Chang Tŏksu (Korean: 장덕수; Hanja: 張德秀; December 10, 1894 – December 2, 1947) was a Korean politician, independence…
Chang Tŏksu (Korean: 장덕수; Hanja: 張德秀; December 10, 1894 – December 2, 1947) was a Korean politician, independence activist, journalist, and political scientist. He was the first editor-in-chief of the Dong-A Ilbo. He was the founder and second head of the Korea Democratic Party from 1945 to 1947. Chang studied at Waseda University in Japan, where he became a leader of the Korean students' independence movement between 1914 and 1918. He was assassinated by the right-wing terrorist group the White Shirts Society in 1947. The 10 suspects were charged with murder in a South Korean court, but the case was later transferred to an American military tribunal after right-wing Korean youths intimidated the courts. All of the defendants were found guilty, with 8 being sentenced to death by hanging and the other two to 10 years in prison each. After reviewing the case, U.S. Army General John R. Hodge confirmed two of the death sentences of Park Gwang-ok and Bae Hee-beom, who were viewed as the ringleaders, but reduced the other six death sentences to prison terms. Four of the death sentences were reduced to life in prison, and the other two to 10 years each. Hodge also reduced the 10-year sentences to five years each. Park Gwang-ok and Bae Hee-beom were both executed after the Korean War began. Another convict, Kim Seok-hwang, was later captured and executed by the North's Korean People's Army.
Famous Japanese People: Activist
Activist: 224 people
Katsumaro Akamatsu (Japanese: 赤松 克麿, Hepburn: Akamatsu Katsumaro; 4 December 1894 – 13 December 1955) was a Japanese…
Katsumaro Akamatsu (Japanese: 赤松 克麿, Hepburn: Akamatsu Katsumaro; 4 December 1894 – 13 December 1955) was a Japanese politician who served in the House of Councillors for Hokkaido 4th district from 1937 to 1942. Initially a left-winger and member of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), he shifted to the right and embraced fascism. Born in Tokuyama, Yamaguchi, as the son and grandson of high priests, Akamatsu was educated at Tokyo Imperial University and studied under Sakuzō Yoshino. After graduation he became involved in the Japanese Federation of Labour and chief of its political bureau. Akamatsu was a founding member of the JCP, but left to join the Social Democratic Party. He rose to become secretary-general of the party, but left due to his support of Japan's actions during the Mukden incident. Tatsuo Tsukui and Akamatsu formed multiple nationalist and fascist parties before joining the Imperial Rule Assistance Association.
Kyuichi Tokuda (徳田 球一, Tokuda Kyūichi; September 12, 1894 – October 14, 1953) was a Japanese politician and first…
Kyuichi Tokuda (徳田 球一, Tokuda Kyūichi; September 12, 1894 – October 14, 1953) was a Japanese politician and first chairman of the Japanese Communist Party from 1945 until his death in 1953.
Kim Do-yeon (Korean: 김도연; Hanja: 金度演; June 6, 1894 – April 19, 1967) was a Korean independence activist, politician and…
Kim Do-yeon (Korean: 김도연; Hanja: 金度演; June 6, 1894 – April 19, 1967) was a Korean independence activist, politician and member of the cabinet.
Ōmi Komaki (小牧 近江, Komaki Ōmi; 11 May 1894 – 29 October 1978) was the pen-name of a scholar and translator of French…
Ōmi Komaki (小牧 近江, Komaki Ōmi; 11 May 1894 – 29 October 1978) was the pen-name of a scholar and translator of French literature in Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. His real name was Komaki Ōmiya.
Chang Taek-sang (Korean: 장택상; October 22, 1893 – August 1, 1969), also spelled Jang Taek-sang, was a Korean…
Chang Taek-sang (Korean: 장택상; October 22, 1893 – August 1, 1969), also spelled Jang Taek-sang, was a Korean independence activist and South Korean policeman and politician. He was the prime minister of South Korea and Minister of Foreign Affairs. His art name was Changrang.
Ichikawa Fusae (市川 房枝; May 15, 1893 – February 11, 1981) was a Japanese feminist, politician and a leader of the…
Ichikawa Fusae (市川 房枝; May 15, 1893 – February 11, 1981) was a Japanese feminist, politician and a leader of the women's suffrage movement. Ichikawa was a key supporter of women's suffrage in Japan, and her activism was partially responsible for the extension of the franchise to women in 1945.
Otake Kazue (1893–1966), best known by her pen name, Otake Kokichi (尾竹紅吉), was a feminist writer and activist in early…
Otake Kazue (1893–1966), best known by her pen name, Otake Kokichi (尾竹紅吉), was a feminist writer and activist in early 20th century Japan. She was an artist, and she received higher education at Japan Women's College. She joined the Japanese Bluestocking Society (青鞜社, Seitō-sha) and started contributing to the Bluestocking magazine (青鞜, Seitō) in 1911. She became a controversial member because she instigated the "Five-colored sake" and Yoshiwara incidents and because of her lesbian affair with Hiratsuka Raicho. She left the group in 1912, and after dealing with her declining mental and physical health, she went on to marry Tomimoto Kenkichi, change her name to Tomimoto Kazue, and have two children. Otake lived separately from Kenkichi for many years, and she started going by her pen name again during this time. The couple divorced following World War II because of their extreme political differences. In her writing career post-Bluestocking, she incorporated first-wave feminist, Marxist, and anti-imperialist ideas into her fiction works. While she is regarded as a pioneer for queer feminism in Japan, her extended breaks from writing to raise her children and protest the Second Sino-Japanese War led to her having a whitewashed legacy.
Kōzaburō Tachibana (橘 孝三郎, Tachibana Kōzaburō; 18 March 1893 – 30 March 1974) was a Japanese political activist and…
Kōzaburō Tachibana (橘 孝三郎, Tachibana Kōzaburō; 18 March 1893 – 30 March 1974) was a Japanese political activist and ultra-nationalist.
Jeong Hyeon-mo 정현모(鄭顯模), October 10, 1894 – January 1, 1965) was a Korean politician, journalist, businessman, and…
Jeong Hyeon-mo 정현모(鄭顯模), October 10, 1894 – January 1, 1965) was a Korean politician, journalist, businessman, and independence activist.
Kanjū Katō (加藤 勘十 (Katō Kanjū), 25 February 1892 – 27 September 1978), also known as Kanju Kato, was a Japanese…
Kanjū Katō (加藤 勘十 (Katō Kanjū), 25 February 1892 – 27 September 1978), also known as Kanju Kato, was a Japanese politician and labour activist of the Shōwa period. He served seven terms as a member of the House of Representatives for the Japan Socialist Party and was the second Minister of Labor. He was also known by the pen names Hekisui and Sotsu. A militant labour organizer active in the prewar period, he was nicknamed "Fireball Kanjū" (火の玉勘十, Hi no tama Kanjū). His elder brother was Chōichi Katō, a member of the House of Representatives for the Constitutional Democratic Party (Rikken Minseitō) and the National Alliance (Kokumin Dōmei). His wife was the women’s rights activist and politician Shidzue Katō; the couple were known as the "mandarin duck Diet members" (おしどり議員, oshidori giin). Their son was Nobuyuki Katō and their daughter was Taki Katō.
Miyagi Tamayo (宮城タマヨ, Miyagi Tamayo; 1 February 1892 – 19 November 1960), née Ueda (植田, Ueda), was a Japanese social…
Miyagi Tamayo (宮城タマヨ, Miyagi Tamayo; 1 February 1892 – 19 November 1960), née Ueda (植田, Ueda), was a Japanese social worker and politician who was a member of the House of Councillors.
Kim Seong-su (Korean: 김성수; Hanja: 金性洙; October 11, 1891 – February 18, 1955), art name Inchon, was a Korean educator…
Kim Seong-su (Korean: 김성수; Hanja: 金性洙; October 11, 1891 – February 18, 1955), art name Inchon, was a Korean educator, independence activist, journalist, entrepreneur, politician, and calligrapher. He served as the second Vice President of South Korea from 1951 to 1952. Kim Seong-su founded Korea University and The Dong-A Ilbo. He graduated from Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan, majoring in Political Science and Economics.
Hisashi Asō (麻生 久, Asō Hisashi; 24 May 1891 – 6 September 1940), pen name Asayama Kaikei (麻山 改介), was a Japanese…
Hisashi Asō (麻生 久, Asō Hisashi; 24 May 1891 – 6 September 1940), pen name Asayama Kaikei (麻山 改介), was a Japanese socialist politician and trade unionist active in the Taishō and early Shōwa periods. A graduate of Tokyo Imperial University, he rose in the labour movement through the Yūaikai and as founder of the All Japan Miners' Federation, leading major strikes before helping establish successive centrist proletarian parties. He served as secretary-general and later chairman of the Social Mass Party (Shakai Taishūtō), was elected to the House of Representatives for Tokyo's 5th district in 1936 and 1937, and subsequently advocated collaboration with right-wing renovationist elements and the military, dissolving the party in July 1940 to support Fumimaro Konoe's New Order movement. He was a mentor to Inejirō Asanuma, the future chairman of the Japan Socialist Party.
Yamakawa Kikue (山川菊栄; November 3, 1890 – November 2, 1980) was a Japanese essayist, activist, and socialist feminist…
Yamakawa Kikue (山川菊栄; November 3, 1890 – November 2, 1980) was a Japanese essayist, activist, and socialist feminist who contributed to the development of feminism in modern Japan. Born into a highly-educated family of the former samurai class, Yamakawa graduated from the private women's college Joshi Eigaku Juku (renamed Tsuda College in 1948) in 1912. In 1916, she married the communist activist and theoretician Yamakawa Hitoshi, who, in 1922, founded the short-lived pre-war Japanese Communist Party and was a leader of the Labor-Farmer faction. In pre-war times, Yamakawa contributed to the development of feminism as a founding member of the Red Wave Society (Sekirankai), Japan's first socialist women's organization, and she was one of the most visible socialist women. She is famous for "her position in debates on prostitution and motherhood, in which she consistently challenged liberal feminists (who she termed 'bourgeois feminists') on the possibility of women achieving full rights within a capitalist system". While Yamakawa is perhaps better known for these debates, "her participation in male-dominant socialist organizations and her interventionist writings on behalf of women within those organizations, directed toward her male socialist peers, were equally substantial". After the end of World War II, Yamakawa became the first head of the Women's and Minors' Bureau of the Ministry of Labor from 1947 to 1951. In addition, she engaged in activism for women's and workers' rights.
Tamaki Uemura (植村環) (August 24, 1890 – May 26, 1982) was a YWCA executive, pacifist, and Christian pastor in Japan.
Song Jin-woo (Korean: 송진우, 8 May 1889 – 30 December 1945) was a Korean independence activist, journalist, and…
Song Jin-woo (Korean: 송진우, 8 May 1889 – 30 December 1945) was a Korean independence activist, journalist, and politician. His art name was Goha (고하; 古下). He was the 3rd, 6th and 8th CEO of the Dong-a Ilbo and the founding leader of the Korea Democratic Party. In 1945, he was assassinated by Han Hyeon-woo, a member of the far-right terrorist group the White Shirts Society.
Keishichi Hirasawa (Japanese: 平澤 計七; 14 July 1889 – 3 September 1923) was a Japanese playwright and labor activist. He…
Keishichi Hirasawa (Japanese: 平澤 計七; 14 July 1889 – 3 September 1923) was a Japanese playwright and labor activist. He was a father of proletarian theater in Japan.
Hanayo Ikuta (14 October 1888 – 8 December 1970) (in Japanese, 生田 花世), born Nishizaki Hanayo, was a Japanese feminist…
Hanayo Ikuta (14 October 1888 – 8 December 1970) (in Japanese, 生田 花世), born Nishizaki Hanayo, was a Japanese feminist writer, editor, and educator.
Ichiko Kamichika (神近 市子, Kamichika Ichiko) (June 6, 1888 – August 1, 1981) was a journalist, feminist, writer…
Ichiko Kamichika (神近 市子, Kamichika Ichiko) (June 6, 1888 – August 1, 1981) was a journalist, feminist, writer, translator, and critic. Her birth name was Ichi Kamichika and her pen name was Ei, Yo, or Ou Sakaki (榊 纓). After World War II, Kamichika served in the Japanese House of Representatives as a member of the Japan Socialist Party.
Hong Myong-hui or Hong Myung-hee (Korean: 홍명희; Hanja: 洪命熹; July 3, 1888 – March 5, 1968) was a Korean novelist during…
Hong Myong-hui or Hong Myung-hee (Korean: 홍명희; Hanja: 洪命熹; July 3, 1888 – March 5, 1968) was a Korean novelist during the colonial period, and later a North Korean novelist and state official. He was born in Dongbu-ri, Goesan county, North Chungcheong Province, where he took part in the 3.1 Movement in 1919. In the 1920s, he served as an editor of The Dong-A Ilbo. Hong also was part of the Korean nationalist group Singanhoe which was founded in 1927. Hong founded the Democratic Independent Party with his comrades An Jae-hong, Kim Byung-ro, Kim Ho, Pak Yong-hee, I Kuk-ro and Kim Won-yong on 19 October 1947. Hong then became the chairman of the party. After the Korean War, he occupied various important positions in North Korea. He is buried in the Patriotic Martyrs' Cemetery in Hyongjesan-guyok, Pyongyang, North Korea. His grandson, Hong Sok-jung, is also a well known North Korean author.
Kim Byung-ro (Korean: 김병로; Hanja: 金炳魯, 27 January 1888 – 13 January 1964) was a South Korean independence activist…
Kim Byung-ro (Korean: 김병로; Hanja: 金炳魯, 27 January 1888 – 13 January 1964) was a South Korean independence activist, lawyer, and politician, as well as the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Korea. Under the period of Japanese rule over Korea, he was renowned as one of the three leading national lawyers for the independence movement, along with Ho Hon and Lee In. His clan name was Ulsan Kim, and his art name was Kain (街人).
Kanson Arahata (荒畑 寒村, Arahata Kanson; August 14, 1887 – March 6, 1981), real name Katsuzō Arahata (荒畑 勝三, Arahata…
Kanson Arahata (荒畑 寒村, Arahata Kanson; August 14, 1887 – March 6, 1981), real name Katsuzō Arahata (荒畑 勝三, Arahata Katsuzō), was a Japanese politician and writer active in the socialist and labor movements. Born in Kanagawa Prefecture, he converted to socialism in 1904 while working at the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal, where he read anti-war pamphlets by Kōtoku Shūsui, Sakai Toshihiko, and other socialists. After the Russo-Japanese War, Arahata wrote for numerous socialist publications; his account of the Ashio Copper Mine incident is considered a classic of Japanese journalism. In 1922, Arahata helped found the Japanese Communist Party. In 1937, he was arrested as part of the Japanese government's crackdown on socialists and communists and spent the following years in prison. After World War II, he served on numerous labor committees, and was elected the first chairman of the National Trade Union of Metal and Engineering Workers. He also helped found the Japan Socialist Party in 1945, joining its Central Committee in 1947 and winning elections to the National Diet on its slate in 1946 and 1947. In 1948, Arahata's opposition to the party's approval of postal, tobacco tax, and train fare increases led him to leave its ranks. After a failed attempt to create a new socialist party, he lost his seat in the Diet in the 1949 election. In 1951, Arahata withdrew from active involvement in the socialist and labor movements, but continued to write and exercise influence. He died in 1981.
Jo So-ang (Korean: 조소앙; Hanja: 趙素昻; 30 April 1887 – 10 September 1958) was a Korean politician, educator, and Korean…
Jo So-ang (Korean: 조소앙; Hanja: 趙素昻; 30 April 1887 – 10 September 1958) was a Korean politician, educator, and Korean independence activist. He spent much of his career in exile in China, working in the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. After Korea gained its independence in 1945, he returned to Korea. He was a right-leaning politician who supported the Provisional Government over the various competing left-leaning organizations. He participated in drawing up a draft of the proclamation of the independence of Korea in 1918 while he was studying in Japan, and after 1919, left for Shanghai to join the Provisional Government. He served various roles in the Government until 1945, including as Minister of Foreign Affairs and head of the Korean Independence Party. He also organized the society of policies on current affairs with Kim Ku and Yeo Unhyeong, contributing to establish the theories on diplomacy of the provisional government. In 1948, Jo and other politicians including Kim Ku, Kim Gyusik, and Kim Il Sung visited Pyongyang to attend a joint conference between left and right leaning politicians in an effort to keep the Korean peninsula unified. He ran for a representative of the national assembly and was elected in 1950. In the same year when the Korean War broke out, he was abducted and taken to North Korea.
Naosaku Takahashi (髙橋直作 [or 高橋直作], birth name: Naosaku Yamanaka [山中直作], pen name: Shimbi Takahashi [高橋真美]) was a social…
Naosaku Takahashi (髙橋直作 [or 高橋直作], birth name: Naosaku Yamanaka [山中直作], pen name: Shimbi Takahashi [高橋真美]) was a social worker, a novelist in his youth, and a minister (at first the Salvation Army and later the United Church of Christ in Japan).
Tano Jōdai (上代たの) (July 3, 1886 – April 8, 1982) was a professor of English literature, peace activist, and the sixth…
Tano Jōdai (上代たの) (July 3, 1886 – April 8, 1982) was a professor of English literature, peace activist, and the sixth president of the Japan Women's University.
Nisshō Inoue (井上 日召, Inoue Nisshō; April 12, 1887 – March 4, 1967) was a Japanese Buddhist preacher of Nichirenism who…
Nisshō Inoue (井上 日召, Inoue Nisshō; April 12, 1887 – March 4, 1967) was a Japanese Buddhist preacher of Nichirenism who founded the interwar Japanese fascist militant organization Ketsumeidan (血盟団, League of Blood). Contrary to popular belief, he was never an ordained Nichiren priest, but was rather a self-styled preacher whose extremist tenets were widely denounced by Japan's mainline Nichiren Buddhist establishment of the time.
Hiratsuka Raichō (平塚 らいちょう, transliterated らいてう according to the historical kana orthography; born Hiratsuka Haru, 平塚…
Hiratsuka Raichō (平塚 らいちょう, transliterated らいてう according to the historical kana orthography; born Hiratsuka Haru, 平塚 明; February 10, 1886 – May 24, 1971) was a Japanese writer, journalist, political activist, anarchist, and pioneering feminist in Japan.
Lee In (Korean: 이인; Hanja: 李仁; September 20, 1896 – April 5, 1979) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served…
Lee In (Korean: 이인; Hanja: 李仁; September 20, 1896 – April 5, 1979) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the first minister of justice for South Korea from August 2, 1948, to June 5, 1949.
Suzuki Bunji (鈴木 文治; 4 September 1885 – 12 March 1946) was a Japanese politician and labor activist. He founded the…
Suzuki Bunji (鈴木 文治; 4 September 1885 – 12 March 1946) was a Japanese politician and labor activist. He founded the Yūaikai, an organization for laborers.
Sazō Idemitsu (出光 佐三, Idemitsu Sazō; August 22, 1885 – March 7, 1981) was a Japanese businessman and founder of the…
Sazō Idemitsu (出光 佐三, Idemitsu Sazō; August 22, 1885 – March 7, 1981) was a Japanese businessman and founder of the petroleum company Idemitsu Kosan. He graduated from Kobe University (then Kobe Koto Shogyo Gakko). He was also an art collector, especially fond of Sengai Gibon and of Georges Rouault. He is the father of the Japanese experimental video artist, Mako Idemitsu.
Ho Hon (Korean: 허헌; 22 July 1885 – 16 August 1951) was a Korean independence activist and politician of the Japanese…
Ho Hon (Korean: 허헌; 22 July 1885 – 16 August 1951) was a Korean independence activist and politician of the Japanese colonial period and early years of North Korea. As a lawyer, he defended independence activists along with Lee In and Kim Byong-ro. In September 1948, following the official proclamation on the establishment of North Korea in the northern part of the Korean peninsula, he was elected a delegate to the first convocation of the Supreme People's Assembly, the unicameral parliament of North Korea. He also served as the President of Kim Il Sung University. While working as a reunification activist, he drowned in the Chongchon River in August 1951. He was also the father of Ho Jong-suk, a female activist and a politician in North Korea.
Ōsugi Sakae (Japanese: 大杉 栄; 17 January 1885 – 16 September 1923) was a Japanese anarchist writer and social critic of…
Ōsugi Sakae (Japanese: 大杉 栄; 17 January 1885 – 16 September 1923) was a Japanese anarchist writer and social critic of the Taishō period. His thought centered on individualism, direct action, and the "expansion of the ego" as philosophical underpinnings for social and personal revolution. Born into a military family, Ōsugi was expelled from military school for insubordination and turned to language studies and radical politics in Tokyo. After a series of prison terms between 1906 and 1910, which he considered his "real education," he emerged as a leading voice in the Japanese anarchist movement. Through his journals, such as Kindai shisō (Modern Thought) and Rōdō undō (The Labor Movement), he introduced the works of European thinkers like Peter Kropotkin, Georges Sorel, and Henri Bergson to Japan, synthesizing their ideas into his own philosophy. His advocacy of free love and his controversial personal life, which included simultaneous relationships with three women, led to a violent attack against him in 1916 and his temporary ostracism from the socialist movement. Ōsugi became a key figure in the Japanese labor movement, advocating for syndicalism and workers' autonomy while strongly criticizing both state authority and the emerging Bolshevism. In the chaotic aftermath of the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, Ōsugi, his partner and fellow anarchist Itō Noe, and his six-year-old nephew were arrested by a squad of military police led by Captain Amakasu Masahiko. They were beaten and strangled, their bodies disposed of in a well. Their murders, known as the Amakasu Incident, became a symbol of state violence against radicals during the period.
Kita Ikki (北 一輝, Kita Ikki; 3 April 1883 – 19 August 1937; real name: Kita Terujirō (北 輝次郎)) was a Japanese author and…
Kita Ikki (北 一輝, Kita Ikki; 3 April 1883 – 19 August 1937; real name: Kita Terujirō (北 輝次郎)) was a Japanese author and political philosopher who was active in early Shōwa period Japan. Drawing from an eclectic range of influences, Kita was a self-described socialist who has also been described by detractors as the "ideological father of Japanese fascism", though this has been highly contested, as his writings touched equally upon pan-Asianism, Nichiren Buddhism, fundamental human rights and egalitarianism and he was involved with Chinese revolutionary circles. While his publications were invariably censored and he ceased writing after 1923, Kita was an inspiration for elements on the far-right of Japanese politics into the 1930s, particularly his advocacy for territorial expansion and a military coup. The government saw Kita's ideas as disruptive and dangerous; in 1936 he was arrested for allegedly joining the failed coup attempt of 26 February 1936 and executed on 19 August 1937.
Cho Man-sik (Korean: 조만식; 1 February 1883 – ?), also known by his art name Godang (고당), was a Korean independence…
Cho Man-sik (Korean: 조만식; 1 February 1883 – ?), also known by his art name Godang (고당), was a Korean independence activist. He became involved in the power struggle that enveloped North Korea in the months following the Japanese surrender after World War II. Originally, Cho was supported by the Soviet Union for the eventual rule of North Korea. However, due to his opposition to the USA proposed trusteeship, Cho lost Soviet support and was forced from power by the Soviet-backed and pro Soviet communists in the north (a predecessor of the Workers' Party of Korea). Placed under house arrest in January 1946, he later disappeared into the North Korean prison system, where confirmed reports of him end. He is generally believed to have been executed soon after the start of the Korean War, possibly in October 1950.
Ujaku Akita (秋田 雨雀, Akita Ujaku; 30 January 1883 – 12 May 1962) was the pseudonym of Tokuzō Akita (秋田 徳三, Akita…
Ujaku Akita (秋田 雨雀, Akita Ujaku; 30 January 1883 – 12 May 1962) was the pseudonym of Tokuzō Akita (秋田 徳三, Akita Tokuzō), a Japanese author and Esperantist. He is best known for his plays, books, and short stories for children.
Kubushiro Ochimi (16 December 1882 – 23 October 1972; in Japanese, 久布白落実, or くぶしろ おちみ in kana) was a Japanese religious…
Kubushiro Ochimi (16 December 1882 – 23 October 1972; in Japanese, 久布白落実, or くぶしろ おちみ in kana) was a Japanese religious leader, temperance activist, and feminist. She was president of the Japanese Women's Christian Temperance Union, and general director of the Women's Suffrage League in Japan.
Chū Kudō (工藤忠, Kudō Chū; December 10, 1882 – December 18, 1965), real name Tetsusaburō Kudō (工藤鉄三郎, Kudō Tetsusaburō)…
Chū Kudō (工藤忠, Kudō Chū; December 10, 1882 – December 18, 1965), real name Tetsusaburō Kudō (工藤鉄三郎, Kudō Tetsusaburō), was a Japanese continental rōnin and Lieutenant General in the Manchukuo Imperial Army. He served as aide-de-camp and chief of the bodyguard of Emperor Puyi.
Hitoshi Yamakawa (Japanese: 山川 均, Yamakawa Hitoshi; 20 December 1880 – 23 March 1958) was a Japanese socialist…
Hitoshi Yamakawa (Japanese: 山川 均, Yamakawa Hitoshi; 20 December 1880 – 23 March 1958) was a Japanese socialist intellectual, activist, and theorist. He was a central figure in the early Japanese socialist movement and a co-founder of the first Japanese Communist Party in 1922. After breaking with the party a year later, he became the leader of the Rōnō-ha (Labor-Farmer Faction), a dissident group of Marxist thinkers who challenged the Comintern's thesis that Japan required a two-stage revolution. Born in Kurashiki into a family that had lost its wealth and status, Yamakawa developed a strong anti-authoritarian streak and a sense of social alienation during his youth. After dropping out of Dōshisha, a Christian school where he was first exposed to socialist ideas, he was imprisoned for lèse-majesté in 1900. This experience proved transformative, and he emerged a dedicated revolutionary. Yamakawa joined the Japan Socialist Party in 1906 and, under the influence of Kōtoku Shūsui, became a leading advocate of anarcho-syndicalism. Following another prison term after the Red Flag Incident of 1908 and a period of withdrawal, he returned to activism in 1916. The Russian Revolution led him to embrace Leninism, and in 1922 he helped establish the Japanese Communist Party. He developed the doctrine of "Yamakawaism," which called for a mass-based, legal proletarian party rather than a small, secretive vanguard, leading to the dissolution of the first JCP in 1924. In 1927, he led the Rōnō-ha in a definitive split from the JCP, initiating the highly influential "Japanese capitalism debate". Yamakawa and his faction argued that Japan was an advanced capitalist country requiring a direct, one-stage socialist revolution, a position that placed them in direct opposition to both the JCP and the Comintern. After World War II, he helped establish the Socialist Association (Shakai-shugi Kyōkai (社会主義協会)), which became a powerful left-wing force within the new Japan Socialist Party. He remained a major figure in the socialist movement until his death in 1958.
Tatsuji Fuse (布施 辰治, Fuse Tatsuji; November 13, 1880 – September 13, 1953) was a Japanese lawyer and social activist.…
Tatsuji Fuse (布施 辰治, Fuse Tatsuji; November 13, 1880 – September 13, 1953) was a Japanese lawyer and social activist. Months after the beginning of his career, Fuse became disillusioned with the Japanese government and legal system. He began devoting himself to social causes and the defense of underprivileged groups in Japan. This included farmers, women, sex workers, and ethnic minorities, especially Korean people. Fuse eventually began taking hundreds of cases per year, sometimes free of charge, in defense of these groups. Fuse is remembered fondly in Korea as a Korean independence activist and the foremost defender of the rights of Koreans during and shortly after the Japanese colonial period. He was involved in a significant proportion of historic cases involving Koreans in Japan. This includes trials surrounding the February 8 Declaration of Independence, the trials of Pak Yol and Kaneko Fumiko, and trials in the aftermath of the Kantō Massacre. His activities drew the ire of Japanese authorities; he was arrested on a number of occasions and disbarred in 1939. Soon after Japan surrendered at the end of World War II, Fuse resumed his practice of the law and defended numerous clients until his death in 1953. In 2004, he became the first Japanese person to be awarded the Order of Merit for National Foundation by the South Korean government.
Merrell Vories Hitotsuyanagi, also known as Mereru Hitotsuyanagi (一柳 米来留, Hitotsuyanagi Mereru); born William Merrell…
Merrell Vories Hitotsuyanagi, also known as Mereru Hitotsuyanagi (一柳 米来留, Hitotsuyanagi Mereru); born William Merrell Vories (October 28, 1880 – May 7, 1964), was an educator, architect, entrepreneur, Christian lay missionary, and founder of the Omi Mission. Born in the United States, he later became a naturalized Japanese citizen. Merrell lived and worked mainly in Shiga Prefecture in Japan. With only limited formal training as an architect, he founded an architectural office in Shiga which employed over thirty professional staff and was responsible for the design of well over 1000 residential, commercial, and church structures in Japan and occupied Korea, prior to the Second World War.
Magosaburō Ōhara (大原 孫三郎, Ōhara Magosaburō; July 28, 1880 - January 18, 1943) was a Japanese businessman and…
Magosaburō Ōhara (大原 孫三郎, Ōhara Magosaburō; July 28, 1880 - January 18, 1943) was a Japanese businessman and philanthropist. He was born in Kurashiki, Okayama. He studied at Waseda University but left Waseda before graduation. Later he became the most influential person in Kansai business community.
Liao Zhongkai (April 23, 1877 – August 20, 1925) was an American-born Chinese revolutionary. He was a close follower of…
Liao Zhongkai (April 23, 1877 – August 20, 1925) was an American-born Chinese revolutionary. He was a close follower of Sun Yat-sen and was one of the foremost leaders of the Kuomintang (KMT) from its founding until his death. He is considered to have been part of the KMT's left wing and supported the First United Front between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In August 1925, he was assassinated by members of the KMT's right-wing who were opponents of the First United Front.
Kokkō Sōma (相馬黒光, Sōma Kokkō; September 12, 1876 – March 2, 1955) was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, patron of…
Kokkō Sōma (相馬黒光, Sōma Kokkō; September 12, 1876 – March 2, 1955) was an entrepreneur, philanthropist, patron of artists and patron of Pan-Asian politics during the pre-war Empire of Japan. She was the wife of Aizō Sōma, the founder of Nakamura-ya, a noted bakery in Tokyo.
Sanshirō Ishikawa (石川三四郎; 1876–1956) was a Japanese Christian, socialist, and anarcho-syndicalist who was influential…
Sanshirō Ishikawa (石川三四郎; 1876–1956) was a Japanese Christian, socialist, and anarcho-syndicalist who was influential in the Japanese anarchist movement during the 20th century. He wrote under the pen-name Asahiyama and was a contributor of first Japanese socialist women's newspaper, Sekai Fujin.
Uchiyama Gudō (内山 愚童; May 17, 1874 – January 24, 1911) was a Sōtō Zen Buddhist priest and anarcho-socialist activist…
Uchiyama Gudō (内山 愚童; May 17, 1874 – January 24, 1911) was a Sōtō Zen Buddhist priest and anarcho-socialist activist executed in the High Treason Incident. He was one of few Buddhist leaders who spoke out against the Meiji government in its imperialist projects. Gudō 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.
Nobu Jo (城ノブ, October 18, 1872 – December 20, 1959) was a Japanese Christian philanthropist, based in Kobe. She was…
Nobu Jo (城ノブ, October 18, 1872 – December 20, 1959) was a Japanese Christian philanthropist, based in Kobe. She was head of the Kobe Woman's Welfare Association, and gained international attention in the 1920s for her suicide prevention campaign of signage and personal intervention.
Kōtoku Denjirō (幸徳 傳次郎; November 5, 1871 – January 24, 1911), better known by the pen name Kōtoku Shūsui (Japanese: 幸徳…
Kōtoku Denjirō (幸徳 傳次郎; November 5, 1871 – January 24, 1911), better known by the pen name Kōtoku Shūsui (Japanese: 幸徳 秋水; Japanese pronunciation: [koːtokɯ ɕɯːsɯi]), was a Japanese socialist and anarchist who played a leading role in introducing anarchism to Japan in the early 20th century. Historian John Crump described him as "the most famous socialist in Japan". He was a prominent figure in radical politics in Japan, opposing the Russo-Japanese War by founding the Heimin-sha group and its associated newspaper, Heimin Shinbun. Due to disregard for state press laws, the newspaper ceased publication in January 1905, and Kōtoku served five months in prison from February to July 1905. He subsequently left for the United States, spending November 1905 until June 1906 largely in California, and he came into contact with other prominent anarchist figures such as Peter Kropotkin. Upon his return, he contributed to a divide within the left-wing movement between moderate social democrats and the more radical advocates of direct action, the latter of whom he supported. The growth of the 'direct action' faction led to the banning of the Japan Socialist Party in February 1907, and is arguably the beginning of Japan's modern anarchist movement. He was one of the 12 accused who were executed for treason by the Japanese government in the High Treason Incident in 1911, under suspicion of involvement in a bomb plot to assassinate the Japanese Emperor Meiji.
Takano Iwasaburo (高野 岩三郎, Takano Iwasaburo; October 15, 1871 – April 5, 1949) was a Japanese social statistician and…
Takano Iwasaburo (高野 岩三郎, Takano Iwasaburo; October 15, 1871 – April 5, 1949) was a Japanese social statistician and labor activist.
Tōten Miyazaki (Japanese: 宮崎 滔天, Hepburn: Miyazaki Tōten) or Torazō Miyazaki (1 January 1871 – 6 December 1922) was a…
Tōten Miyazaki (Japanese: 宮崎 滔天, Hepburn: Miyazaki Tōten) or Torazō Miyazaki (1 January 1871 – 6 December 1922) was a Japanese philosopher who aided and supported Sun Yat-sen during the Xinhai Revolution. He assisted Sun during his visits to Japan as he was wanted by Qing dynasty authorities.