Despite the fact that hakko ichiu ideology was the key device deployed by fascists to mobilize the Japanese for total war, Japanese studies have not reexamined the meaning of wartime hakko ichiu ideology and its historical continuity during the postwar era.This study traces and analyzes the meaning and intent of wartime hakko ichiu ideology and how it has evolved in official events spanning nearly 60 years from the 1940 ceremony of the 2600th Anniversary of the Accession of Emperor Jinmu through Expo '70 and the 1998 Nagano Winter Games. The first part of the study analyzes how Meiji nationalists between 1868 to 1905 used a Western model of gender to create a maternal image of Amaterasu as the empress. This image became the primary Japanese icon of female gender. The second part of the study traces the development of hakko ichiu ideology in three official events over a half-century. By examining the representation of Nippon News No. 23, Part1, (the film version of the Opening Ceremony of the 2600th Anniversary of the Accession of Emperor Jinmu), I argue against the traditional meaning of hakko ichiu--as mere colonialism--and redefine its meaning in terms of dominance and unity. I also discuss the interrelationships among gender, national matsuri, and hakko ichiu ideology. Finally, I examine how, by deploying national matsuri in the opening ceremonies of official postwar events, neo-nationalists were able to revive hakko ichiu ideology and promote neo-emperor worship. In doing so, they used hakko ichiu ideology as an effective instrument to avoid the constraints of the Peace Constitution that grew out of the peace treaty ratified after the end of World War II.