Tanaka Shozo

Tanaka Shozo

Tanaka's tomb (Sōshū-ji)

Tanaka Shōzō ( Japanese 田中 正 造 ; born 3.11. Tenpō 12 / Gregorian December 15, 1841 in Konaka in Shimotsuke Province , today's Tochigi Prefecture ; died September 4, 1913 ) was a Japanese politician, but above all an important environmentalist during the Meiji period .

life and work

Tanaka Shōzō was born in the village of Konaka, today called Konakachō a district of the city of Sano in Tochigi, as the son of the village elder ( Japanese 名主 Nanushi ) and was himself the village elder from 1857. In 1880 he became a member of the prefecture assembly (kenkai) of Tochigi and in 1886 was its president ( gichō ). He campaigned for popular law and formulated this in articles that he wrote for the newspaper Tochigi Shimbun, which he founded. He grabbed u. a. the ruthless public works of governor Mishima Michitsune (1835-1888) and was imprisoned for some time.

In the first elections to the lower house of the Diet in 1890 Tanaka won as a member of the party Rikken Kaishintō ( 立憲改進党 ) in the 3rd constituency of Tochigi one seat. In the 1890s, he used all his strength to by the Ashio copper mine caused Fight pollution. He pursued two principles: Agriculture as the basis of life is more important than industrialization, and under no circumstances should people be harmed by industrialization. In 1897, the government enacted environmental control regulations, but these are not very effective. In 1901 he left the Reichstag disappointed, but two months later made one last attempt to shake up the nation's conscience by attempting to throw a petition into the emperor's carriage as he was on his way back from the opening of the Reichstag. Tanaka was arrested but was soon released.

This incident ended Tanaka's career at the national level, but he continued his struggle for the living conditions of farmers in his homeland. In 1903 the government presented a plan to control the frequently flooded river Watarase by creating a reservoir, but this required the demolition of the village of Yanaka. Tanaka supported the farmers in the protests against the project, but there was no way to prevent the plan from being implemented in 1907.

During these years Tanaka's view of the world changed considerably. He began to feel like a farmer himself, learned from her simple view of life and from her quiet perseverance. His commitment to the preservation of nature was hardly appreciated throughout his life, but has not been forgotten to this day.

Remarks

1. ↑ The temple Sōshū-ji ( 惣 宗 寺 ) is located in the city of Sano .

literature

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

Web links

Commons : Tanaka Shōzō  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} National Parliamentary Library : Portraits of Modern Japanese, Tanaka Shōzō (Japanese, English )

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