Nakano Seigō

Nakano Seigō

Nakano's birthplace in Fukuoka

Statue of Nakanos in Fukuoka (Imagawa)

Nakano Seigō ( Japanese 中 野 正 剛 ; born February 12, 1886 in Fukuoka (Nishiminatochō); died October 27, 1943 ) was a Japanese politician during the Taishō and Shōwa period .

life and work

Nakano Seigō was born in Fukuoka in his uncle's house as the eldest son of Nakano Taijirō ( Japanese 中 野 泰 次郎 ). His ancestors had served the Fukuoka clan as sailors for generations. After the Meiji Restoration , the father ran a pawn shop, a business that his son had had a deep dislike for since childhood. Among the companions of his primary school days we find the later journalist and politician Ogata Taketora .

In 1903 he changed his first name Jintarō ( Japanese 甚 太郎 ) to Seigō. After attending the Shūyūkan School in Fukuoka, he began studying politics and economics at Waseda University in Tokyo. After graduating, he worked as a journalist and founded several newspapers. In 1913 he married the daughter of the philosopher and writer Miyake Setsurei (1860–1945). Nakano was elected to the Reichstag eight times in a row from 1920 and was a member of the Kakushin Club ( Japanese 革新 俱 楽 部 ), the Kenseikai , from 1927 its successor institution Rikken Minseitō . He was in favor of populist government and against leadership by elites, but was then increasingly influenced by the right wing and its solutions to Japanese problems.

As Vice Minister for Communications in the Hamaguchi cabinet , he campaigned for the state to take over the telephone system. From 1931 he worked with Adachi Kenzō together in an attempt to form a coalition to overthrow the 2nd Wakatsuki cabinet .

In December 1932 he left the Rikken Minseitō and founded the "National League" ( Japanese 国民 同盟 , Kokumin dōmei ) together with Adachi Kenzō . In 1936 he left this league and founded the "Association of the East" ( Japanese 東邦 会 , Tōhōkai ). During a trip to Europe in 1937/38 he met Benito Mussolini , Adolf Hitler and Joachim von Ribbentrop . Despite his admiration for National Socialist Germany and his hopes to do something similar for Japan and East Asia, he emphasized that neither Italian fascism nor National Socialism was suitable for the Japanese nation. His totalitarianism should be based on an organic unity of people who share ideals and feelings. Nakano was involved in the "movement for a new structure" ( Japanese 新 体制 運動 , Shintaisei undō ). In 1940 he became director of the "Support Society for Imperial Rule" ( Japanese 大 政 翼 賛 会 , Taisei Yokusankai ), which he hoped to transform into a totalitarian body that would make the cabinet superfluous. After the general election in 1942, Tōjō Hideki forced all MPs to join the successor party Support Society for Imperial Politics ( Japanese 翼 賛 政治 会 , Yokusan Seijikai ). Nakano resigned in protest.

In 1943, Nakano was elected to the Reichstag as an independent candidate. The conflict with Tōjō Hideki had also intensified with regard to the continuation of Japan's military expansion. After the defeat of the navy in the Battle of Midway , he spoke out against an excessive policy of conquest and hoped for negotiations in which the conquered areas would be consolidated and further victims of the Japanese people avoided. He was eventually arrested on suspicion of coup plans. Although he was soon released, all journalistic activities were banned and he was placed under house arrest. A little later he committed Seppuku ( Harakiri ).

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Nakano Seigō . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X
• Hunter, Janet: Nakano Seigō . In: Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. Kodansha International, 1984. ISBN 4-7700-1193-8 .

Web links

Commons : Nakano Seigō  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Nakano is the family name, Seigō the first name.