Taisho Good Times Belie a Growing Fascism
1912-1914 The Meiji Emperor dies
1912.07.30 Meiji Emperor dies (age 61): Taishou Emperor enstated: beginning
of Taishou Era
1912.09.13 on day of funeral, General Nogi Maresuke and wife commit 'traditional
suicide'
Taishou Emperor:
?? suffers childhood meningitis, perhaps the cause of chronic weakness, low
aptitude
?? attends Peers School: poor performance causes much gossip
1912.09.13 on way to funeral he shouts at people "Get out of the way,
get out of the way!"
1913 Emperor's birthday established as August 31
?? later changed to October 31, not to interfere with summer vacation
1912-1925 Taishou Government faces economic troubles despite WWI profits
Kyôshôkai, Sôdômei,
1913- Taishou Democracy Movement: to oppose han-, army-cliques.
1916 Yoshino Sakuzou, Kensei no hongi: essay opposes absolutism, militarism,
bureaucratism.
1917 Prohibition of currency leaving country
1917.9.1 Profiteering Law (Bouri torishimari rei): to stem inflation of rice,
iron, etc. costs.
1918 Reimeikai (Dawn Party) est. by Yoshino Sakuzoo
1918~?? Rousoukai (Old and Young Society):
= Takabatake Motoyuki, Sakai Toshihiko, Gondoo, Ooi Kentaroo, Mitsukawa, Ookawa,
1918 late summer: Tokyo Rice Riots: riots spread throughout Japan
1919 Noguchi Hideo discovers source of yellow fever
1919 Dainihon kokusuikai (J. Nat'l Tradition Society): est. by Home
Minister Tokonami Takejiroo
= designed to mobilize proletariat to conservative nationalism
1919.08 Yuuzonsha (Survivors Society): followers of Kita Ikki: Mitsukawa,
Ookawa,
= affiliates: Hi no kai, Yuukoo gakkai, Tamashii no kai, Ushio no kai, Noroshi
no kai
1921 attack on residence of Saionji's son
1921 plan to assassinate Yamagata discovered in Kamakura.
1923 break up over differences between Ookawa and Kita
1920.3~ beginning of post-WWI recession: strikes at ironworks and shipyards.
1920.05.02 (Sunday) first national MayDay demonstration at Ueno Park brings
10,000 supporters.
= May Day demos continue yearly with increasing support, despite police
violence, until '35.
1920.12 Nihon shakaishugi doomei (J. Socialist League): to destroy
capitalism, bourgeois culture.
1920 Osaka population 1.5 million; 1923 Tokyo population 3.5 million
1920 Shin Fujin Kyôkai established to challenge legal restrictions
against women.
1921 Deguchi Nao, leader of Oomoto-kyoo sect, accused of disrespect of emperor,
becomes rightist.
1921 Prime Minister Hara Kei assassinated
1921 Sekirankai (Red Wave Society): socialist women's group:
= Itoo Noe, Yamakawa Kiue, Sakai Magara, Kutsumi Fusako, Hashiura Haruko
1921.05.28 Japan Socialist League officially banned
1921.11.25 Hirohito declared acting regent as Taishô Emperor shows
mental illness
??? Sekka booshidan (Anti-Bolshevik Corps): rightist?
1923.04? incites violent street demonstrations in Tokyo against Soviets
??? Dainihon seigidan (Japan Justice Corps): rightist? based on Italian
blackshirt model
1921 Kyuuchuuboo juudaijiken (Imperial Palace Incident): re marriage of
Cr. Prince to Kuninomiya Nagako
= Yamagata Aritomo (Chooshuu) opposes Nagako's Satsuma connections
1921 marriage takes place: Yamagata defeated:
1922 Chian Keisatsu law amended to allow women to attend political
meetings, but not as members
1922 Suiheisha founded to support burakumin (outcast) interests;
leftist politics
= proliferation of theories about origins of burakumin {Fowler}
= incoming Korean population forced into same ghettos, jobs: incurs social
competition
1915 Kagawa Toyohiko, Hinmin shinri no kenkyuu: expounds racial differences
of burakumin
1920-1924 Kagawa Toyohiko: autobio. trilogy of Christian social worker in
Kobe buraku
1923 Saikoo Mankichi, Jooka (Sacred Fire): burakumin novel
1922 Japan Communist Party formed: Sakai Toshihiko, et al; Katayama Sen
in Moscow
1923.09.01 Great Kantou Earthquake hits Tokyo; US sends aid
= Koreans massacred in wake of rumors of well-poisonings
= Amakasu Incident: leftists killed by police: Amakasu Masahiko?, Oosugi
Sakae, ...
1923 Itou Noe (writer, mistress of Osugi), killed by police.
= Kameido Incident: labor leaders killed by police: Hirasawa Keishichi
1923.09.07 law prohibits spreading of rumors
1923 First wave of arrests of Japan Communist Party members (also 1928)
1924 Gyoochisha (): est. by Ookawa
1925 half of the members resign after Kita is arrested for protesting sale
of Imp. land in Hokkaido
1924 Kokuhonsha (Nat'l Foundation Society): est. by Baron Hiranuma
Kiichiroo
= led by elites of gov't, military, finance: rightist:
1924.3 JCP disbanded (re-established 1926)
1925.5 Universal Male Suffrage: electorate expands from 3 million to 12.5+
million: incl. Okinawa, Hokkaido
1925.5 Peace Preservation Law:
1926 Anarchist Kaneko Fumiko dies in prison after trial on charges of disrespect
1926 Taishô Emperor dies: Emperor Hirohito enstated: beginning of
Showa Era
Who's Who in Goverment:
Prime Ministers:
Hara Kei: "the great commoner"
Chooshuu loyalists:
= Yamagata Aritomo, Nakamura Yuujiroo,
Satsuma loyalists:
= Hatano Norinao, Matsukata Masayoshi, Tokonami, Makino Nobuaki,
Who's Who among political/scholar ideologues: Groups run the gamut
= note inability of patriotic societies to successfully coalesce as in Germany
(Maruyama)
Moderates: minponshugi: middle class interests: parliamentary responsibility:
= Yoshino Sakuzoo,
Center Extremists: Fascist agrarian
= Gondoo Seikyoo, Tachibana Koozaburoo
Rightists:
= Tokonami Takejiroo, Hiranuma Kiichiroo,
Moderate Leftists:
Extreme Leftists: moving towards communism: syndicalism:
= Oosugi Sakae, Yamakawa Hitoshi, Fukumoto Kazuo
Pro-Military Right-wing Leftists: anti-Marxist: society as organic whole:
Peronist fascism?:
= Kita Ikki, Ookawa Shuumei,
National Socialist Right-wing Leftists: non-military: mass mobilization:
= Takabatake Motoyuki, Akao Bin,
1910-1920 Japan consolidates power in Korea
1909 Itou Hirobumi (Resident General in Korea) assassinated in Manchuria by
a Korean
1910 Japan declares Korea a colonial territory
1919.3.1 Korean pro-independence, anti-Japan demonstration crushed
1908-1922 Increasing Japanese involvement in China affairs
1908.11 Takahashi Shôgôro and Elihu Root (US) sign pact on equal
economic opportunities in China
1911-1912 Taiwan aboriginal leaders given tours of Japan (1897,1911-1912,1918,1925)
1911-1912 China Revolution ends Ch'ing Dynasty; Formation of Republic of China
under Sun Yat-Sen
1913 summer: 'Second Revolution' in China: aborts
1914 (E. Europe) Outbreak of First World War
1914.08.23 Japan declares war on Germany: seizes German interests in China:
= Seizes Micronesian territories: Marshall Isles, Mariana Isles, Caroline Isles,
Palau
1915.01 Japan issues "21 Demands" to China, achieves political-economic
control
1918 Hara Kei pursues assimilation policy towards Taiwan
= promotes application of constitution: impeded by registration system, etc.
1918 Siberian Expedition: Japan tests practicality of taking Russian territory
= 70,000 troops sent to prevent Bolshevik consolidation
1920 Russians kill 100 Japanese at Nikolayevsk
1919 acquisition of new territories in China
1919~ Japan gives Nishihara Loans (240m yen) to Peking (Tuan Ch'i-jui et. al.)
1919.05.04-1919.08 Shanghai, Peking, etc.: growing boycott, popular demonstrations
against Japan
annexation of Shantung province, enlarged areas of Manchuria
Paris Peace Conference
1919.06.28 Versailles Treaty (J, US, Br, Fr): J equal vote; J gets German
areas Shandong, Saipan, etc.
= Japan tries to get declaration of racial equality, but is voted down by
all Western powers
= Later it was thought that excessive reparation demands from Germany caused
treaty breakdown
1919, ..., 1943 Communist International (Comintern)
1920 Formation of League of Nations
1921-1922 Washington Conference: Japan returns Shandong to China, but keeps
economic control
1922 late: J-R negotiations collapse at Changchun (Manchuria)
1924 US bans immigration of any more Japanese: many in Japan are outraged at
overt racism.
Taishou Political Writing: Democracy - Socialism - Spiritualism
1912.9 Kindai shisoo (Modern Thought), a journal : ed. Oosugi Sakae,
Arahata Kanson 1914.9
1914.1 Hechima no hana () ed. Sakai Toshihiko
1914.10 Heimin shinbun (People's News): ed. Oosugi, Arahata; socialist,
each issue banned.
1915.9 Shinshakai replaces Hechima no hana: compares socialists to fugitives
awaiting opportunity.
1916 (pub. 1921) Kita Ikki, Shina kakumei gaishi(Private History of the
Chinese Revolution):
= rejects British models for China: anti-Capitalist, pro-Nationalist, pro-Revolution:
1916 Tokutomi Sohoo complains of loss of state ideals and national purpose:
wants old-fashioned loyalties
1916 Ooyama Ikuo complains that people feel alienated from politics
1918.1-1918.7 Minshuu(), ed. Fukuda: oppressed individuals seeking self-awareness.
1919 Kita Ikki, Outline for Rebuilding Japan:advocates coup against elite
cliques
= Kita fined 30y by Tokonami, then given 300y by him privately
1919? Minzoku to rekishi (Race and history), ed. Kita Sadakichi: on multi-racial
Japan; burakumin; etc.
1919.2 Warera(We) journal est. by Hasegawa Nyozekan:
1919.4 Kaizoo() journal est. by Yamamoto Sanehiko
1919.5 Shakaishugi Kenkyuu, ed. Yamakawa, Arahata, Sakai: spiritual alternatives
to materialism
1919.5 Kaihoo (), ed. Arahata, Asoo, Sano
1921 Roodoo undoo (Labor Movement) ed. Oosugi Sakae, Kondoo Kenji
1921.2 Tanemaku hito (Seed Sower), publ. in Akita Pref., ed. Komaki
Komaki had participated in Clarte movement in France, pro-communist.
??? Shinbunshi-hoo (Newspaper Law) requires 500yen bond to publish articles
on politics.
1912~ Literature of a Dead Emperor
1913 Mori Ogai, The House of Abe: Feudal vassal refused permission to commit
suicide
1914 Natsume Souseki, Kokoro: Intellectual commits suicide for causing love-triangle
tragedy
1915 Mori Ogai, Wild Goose (Gan):
1916 Natsume Souseki (d.1916), Light and Darkness:
1910-23 Shirakaba-ha (White Birth Scoiety): haute-bourgeois realist/idealists
= Mushanokouji Saneatsu, Shiga Naoya, Arishima Takeo
1910.4 Shirakaba (White Birch) mag. est. by Mushanokooji Saneatsu,
Shiga Naoya
1917 Arishima Takeo, The Descendents of Cain:
1917 Shiga Naoya, Wakai: dispassionately realist narrator (author)
is disowned by his father
1918 Atarashiki mura (New Village) mag., est. by Saneatsu,
= Saneatsu establishes an experimental utopian village in Miyazaki Pref.,
on Tolstoy model.
1919 Arishima Takeo, A Certain Woman:
1921 Shiga Naoya, A Dark Night’s Passing:
1923 Arishima Takeo commits suicide
===Mindscape Novels (Shinkyoo shoosetsu):
1917 Shiga Naoya, Kinosaki ni te:
?? Ozaki Ichiyo, Mushi no iroiro: written on sick-bed
?? Shimaki Kensaku, Akagaeru: written short before dying
1912-1925 Taishou Period literary experimentations
= note 1919-1926 burst in wealth and popularity of writers
= proliferation of schools: Neo-Perceptionists, Naturalists, Anti-Naturalists,
Romanticists, Futurism, Cubism, Expressionism, Dadaism, Symbolism,
Structuralism, Realism, Imagism, Vorticism...
1915 Akutagawa Ryuunosuke, Rashoumon: lowly thief is disgusted at sight
of even lower thievery
1916.1 Fukuda Masao, Noumin no kotoba (Words of Farmers): poems after
Walt Whitman.
1916.9 Miyamoto Yuriko, Mazushiki hitobito no mure: Rural rich-poor
gap in eyes of young woman.
1917.8 Miyamoto Yuriko, Negisama Miyata: man victimized into tenant
farming.
1917??? Arishima Takeo, Kain no matsuei (Descendants of Cain): exploitation
of tenant farmers.
1918 (China) Lu Xun, Diary of a Madman: man convinced that his community
will eat him
1918 Akutagawa Ryuunosuke, Kumo no ito: thief Kandata ruins his opportunity
to be rescued from hell
= based on Paul Carus, Karma (1894); in turn based on Dostoevsky story
in Brothers Karamazov
1919 Satou Haruo, Rural Melancholy:
1919 Kikuchi Kan, Onshuu no kanata ni:
1920 Izumi Kyouka, Baishoku kamonanban:
1922.2 Nakanishi Inosuke, Akatsuchi ni megumu mono: account of Korean
laborers.
Children's Literature:
= writers: Iwaya Sazanami (1870-1933), Akutagawa Ryuunosuke (1892-1927), Arishima
Takeo (1878-1923), Nogami Yaeko (1895-1985), Uno Kooji (1891-1961), Yosano
Akiko (1878-1942), Suzuki Miekichi (1882-1936), Ogawa Mimei (1882-1961), Shimazaki
Tooson (1872-1943),
1891 Iwaya Sazanami, Koganemaru:
1917 Shimazaki Tooson, Osanaki mono ni: Fatherly narration of travels to France:
1920 Shimazaki Tooson, Furusato: childhood in Magome (late 1870s)
1924 Shimazaki Tooson, Osana monogatari: student years in Tokyo (1880s)
1940 Shimazaki Tooson, Chikaramochi: autobiography with inspirational digressions.
Technology and Changes in Lifestyles:
1910~ Hydroelectric power spreads =
Electric lighting spreads, using standard 20-watt bulbs