Political dissidence in the Empire of Japan covers individual Japanese dissidents against the policies of the Empire of Japan.
Dissidence in the Meiji and Taishō eras High Treason Incident Shūsui Kōtoku, a Japanese anarchist, was critical of imperialism. He would write Imperialism: The Specter of the Twentieth Century in 1901. In 1911, twelve people, including Kōtoku, were executed for their involvement in the High Treason Incident, a failed plot to assassinate Emperor Meiji. Also executed for involvement with the plot was Kanno Suga, an anarcho-feminist and former common-law wife of Kōtoku.
Fumiko Kaneko and Park Yeol Fumiko Kaneko was a Japanese anarchist who lived in Japanese-occupied Korea. She, along with a Korean anarchist, Park Yeol, were accused of attempting to procure bombs from a Korean independence group in Shanghai.Treacherous Women of Imperial Japan: Patriarchal Fictions, Patricidal Fantasies By Helene Bowen Raddeker Page 7 Both of them were charged with plotting to assassinate members of the Japanese imperial family.
Commoners' Newspaper The (Commoners' Newspaper) was a socialist newspaper which served as the leading anti-war vehicle during the Russo-Japanese War. It was a weekly mouthpiece of the socialist (Society of Commoners). The chief writers were Kotoku Shusui and Sakai Toshihiko. When the decried the high taxes caused by the war, Sakai was sentenced to two months in jail. When the paper published The Communist Manifesto, Kotoku was given five months in prison, and the paper was shut down.Shimbun. (1903-05). Pacifist, socialist newspaper. A weekly mouthpiece of the socialist Heiminsha (Society of Commoners), this paper served as the leading antiwar vehicle during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05). The Commoners' Newspaper (Heimin Shimbun) (1903-1905).
Buddhist resistance Although the state of Japanese Buddhism during this time was generally one of servility to the Japanese authoritarian system, there were some exceptional individuals who resisted. Girō Senoo, a Nichiren Buddhist and Marxist, was arrested for opposing war and nationalism and was arrested in 1936 for these views. Uchiyama Gudō was a Sōtō Zen Buddhist priest and anarcho-socialist. He was one of a few Buddhist leaders who spoke out against Japanese imperialism. Uchiyama was an outspoken advocate for redistributive land reform, overturning the Meiji emperor system, encouraging conscripts to desert en masse, and advancing democratic rights for all. He criticized Zen leaders who claimed that low social position was justified by karma and who sold abbotships to the highest bidder.Victoria, Brian (1998). Zen at War. Weatherhill page 40, 44,46,43
After government persecution pushed the socialist and anti-war movements in Japan underground, Uchiyama visited Kōtoku Shūsui in Tokyo in 1908. He purchased equipment that would be used to set up a secret press in his temple. Uchiyama used the printing equipment to turn out popular socialist tracts and pamphlets, some of which were his own works.Victoria, Brian (1998). Zen at War. Weatherhill. page 43 Uchiyama was executed, along with Kotoku, for their involvement with the attempted assassination of Emperor Meiji.Victoria, Brian (1998). Zen at War. Weatherhill. Page 45 Uchiyama's priesthood was revoked when he was convicted, but it was restored in 1993 by the Soto Zen sect.Victoria, Brian (1998). Zen at War. Weatherhill. page 47
Another Soto Zen critic of Japanese imperialism and militarism was Inoue Shūten. He is known for advocating Buddhist pacifism and for criticizing D.T. Suzuki's stance of Buddhism and war.Shields, James Mark, "Zen Internationalism, Zen Revolution: Inoue Shūten, Uchiyama Gudō and the Crisis of (Zen) Buddhist Modernity in Late Meiji Japan" (2022). Faculty Contributions to Books. 262. https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_books/262
Among other notable individuals were the Zen masters Kōdō Sawaki, who expressed sentiments critical of war and its futility, and Sawaki's student Taisen Deshimaru, who was jailed for aiding the resistance efforts of Bangka Islanders against Japanese colonialists.
Attempted assassination of Hirohito Daisuke Nanba, a Japanese student and communist, attempted to assassinate the Prince Regent Hirohito in 1923. Daisuke was outraged by the Kantō Massacre, a slaughter of Koreans and anarchists in the aftermath of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.Richard H. Mitchell. Monumenta Nipponica : Japan's Peace Preservation Law of 1925: Its Origins and Significance. p. 334. The dead included his partner, anarchist Ōsugi Sakae, feminist Noe Itō, and Ōsugi's six-year-old nephew, who were murdered by Masahiko Amakasu, the future head of the Manchukuo Film Association, a film production company based in the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. This event was known as the Amakasu incident.Gordon, Andrew. Labor and Imperial Democracy in Prewar Japan. p. 178 Nanba was found guilty by the Supreme Court of Japan and hanged in November 1924.
Osaka Incident Hideko Fukuda was considered the "Joan of Arc" of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement in Japan during the 1880s.e-Study Guide for: East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History She was also an editor of (Women of the World), a socialist women's paper that Shūsui Kōtoku contributed articles to. In 1885, Fukuda was arrested for her involvement in the Osaka incident, a failed plan to supply explosives to Korean independence movements.
The Osaka Incident sought to overthrow the Meiji government via simultaneous open revolt in various parts of Japan. Part of the plan also included assisting Korean independence activists in a coup against conservatives in the Korean monarchy. Before the plan was able to be implemented, the police arrested the conspirators and confiscated the weapons before they could leave Japan for Korea.Japan and the High Treason Incident edited by Masako Gavin, Ben Middleton Page 110 Other participants in the plan included Oi Kentaro, another major figure of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. The outlaw brotherhood Gen'yōsha was also a major participant.
Liberal and moderate resistance There were some critics of militarism among more mainstream socio-political circles, such as classical liberals and moderate conservatives. Saionji Kinmochi, who was the last of the , an imperial advisor with progressive views, and a three-time prime minister, was known to be among the aristocrats who were most supportive of parliamentary government and often clashed with the military throughout his lengthy career, leading him to be considered as a potential assassination target leading up to the failed 1936 coup d'état. Future Prime Minister and then-Foreign Minister Kijūrō Shidehara became known for his "Shidehara diplomacy" in the 1920s, favoring non-interventionism in China and warmer relations with the Anglo-American world.
Japanese political refugees in early 20th century America The American West Coast, which had a large Japanese population, was a haven for Japanese political dissidents in the early 20th century. Many were refugees from the "Freedom and People's Rights Movement." San Francisco, and Oakland in particular, were teeming with such people. In 1907, an open letter addressed to "Mutsuhito, Emperor of Japan from Anarchists-Terrorists" was posted at the Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco. As Mutsuhito was the personal name of Emperor Meiji, and it was considered rude to call the emperor by his personal name, this was quite an insult. The letter began with, "We demand the implementation of the principle of assassination." The letter also claimed that the emperor was not a god. The letter concluded with, "Hey you, miserable Mutsuhito. Bombs are all around you, about to explode. Farewell to you." This incident changed the Japanese government's attitude of leftist movements.
Early Shōwa era and the rise of militarism
Ikuo Oyama Ikuo Oyama was a member of the left-leaning Labour-Farmer Party, which advocated universal suffrage, minimum wages, and women's rights. Yamamoto Senji, a colleague of his, was assassinated on February 29, on the same day as he had presented testimony in the Diet regarding torture of prisoners. The Labour-Farmer Party was banned in 1928 due to accusations of having links to communism. Oyama fled Japan in 1933 to the United States as a result. He got a job at Northwestern University at its library and political science department. During his exile, he worked closely with the U.S. Government against the Empire of Japan. Oyama happily shook hands with Zhou Enlai, who fought the Japanese in the Second Sino-Japanese War. Oyama was given a Stalin Award prize on December 20, 1951. However, his colleagues begged him not to accept the award for fear that he would become a Soviet puppet. Some of his oldest friends abandoned him when he accepted it.
Modern girls were Japanese women who adhered to Westernized fashions and lifestyles in the 1920s. They were the equivalent of America's flappers.The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalization, Edited by Alys Eve Weinbaum, Lynn M. Thomas, Priti Ramamurthy, Uta G. Poiger, Modeleine Yue Dong, and Tani E. Barlow, p. 1.
This period was characterized by the emergence of young working-class women with access to consumer goods and the money to buy those consumer goods. Modern girls were depicted as living in cities, being financially and emotionally independent, choosing their own suitors, and being apathetic towards politics.The 'Modern' Japanese Woman, The Chronicle 5/21/2004: Thus, the modern girl was a symbol of Westernization. However, after a military coup in 1931, extreme Japanese nationalism and the Great Depression prompted a return to the 19th-century ideal of good wife, wise mother.
Salon de thé François
The Salon de thé François was a western-style café established in Kyoto on 1934 by Shoichi Tateno, who participated in labour movements, and anti-war movements. The cafe was a secret source of funds for the then-banned Japanese Communist Party. The anti-fascist newspaper was edited and distributed from the café.http://homepage2.nifty.com/strng9/francois/HQ8BGS3ACB03MAJ5.pdf
Takigawa Incident In March 1933, the Japanese parliament attempted to control various education groups and circles. The Interior Ministry banned two textbooks on criminal laws written by Takigawa Yukitoki of Kyoto Imperial University. The following month, Konishi Shigenao, president of Kyoto University, was requested to dismiss Professor Takigawa. Konishi rejected the request, but due to pressure from the military and nationalist groups, Takigawa was fired from the university. This led to all 39 faculty members of Kyoto Imperial University's law faculty resigning. Furthermore, students boycotted classes and communist sympathizers organized protests. The Ministry of Education was able to suppress the movement by firing Konishi. In addition to this attempt by the Japanese government to control educational institutions, during the term of the education minister, Ichirō Hatoyama, a number of elementary school teachers were also dismissed for having what were considered "dangerous thoughts".Itoh, Mayumi. The Hatoyama Dynasty: Japanese Political Leadership Through the Generations. p. 62
Soaring Mast