Yamakawa Hitoshi

Yamakawa Hitoshi

Meeting of the Baibunsha in 1922, Yamakawa 2nd from right.

Yamakawa Hitoshi ( Japanese 山川 均 ; born December 20, 1880 in Kurashiki ; died March 23, 1958 ) was a Japanese left-wing intellectual during the Taishō and Shōwa periods .

life and work

Yamakawa Hitoshi, like other Japanese of his time who developed into socialists, was initially shaped by Christianity. He studied from 1895 to 1897 at the west-facing Dōshisha University in Kyoto and then went to Tokyo. There he and two friends began to publish a small monthly for young people in 1900. On the basis of the article published in the magazine in which he criticized the wedding of the Crown Prince, later Emperor Taishō , as it had been arranged by the court, Yamakawa was imprisoned for almost four years.

During his time in prison, Yamakawa turned seriously to socialism. In 1906 he joined the newly founded "Japanese Socialist Party" (日本 社会 党, Nihon shakai tō). He came under the influence of Kōtoku Shūsui , who pushed the development of the movement from Christian socialism to anarcho-syndicalism.

Yamakawa was assistant editor of the Heimin newspaper (平民 新聞; Heimin Shimbun), wrote articles on anarchism, the idea of ​​the general strike and joined the Baibunsha (売 文 社) of Sakai Toshihiko (1871-1933). In 1908 he wrote a long series of articles for a follow-up newspaper on “Das Kapital”, the first presentation of Marxist ideas on the economy in Japan. That same year he was jailed for two years in connection with the Akahata incident, avoiding possible arrest in the 1910 treason incident .

From 1910 to about 1921 Yamakawa was the most important writer in Japan on Lenin and Bolshevism. He therefore participated in 1922 in the founding of the "Communist Party of Japan" (日本 共産党, Nihon kyōsan tō). In his famous article "A Change of Direction of the Proletarian Movement" (無産階級 運動 の 方向 転 換 Musan dankyū undō no hōkō tenkan), however, Yamakawa stated that anarcho-syndicalism had failed to win over the masses of workers and intellectuals. A broader base is needed for this political movement. Yamakawa was one of those who proposed the dissolution of the Communist Party in 1924. He also did not participate in the continuation of the political direction underground. Rather, a mass-based legal party seemed to be the way to go. From 1927 onwards, Yamakawa and his followers, who were called "Rōnō faction" (労 農 派) according to their basic idea, the union of workers and peasants, tried to gather the left behind their program, but this failed.

After the World War , Yamakawa called for the establishment of a united democratic front, which he wanted to bring together socialism and communism. Again he refused to support only the Communist Party, but rather tried to revive the Socialist Party of Japan.

Remarks

1. ↑ The Akahata incident (赤 旗 事件, Akahata jiken) occurred when on June 22, 1908 all groups of the socialist wing in Kanda celebrated the release of the activist Yamaguchi Kōken and right-wing groups disrupted this by burning red flags. Riots broke out, the police stepped in and arrested 14 people. Arahata Kanson (1887–1981), Ōsugi Sakae (1885–1923), Sakai Toshihiko, Yamakawa and others were sentenced to prison terms.

literature

• S. Noma (Ed.): Yamakawa Hitoshi . In: Japan. An Illustrated Encyclopedia. Kodansha, 1993, ISBN 4-06-205938-X , p. 92.
• Hunter, Janet: Yamakawa Hitoshi . In: Concise Dictionary of Modern Japanese History. Kodansha International, 1984. ISBN 4-7700-1193-8 .

Web links

Commons : Yamakawa Hitoshi  - 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 Yamakawa is the family name, Hitoshi the first name.