Japanese nationalism (Japanese: 日本のナショナリズム, Hepburn: nihonno nashonarizumu) is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that the Japanese are a monolithic nation with a single immutable culture, and promotes the cultural unity of the Japanese. Over the last two centuries, it has encompassed a broad range of ideas and sentiments which have been harbored by the Japanese people in relation to their native country, its cultural nature, its political system, and its historical destiny. It is useful to distinguish Japanese cultural nationalism (see also nihonjinron) from political or state nationalism (i.e., Shōwa statism), since many forms of cultural nationalism, such as those which are associated with folkloric studies (i.e., Yanagita Kunio), have been hostile to state-fostered nationalism. In Meiji Japan, nationalist ideology consisted of a blend of native and imported political philosophies, initially developed by the Meiji government to promote national unity and patriotism, first in defense against colonization by Western powers, and later in a struggle to attain equality with the Great Powers. It evolved throughout the Taishō and Shōwa periods, when it was used to justify the formation of an increasingly totalitarian government and overseas expansionism, and it also provided a political and ideological foundation for the actions of the Japanese military in the years leading up to World War II. Source: Wikipedia (en)