Haruo Wakō (和光 晴生, Wakō Haruo; June 12, 1948 – November 4, 2023) was a Japanese communist militant, member of the…Haruo Wakō (和光 晴生, Wakō Haruo; June 12, 1948 – November 4, 2023) was a Japanese communist militant, member of the Japanese Red Army (JRA). Wakō attended Keio University, but dropped out in 1970. Later he worked for a time as an assistant for Kōji Wakamatsu's Wakamatsu Productions, a producer of leftist movies.
Tatsu Ishimoda (Japanese: 石母田 達 Ishimoda Tatsu; 11 May 1924 – 12 February 2022) was a Japanese politician. A member of…Tatsu Ishimoda (Japanese: 石母田 達 Ishimoda Tatsu; 11 May 1924 – 12 February 2022) was a Japanese politician. A member of the Japanese Communist Party, he served in the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1976. He died in Atsugi on 12 February 2022, at the age of 97.
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.
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.
Chiba Takusaburō (千葉 卓三郎; 17 June 1852 – 12 November 1883)—also known as Chiba Takuron—lived as an obscure liberal…Chiba Takusaburō (千葉 卓三郎; 17 June 1852 – 12 November 1883)—also known as Chiba Takuron—lived as an obscure liberal political activist and schoolteacher in the late Tokugawa, early Meiji period. In his younger years, Takusaburō studied Confucian, Buddhist, Christian and Methodist thought. In his later years, Takusaburō devoted his life in disseminating the importance of liberty and rights for the people. His numerous texts include the draft constitution in 1880 (influenced by texts regarding English, German and American models of governmental structure), The Institutional Maxims of Chiba Takusaburō, Treatise on the Kingly Way, and On the Futility of Book Learning. Takusaburō died in late 1883 after a long battle with tuberculosis. Chiba Takusaburō attempted to bring forth a "grass roots" society, driven by the people. Chiba is emblematic of how the revolutionary spirit, more frequently attributed to men like Itagaki Taisuke, Ōkuma Shigenobu and Fukuzawa Yukichi, was existent in even low ranking samurai during the Freedom and People's Rights Movement or Jiyū Minken Undō.