March 23, the Koiso Cabinet decided to form the Volunteer Citizen Corps in preparation for the decisive battle on Japanese soil, and the Imperial Rule Assistance Association was dissolved on June 13 and dissolved into the Volunteer Citizen Corps, and the Volunteer Military Service Law was promulgated on June 23. As Army Minister Anami Korechika said, the Volunteer Citizen Corps organized the majority of the people into an ``army led directly by the emperor,'' and represented the ultimate form of imperial fascism's control of the people, but in reality it lacked weapons and was merely a weak, formal organization. ...

From the "Support System"

...The leaders of the old established political parties who held the initiative in the Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association dissolved the association on March 30, 1945, and formed the Greater Japan Political Association (General Minami Jiro, president), but 51 members, 31 from the Gokoku Comrades Association and 20 from the Yokuso Parliamentary Comrades Association, did not participate, and the de facto one-party dictatorship system under the previous Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association collapsed. Meanwhile, the Koiso Cabinet called for a "decisive battle on the home front" with "100 million people armed," and on March 23, 1945, it decided to form a Volunteer Citizen Corps, and on June 23, the Volunteer Military Service Law was promulgated. With this, the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and many of the government-sponsored national movement organizations under its umbrella were dissolved (the Greater Japan Imperial Rule Assistance Men's Association on May 30, the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and the Greater Japan Women's Association on June 13, the Greater Japan Youth Corps on June 16, the Agricultural Patriotic Association and the Commercial Patriotic Association on June 30), and all joined the Volunteer Citizen Corps. ...

*Some of the terminology used in reference to the Volunteer Military Service Act is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…　日本の台湾出兵(1874)に際し正規軍に旧薩摩藩有志約300人が加わり，西南戦争(1877)では正規軍のほか警視庁が募集した抜刀隊が加わっており，これらも義勇兵ということができよう。その後，兵役制度の整備によりこの種の制度はとられなくなったが，第2次大戦末期の1945年6月23日，本土決戦に備え義勇兵役法が制定された。これにより，男子15～60歳，女子17～40歳を対象に義勇召集し，軍との協力，支援(施設防護，情報通信連絡，軍道路補修等)に当たらせた。…

【太平洋戦争】より

…　しかし戦局の悪化とともにファシズム体制に亀裂が入り，脱会者が相次いだ翼賛政治会は，45年3月30日大日本政治会へ改組された。小磯内閣は，3月23日本土決戦に備えて国民義勇隊の結成を決定し，大政翼賛会は6月13日に解散して国民義勇隊へ発展的解消を遂げ，6月23日には義勇兵役法が公布された。国民義勇隊は，阿南惟幾陸相が言うように，国民の大部分を〈天皇親率の軍隊〉に編成し，天皇制ファシズムによる国民支配の極限形態を示すものであったが，その内実は武器が足りず，貧弱な形式倒れの組織にすぎなかった。…

【翼賛体制】より

…翼賛政治会の主導権を握る旧既成政党の指導者は，45年3月30日同会を解散して大日本政治会を結成したが(総裁南次郎陸軍大将)，護国同志会の31名と翼壮議員同志会の20名の合計51名が参加せず，従来の翼賛政治会による事実上の一党独裁体制が崩壊した。　一方，小磯内閣は〈一億総武装〉による〈本土決戦〉を呼号し，1945年3月23日国民義勇隊結成の方針を決定，6月23日義勇兵役法が公布された。これにともない，大政翼賛会とその傘下の官製国民運動団体の多くは解散し(5月30日大日本翼賛壮年団，6月13日大政翼賛会と大日本婦人会，6月16日大日本青少年団，6月30日農業報国会と商業報国会)，すべて国民義勇隊へ合流した。…

※「義勇兵役法」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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