During the Japanese-Chinese War Japanese society had undergone rapid social changes, which would invite an unintended demand for new autonomous organizations in many ways. Miki Kiyoshi, who had been criticizing both “non-social” capitalist society and the craze for “Gemeinschaft” among Japanese thinkers, now discussed “the East Asian Cooperative Body” as the solution for the war, mentioning “the National Cooperative Body” as an idea of reforming Japanese society. This word “cooperative body” aroused broad interest of social policy scholars, and brought a new image of nation which implied opposition to the view of the family state （“communal body”）.
However, the theorists of “cooperative body” figured the nation as a total community where the state control permeated the whole society when they urged that the nation’s welfare, the right to live or even environmental preservation be realized in this “cooperative body.” While Miki contrasts growing communications among the world with totalitarian appeals for national unity, his discussion on technology allows him to emphasize the responsibility for the national society. Despite Miki’s emphasis on the importance of “I and Thou” relationships beyond enclosed communities, in this communitarian vision, the national solidarity retains a predominant position.
