Normally, when looking for a way to keep the Japanese Empire relatively sane, alternate historians seek to find a way to have the post-WWI "Taisho Democracy" survie instead of eventually succumbing to militarism as happened IOTL.
Here, I would like to attempt approaching the question from a different angle.
The Meiji period (1861-1912) saw the rapid modernization of Japanese society on almost every level. However, implementation of democracy was relatively and this era is generally seen as one of rule by bureaucrats (the most powerful of which were called genro).
However, there were some fairly liberal members in the Meiji era oligarchy (such as Itagaki Taisuke and Okuma Shigenobu), who managed to push for some crucial democratic reforms, but were sidelined most of the times in favor of more conservative politicians, such as Ito Hirobumi.
But maybe things could have gone differently. Power squabbles in oligarchic systems can often produce a variety of different results. I don't find it implausible that conservative Meiji politicians could have become discredited at some point and liberals allowed to take over. So, the question is: how do we get a Meiji Democracy and how would that play out in the long run?
Hopefully, by giving Japanese democracy more time to stabilize it may be possible to resist militarism and nationalism when they eventually explode.
Here, I would like to attempt approaching the question from a different angle.
The Meiji period (1861-1912) saw the rapid modernization of Japanese society on almost every level. However, implementation of democracy was relatively and this era is generally seen as one of rule by bureaucrats (the most powerful of which were called genro).
However, there were some fairly liberal members in the Meiji era oligarchy (such as Itagaki Taisuke and Okuma Shigenobu), who managed to push for some crucial democratic reforms, but were sidelined most of the times in favor of more conservative politicians, such as Ito Hirobumi.
But maybe things could have gone differently. Power squabbles in oligarchic systems can often produce a variety of different results. I don't find it implausible that conservative Meiji politicians could have become discredited at some point and liberals allowed to take over. So, the question is: how do we get a Meiji Democracy and how would that play out in the long run?
Hopefully, by giving Japanese democracy more time to stabilize it may be possible to resist militarism and nationalism when they eventually explode.