Gekokujō

Gekokujō (下克上, also 下剋上) is a Japanese word which refers to someone of a lower position overthrowing someone of a higher position using military or political might, seizing power.[1] It is variously translated as "the lower rules the higher" or "the low overcomes the high".[2]

The term originated from Sui dynasty China. In Japan, it came into use from the Kamakura period. It is commonly used to refer to lords overthrowing stronger or higher-positioned lords in history. In modern Japanese, it can be used to refer to an underdog winning. During the Showa Period, repeated acts of gekokujō influenced the Japanese government, creating an ultranationalist and aggressive foreign policy in the process. British correspondent Hugh Byas describe the phenomenon as “government by assassination.”[3]

Masanobu Tsuji (辻 政信) was a well known supporter of extreme gekokujō during World War II.[4]

In art

• The February 26 Incident is prominently portrayed as an example of gekokujō in Yukio Mishima's Modernist short story "Patriotism", and serves as the backdrop for the events of the narrative.[5]

See also

• Underdog
• Saigō Takamori

References

1. 『大辞林』第3版 下克上
2. Ferejohn, John and Frances Rosenbluth. (2010). War and State Building in Medieval Japan, p. 149.
3. Orbach, Danny (2017). Curse on This Country: The Rebellious Army of Imperial Japan. Cornell University Press. p. 2.
4. Budge, Kent G. Tsuji Masanobu (1901-1961?). Pacific War Online Encyclopedia website. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
5. Mishima, Yukio (1966). Death in Midsummer and Other Stories p. 93–119.

Further reading

• Sources of Japanese Tradition Volume 2 compiled by William T. de Bary, Carol Gluck and Arthur E. Tiedemann