THE JAPANESE CONSERVATIVE UNION About the JCU

We believe in a society that we can call “our own society” through shared values. We must cherish and hold in esteem the ideas that are at the foundation of our society.

Our shared values should not be unnecessarily upheaved by the waves of change. What should be defended must be defended. At the same time, we must consider how to navigate the waves of change. How are we to hold fast to the shared values ​​of Japan, which have been nurtured through thousands of years of tradition and culture. Here is the basis of how we ought to conserve.

So, what are the values that should be at the basis of our society? For that, we turn the words of the proud Japanese thought leader Fukuzawa Yukichi, “Whosoever perfectly realizes the principle of Independence, both of Mind and Body, and, paying due respect to his own person, preserves his dignity unblemished, ―him we call a man of independence and self-respect.”

All individuals maintain their dignity by having a spirit of independence. The only exceptions being when this results in infringing on another’s rights or results in one man being overly dependent on another.

This is the ideal ideological foundation for us to connect with American conservatism, which advocates for limited government, and to reform the conservative movement in Japan. If the government is large, we will be subject to and controlled by it. Without regard for defending oneself, we are subject to threats both ideological and militaristic in nature. We affirm that a limited government is the only way to uphold and defend individual rights. We believe that capitalism is the only economic system of our time that is compatible with political liberty.

How do we orient the ideal conservative movement in Japanese society, a society where big government has taken root since the onset of WW II? We will continue to work to make the concepts espoused by Fukuzawa Yukichi the core of our ideal conservative movement in Japan, notably the idea of "perfectly realizing the principle of Independence, both of Mind and Body," "paying due respect to oneself," and maintaining ​​"unembellished dignity."