Shinmin no Michi
The was an ideological manifesto issued by the Ministry of Education of Japan during World War II aimed at Japan's domestic audience to explain in clear terms what was expected of them "as a people, nation and race". Origins During the summer of 1941, Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe ordered the Minister of Education of Japan to compose a "Bible of the Japanese People", under the title of Shinmin no michi, which was also sometimes called Hito-do (Subject's Way), or Shinja-do (The Way of the Follower). The first edition of 30,000 was issued in August 1941 and distributed to all schools in Japan. The Shinmin no michi offered three chapters which required only a few minutes of reading, explaining how subjects of the Emperor were to behave. It also presented a brief overview of world history from the Japanese viewpoint in the first third of the first chapter. Themes One of the main theme of the book dwelled on the direct descent of Emperor Shōwa from the goddess Amaterasu and the religious characterization of the Kokutai which was identified as a "theocracy" in which "The way of subjects of the Emperor issues from polity of the Emperor, and is to guard