在米日本革命党

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  • ザイベイ ニホン カクメイトウ
  • Japanese Revolutionaries in the U.S.

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This essay is comprised of the following chapters: Preface　1） The difference of communism and socialism and their developments　2） Hiroyuki Kato, a bureaucratic scholar, first introduced communism and socialism into Japan　3） The word changes used in Japanese translation during the Meiji period　4） The embryo of social movement in Japan ― ‘Toyoshakaito’ （東洋社会党）, ‘The Socialist Party in the East’ in Shimabara, Kyushu, Japan　5） ‘Aikokudōshidōmei’ （愛国同志同盟）, ‘The Union of Pro-patrioticism’ in San Francisco　6） Shunsui Kotoku （幸徳秋水）, a Meiji era socialist, in California （Nov. 1905～June. 1906）　7） An open letter （menace） to the Emperor in Japan　8） Outbreak of high treason　9） The way to the gallows　10） The aftermath of high treason. Postface　11） The author’s English abstract. Shunsui Kotoku was indicted for his articles in ‘Heiminshinbun’ （平民新聞）, ‘The Commoner Newspaper’, and was jailed for 5 months in 1905. After his release he visited America for his health thanks to a donation. While in California for about 6 months, he seemed to be influenced by anarchism and organized ‘Shakaikakumeito’ （社会革命党）, ‘The Social Revolutionary Party’ in Oakland, while returning home. He is said to have diverted himself in thought while in the States. He sailed for America from Yokohama with his nephew on the 14th of November, 1905, arriving in Seattle on the 29th of the month after a voyage of 17 days. While staying at ‘Teikoku Ryokan’ （帝国旅館）, The Imperial Hotel, in Seattle, many young Japanese day workers thronged to his room. On the night of December 1st, he made a speech, ‘After the Russo-Japanese War’, at an Assembly Hall in the city. On the night of December 3rd, he and his fellow travellers headed for Oakland, arriving there after two days and nights. When he and his party arrived at ‘the 16th St. Depot’ in Oakland, they were welcomed warmly by Shigeki Oka （岡　繁樹）, an anarchist from Kochi Prefecture, and many others. From thence the party made for the Union Ferry Depot in San Francisco where many young Japanese men were also looking forward to seeing Kotoku. The party was also met by many people at the Ferry Depot in San Francisco. Albert Johnson, an anarchist and formerly an engineer on a ferry boat, stretched out his hand to Kotoku. This was the first time for them to meet ever though, they had been corresponding with each other. Later Kotoku and Oka visited the U.S. branch of the ‘Heiminsha’ （平民社）, ‘the Association of the Common People’, located at 680 Hayes Street, San Francisco. The association in Japan was ordered to dissolve though, the branch in SF was in existence. Kotoku and Tokiya Kato （加藤時也）, a medical doctor, stayed in a larger room while Mr. and Mrs. Oka lodged in a smaller room in the basement.

On the night of December 6th, a small gathering was held at the branch to discuss the future campaign. The following day, Kotoku and other comrades were invited to a tea party held at A. Johnson’s home, 414 Lily Avenue, chatting the time away. On the 8th of the same month, Kotoku and others visited the Golden Gate Park accompanied by Seiichi Sagiya （鷺谷精一）, a newsman at ‘Nichibei’ （日米）. On the night of December 3rd, Kotoku was invited to a dinner party held at the Imperial Hotel（?） under the joint auspices of Nichibei and Shinsekai （新世界）, the New World, in San Francisco. The next day a tea party was held at the same hotel. Some 50 men attended the party with George Williams, an organizer of the Socialist Party. On the same day Kotoku moved to Rose Fritz’s home. She was an anarchist from Kiev, Russia. The dry lodgings was located at 537, Oak Street, a little away from Hayes Street. Kotoku’s room was on the corner of the second floor. A. Johnson’s home faced in the opposite direction. On the night of December 14th, Kotoku attended a small gathering of the Socialist Party at Mr Eitel’s home. On December 16th, a speech meeting of the Socialist Party was held at night at the Golden Gate Hall （Sutter St.） with George Williams（the manager）, C. H. King（the speaker） and so on. Some 400 people attended the meeting. After Sakutaro Iwasa （岩佐作太郎）, a socialist from Chiba Prefecture, delivered the opening address, C. H. King talked about the general idea of socialism in plain English. Next Kotoku made a one hour and a half speech on the degradation, straitened circumstances of the Japanese at home, the necessity of universal suffrage, and putting socialism into action amid hearty cheers. On the night of December 20th, Kotoku had dinner with comrades downtown. Two days after this, he visited the headquarters of the Socialist Party（Howard St.）, receiving a hearty welcome by the people relaxing there. On December 23rd, Mrs. Fritz came and talked about the necessity of assassinating rulers. The next day Kotoku took a bath at Johnson’s. On Christmas Day（Dec. 25th）, Kotoku was entertained at breakfast at Johnson’s. Kotoku was confined to bed for the next few days because of a chronic catarrh attack. On December 26th, Sen Katayama （片山　潜）, a socialist, showed up by chance at his room. On the 29th of the month, Katayama and Kotoku dined together at a restaurant on Market Street. The next day Kotoku saw him off at the Ferry Depot. On January 1, 1906, Kotoku met Weiden （a Swede） and Dr. Pyburn （an anarchist） at Mrs. Fritz’s home. Kotoku, then visited the Heiminsha branch, where photos were taken. On the night of January 6th, a meeting of the Socialist Party was held at the Socialist headquarters‘ St. Marks Hotel. 409-8th Street, in Oakland. Some 200 people attended the gathering. After Macdavid, a newsman of‘ the Socialist Voice’, harangued for half an hour on the necessity of solidarity of workers in all nations, Kotoku talked about the gist of socialism for about an hour.

On January 21st, a universal international celebration of ‘The Bloody Sunday’ （Jan. 22, 1905, St.Petersburg, Russia） was held at the Maple Hall （14th and Webster Streets） with 400 in the audience. The meeting began with the Marseillaise and then J. B. Anthony （representative of W.W.W）, Mr. Olive M. Johnson （the Social Labor Party）, and Austin Lewis （the Socialist Party） made brief speeches. Finally Kotoku spoke on the Russian Revolution which went ahead of the world revolution. On the night of the 22nd, the same celebration was held at the Lyric Hall （Larkin St, Turkish St, San Francisco） with three times the audience in Oakland. On January 24th, Kotoku and others （Mr. and Mrs. Oka, Tokiya Kato, Katsuro Ōnishi, Yamauchi, Miss.Yuko Nomura, Minotaro Kawasaki ― a spy at the consulate general in SF）, seven in all, had an outing at the Cliff House, enjoying drinks and ice cream. On February 23rd, Kotoku was given breakfast at Johnson’s because he had a cold for 4 days. On March 3rd, Kotoku’s nephew arrived in San Francisco from Seattle with a view to find day work. On March 22nd, Kotoku and Johnson visited the Public Library to borrow books. On April 1st, a lecture was given at the Heiminsha branch. On April 18th, San Francisco was hit by a heavy earthquake causing the people at Mrs.Fritz’s to flee to vacant land. The buildings of the Heiminsha and Mrs.Fritz were saved from the fire. The next day Kotoku and others visited the ruins at Market Street. On April 25th, Kotoku went to Oakland accompanied by Tetsugoro Takeuchi （竹内鉄五郎）, a socialist from Iwate Prefecture, spending a night there. Oakland was full of evacuees from San Francisco. The following day, Kotoku spent a half day taking a walk at Lake Merritt, returning to SF after that. On May 2nd, Kotoku vacated Mrs. Fritz’s home and moved to the Namie Church （南美江教会） in Oakland, where he shared a room with Takeuchi. On May 31st, Johnson came and saw Kotoku at the Namie Church. On June 1st, Kotoku’ and his 50 comrades organized ‘Shakaikakumeito’ （社会革命党）, the Social Revolutionary Party, at the headquarters of the Socialist Party （Telegraph St.）. On the fullowing day, Kotoku moved to the Heiminsha in SF to prepare for his return home. On the night of June 3rd, a small feast was held at the Namie Church in Oakland. On the night of June 4th, the newsmen at the Nichibei held a farewell party for Kotoku. On June 5th, Kotoku and Oka left San Francisco for Japan, embarking on the ‘Hong Kong’, arriving in Yokohama on the 23rd of the month. How Kotoku viewed America: his places of sojourn were exclusively limited to San Francisco and Oakland though, he seemed to have enlarged his acquaintance with actual life in the States either by conversation with different people or by referring to sundry literature. The general public in Japan regarded America as a free, rich country. Kotoku, however, judged the U.S. calmly. It is doubtful whether the Japanese in California were happy or not, he thought. Because our happiness depends on our circumstances, knowledge, and tastes. People in Japan have cares in life though, they have their own homes whereas most Japanese in the States are wanderers without happy homes. Homes are the source of happiness by which our poverty is healed. Wanderers are apt to lead a fast life. They lead the lives of a caravan in the desert. They hope for liquor, gambling, and prostitutes after their daily works. They are forced to live like a caravan to secure a livelihood.

At the Heiminsha branch, symposiums were held, every Sunday night, on the issues of prices, morals, love, and religion, Kotoku himself thought that his comrades in America were Christians. But it fell short of his expectations. The majority of them were scientific socialists, Marxians. Even the Japanese living in the church cherished Marxist ideas, they were also panthesist. Before visiting America, Kotoku thought that it was a democratic state which had freedom of speech, press, and assembly, but he found it wasn’t. People who challenged against government, public morals, and customs suffered persecution as in Russia and Japan. America is a free country for men of wealth and religionists but it is also a nation of oppression and persecution for workers. Why Japanese immigrate to America: the reasons are the Japanese government doesn’t protect people and guarantee their lives. Land is always in sole posession of landowners. Smaller businesses are overwhelmed by the capitalist classes. While tenant farmers, wage workers grow larger, the gulf between the rich and poor is very great. Whereas impoverished provinces increase in poverty, people move to the larger cities seeking work or go to foreign shores. The future relationship between Japan and America: Kotoku thought that while U.S. money and goods flowed into Eastern countries like China, Korea, the Philippines and Japan, countries would make war on the market for goods as well as on the clash of interests. To avoid war and the ravages of it, we should stop economic competition. Only socialism serves as a prevention against future war because it entertains universal brotherhood regardless of differences of race and country. The ‘Shakaikakumeito’, organized in Oakland on June 1, 1906, aimed at a free, happy, and peaceful society. The party platform was the abolition of the system of economic competition, the common use of land and capital, the eradication of poverty and class distinction. The party also declared a grand plan of social revolution with joined forces of the whole world. The socialistic movement in Japan was still suppressed as a breach of public peace. On November 3, 1907, an open letter （menace） to the Emperor of Japan was scattered mainly in Japanese living quarters in Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco. The letter censured the Emperor on the persecution of socialists, his atrocities, and declaring retaliatory assassination of him. The letter was signed as ‘The Anarchist Party, Men of Assassination’. The acting consul, Kazuo Matsubara （松原一雄） in San Francisco, examined the offenders by employing Minotaro Kawasaki （川崎巳之太郎） and Tetsuo Tatsumi （巽　鉄夫） as spies. On investigation, four men were disclosed as suspects: Tetsugoro Takeuchi, Tsunero Odanari, Sakutaro Iwasa, and Zenzaburo Kuramochi. The man who wrote the letter was supposed to be Tetsugoro Takeuchi （1883 ～ ?）, a cook in Berkeley, the ringleader. On November 11, 1907, ‘The Call’ and ‘San Francisco Chronicle’ published the event in their newspapers. The Call’s headline said ― ‘Japanese anarchists in Berkeley plot to murder the Mikado, while the article headlined by the SF Chronicle ran ― ‘Japanese Revolutionist Letter points out kinship with the Ape’.

The four men escaped arrest because their behaviour was not in conflict with the Immigration Law and regulations. In August, 1908, two threatening letters were sent to Japan. One was addressed to the Nihonbashi Police Station, and the other was sent to the government. The letters mentioned the killing of the Prime Minister, key ministers of the Cabinet, a general on grand manoeuvers, and blowing up 5 iron bridges on the Tōkaido Railway. Bringing pressure on the freedom of speech, assembly, and labor movement in Japan finally led to high treason, which occured on May 25, 1910. A few socialists plotted to kill the Emperor on His Majesty’s Birthday by throwing a hand granade at him. The authorities used this intrigue as a good opportunity to arrest key socialists on Japanese soil. The Crimjnal Code, Article 73 provides for the death penalty to offenders who try to harm the Emperor and the Royal family as well. Not only consummated assassination and attempted murder but also hatching a plot deserving death by hanging. Kotoku was not an active offender of the intrigue but a releasor. Article 73, however, orders the death penalty for the attempted crime. Shortly he was cooked up as being the ringleader of the plan and was sentenced to death. On January 18, 1911, 24 prisoners were sentenced to capital punishment. The next day 12 of them were commuted to imprisonment for life by special Imperial grace. Soon, on January 24, 1911, 11 men were executed, in 9 hours from 8 AM to 4 PM. The only female convict named, Suga Kanno, （管野スガ） ［31］ was punished by death at about 8: 20 the next morning. The mass protests against the execution pervaded the whole world. The origin of the high treason was an open letter to the Emperor, which caused irreparable disaster to comrades in Japan. When the Emperor was informed of the activities of socialists in Japan and abroad from a senior stateman named Aritomo Yamagata （山県有朋） 3 years before, he wished to control them strictly. Soon after Taro Katsura （桂太郎） formed the Cabinet with Yamagata’ s support, he tightened the control of socialists yielding to the Emperor’s wishes. Feud engenders another discord without end. Thanks are due to Nihontosho Center., university libraries, the National Diet Library, Diplomatic Archives Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo as well as to the Public Libraries in San Francisco and Oakland for their kindnesses.

収録刊行物

  • 社会志林

    社会志林 66 (4), 1-78, 2020-03

    法政大学社会学部学会

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