Kita Ikki
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese author, intellectual
and political philosopher who was active in early-Shōwa period
Japan
.
, Ikki Kita’s real name was Kita Terujirō (北 輝次郎). He audited lectures at Waseda University
in Tokyo
, and while a student, was attracted to socialist ideas
, meeting with many influential figures in the early socialist movement in Japan. This movement was, however, full of "opportunist" and other statist currents.
The Shakai seisaku gakkai, or Japanese social-policy school, followed their authoritarian and statist, Bismarck
ian and von Schmollerian German forebears in arguing for, as well as being very practical in, their implementation of extending state controls from above—including the social insurance policies that were adopted by Bismarck to prevent any further expansion of the mass-revolutionary socialist party in late 19th-century Germany.
Kita was also attracted to the cause of the Chinese Revolution of 1911
, and became a member of the Tongmenghui
(United League) led by Song Jiaoren
. He traveled to China to assist in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty
.
However, Kita was also interested in the radical right wing. The right-wing, ultra-nationalist Kokuryukai (Amur River Association/Black Dragon Society), founded in 1901, was part of a current that has a history traceable back to the Genyosha (Deep Ocean Society/Genkai Straits Society) of 1881, founded by Tōyama Mitsuru
. Tōyama, with many contacts in the Japanese establishment over a period of fully half a century, in turn claimed to be the rightful successor to Saigo Takamori, who pushed for Japanese expansion to the Asian mainland in the early Meiji era.
Kita—who held views on Russia and Korea from almost a decade earlier that were already remarkably similar to those espoused by the Kokuryukai—was sent by that organization as a special member, who would write for them from China and send reports on the ongoing situation at the time of the 1911 Xinhai revolution
. In his book on Kita, George Wilson tries to play down or deemphasize all such matters.
Kita's article called "Tut-tut, those who oppose the war [with Russia]" showed he had little time for "those idiots" who opposed the Russo-Japanese war. In addition, Kita's first book, the Kokutairon book (the one purportedly on "pure socialism"), was banned upon publication. Some have argued from this to assert that Kita must have been deemed a radical threat from the left to the government. However, the case of Uchida Ryohei's anti-Russian book Roshiya bokoku ron (On Decaying Russia) was also subjected to a ban upon its appearance, five years prior to Kita's own suppression by the authoritarian Meiji
state. The government had a predilection for banning books, irrespective of whether they stemmed from the right or from the left of the political spectrum.
By the time Kita returned to Japan in 1919, he had become very disillusioned with the Chinese Revolution, and the strategies offered by it for the changes he envisioned. He joined Okawa Shumei
and others to form the Yuzonsha, an ultranationalist organization, and devoted his time to writing and political activism. He gradually became the leading theorist and philosopher of the right-wing movement in pre-World War II
Japan.
), through which Japan would lead a united and free Asia (pan-Asianism
). Under his later plan, a military coup d'état
would usher in a more-or-less totalitarian regime based on direct rule by a strong and powerful leader, such as the Emperor, who would suspend the Constitution
and radically reorganize the Diet
to be free of "malign influence". The new "National Reorganization Diet" would nationalize certain strategic industries, impose rather minimal limits on individual wealth and private property, enact a land reform
to benefit the farmers, and thus strengthen Japan to enable it to liberate Asia from Western imperialism
. This was termed the Showa Restoration
.
Historians argue about what Kita's political stance was. Taken at face value, he appears to have created a hybrid of fascism
, state socialism
or "socialism from above", agrarianism
, and militarism
. Although his writings call for Japan to liberate Asia, he also calls for Japan to embark on overseas expansion due to increasing population pressures.
This blend of seemingly-opposed philosophies and contradictory goalsMasking a deeper consistency from the time of his early articles: he calls for Japanese expansion to Korea and Manchuria, as well as for militant war with Russia and Britain—whom he dubs "landlord nations", with Japan a so-called "proletarian nation". was reflected in various forms throughout early Shōwa-period Japan. This eclectic blend is one of the reasons why Kita has been hard to understand. Some have argued that this is one of the reasons why it is next to impossible for historians to agree on Kita’s political stance, though Nik Howard takes the view that Kita's ideas are actually highly consistent ideologically throughout his career, with relatively small shifts in response to the changing reality he faced at any given time.
factions who participated in the failed coup of 1936
. After the coup attempt, Kita was arrested by the Kempeitai
for complicity, tried by a closed military court, and executed.
Intellectual
An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...
and political philosopher who was active in early-Shōwa period
Showa period
The , or Shōwa era, is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926 through January 7, 1989.The Shōwa period was longer than the reign of any previous Japanese emperor...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Background
Born on Sado Island, Niigata PrefectureNiigata Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon".- History :...
, Ikki Kita’s real name was Kita Terujirō (北 輝次郎). He audited lectures at Waseda University
Waseda University
, abbreviated as , is one of the most prestigious private universities in Japan and Asia. Its main campuses are located in the northern part of Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as Tokyo Senmon Gakko, the institution was renamed "Waseda University" in 1902. It is known for its liberal climate...
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, and while a student, was attracted to socialist ideas
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, meeting with many influential figures in the early socialist movement in Japan. This movement was, however, full of "opportunist" and other statist currents.
The Shakai seisaku gakkai, or Japanese social-policy school, followed their authoritarian and statist, Bismarck
Bismarck
- People :* Bismarck family, a German noble family descending from Herebord von Bismarck* Otto von Bismarck , German statesman of the 19th century* Herbert von Bismarck , Secretary of State, son of Otto von Bismarck...
ian and von Schmollerian German forebears in arguing for, as well as being very practical in, their implementation of extending state controls from above—including the social insurance policies that were adopted by Bismarck to prevent any further expansion of the mass-revolutionary socialist party in late 19th-century Germany.
Ideology
The socialism that Kita espoused in his early period was a nationalism brand of socialism (or right-wing Romantic anti-capitalism) that had nothing in common with any Marxian notions of "socialism from below".Kita was also attracted to the cause of the Chinese Revolution of 1911
Xinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, also known as Revolution of 1911 or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing , and established the Republic of China...
, and became a member of the Tongmenghui
Tongmenghui
The Tongmenghui, also known as the Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance and United Allegiance Society, was a secret society and underground resistance movement formed when merging many Chinese revolutionary groups together by Sun Yat-sen, Song...
(United League) led by Song Jiaoren
Song Jiaoren
Song Jiaoren was a Chinese republican revolutionary, political leader and a founder of the Kuomintang . He was assassinated in 1913 after leading his Kuomintang party to victory in China's first democratic elections...
. He traveled to China to assist in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
.
However, Kita was also interested in the radical right wing. The right-wing, ultra-nationalist Kokuryukai (Amur River Association/Black Dragon Society), founded in 1901, was part of a current that has a history traceable back to the Genyosha (Deep Ocean Society/Genkai Straits Society) of 1881, founded by Tōyama Mitsuru
Toyama Mitsuru
was a right-wing political leader in early 20th century Japan and founder of the Genyosha nationalist secret society.-Early life:Tōyama was born to a poor samurai family in Fukuoka City in Kyūshū...
. Tōyama, with many contacts in the Japanese establishment over a period of fully half a century, in turn claimed to be the rightful successor to Saigo Takamori, who pushed for Japanese expansion to the Asian mainland in the early Meiji era.
Kita—who held views on Russia and Korea from almost a decade earlier that were already remarkably similar to those espoused by the Kokuryukai—was sent by that organization as a special member, who would write for them from China and send reports on the ongoing situation at the time of the 1911 Xinhai revolution
Xinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, also known as Revolution of 1911 or the Chinese Revolution, was a revolution that overthrew China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing , and established the Republic of China...
. In his book on Kita, George Wilson tries to play down or deemphasize all such matters.
Kita's article called "Tut-tut, those who oppose the war [with Russia]" showed he had little time for "those idiots" who opposed the Russo-Japanese war. In addition, Kita's first book, the Kokutairon book (the one purportedly on "pure socialism"), was banned upon publication. Some have argued from this to assert that Kita must have been deemed a radical threat from the left to the government. However, the case of Uchida Ryohei's anti-Russian book Roshiya bokoku ron (On Decaying Russia) was also subjected to a ban upon its appearance, five years prior to Kita's own suppression by the authoritarian Meiji
Meiji
Meiji may refer to:* Meiji Restoration, the revolution that ushered in the Meiji period* Meiji period - the period in Japanese history when the Meiji Emperor reigned...
state. The government had a predilection for banning books, irrespective of whether they stemmed from the right or from the left of the political spectrum.
By the time Kita returned to Japan in 1919, he had become very disillusioned with the Chinese Revolution, and the strategies offered by it for the changes he envisioned. He joined Okawa Shumei
Okawa Shumei
-Esternal links:* Takeuchi Yoshimi: ""* Prof Dr. Selçuk Esenbel, Dozentin an der Bosporus-Universität: ""*...
and others to form the Yuzonsha, an ultranationalist organization, and devoted his time to writing and political activism. He gradually became the leading theorist and philosopher of the right-wing movement in pre-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Japan.
Right-wing socialism
Kita first outlined his philosophy of nationalistic socialism in his book , published in 1906, where he criticizes Marxism and a working class-oriented socialism as outdated and instead relies on an exposition of evolutionary theory that owes much to Social Darwinism (Kita explicitly states in this book that Mencius is the Plato of the East and that Plato is to be preferred to Marx, both of which chime with the national socialism/Confucianism from above concept, but also with the state authoritarianism that Karl Popper objected to in Volume One of his Open Society and Its Enemies). Kita's second book is entitled A Private History of the Chinese Revolution (Shina Kakumei Gaishi).Ultranationalism
His ultra-nationalism appeared in various articles he penned from 1903 to 1906, while he was still based on Sado. It reappeared in his last major book on politics, , first published in 1919, and republished in 1923. The common theme to his first and last political works is the notion of a national polity (KokutaiKokutai
Kokutai is a politically loaded word in the Japanese language, translatable as "sovereign", "national identity; national essence; national character" or "national polity; body politic; national entity; basis for the Emperor's sovereignty; Japanese constitution". "Sovereign" is perhaps the most...
), through which Japan would lead a united and free Asia (pan-Asianism
Pan-Asianism
Pan-Asianism is an ideology or a movement that Asian nations unite and solidify and create a continental identity to defeat the designs of the Western nations to perpetuate hegemony.-Japanese Asianism:...
). Under his later plan, a military coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
would usher in a more-or-less totalitarian regime based on direct rule by a strong and powerful leader, such as the Emperor, who would suspend the Constitution
Meiji Constitution
The ', known informally as the ', was the organic law of the Japanese empire, in force from November 29, 1890 until May 2, 1947.-Outline:...
and radically reorganize the Diet
Diet of Japan
The is Japan's bicameral legislature. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives, and an upper house, called the House of Councillors. Both houses of the Diet are directly elected under a parallel voting system. In addition to passing laws, the Diet is formally...
to be free of "malign influence". The new "National Reorganization Diet" would nationalize certain strategic industries, impose rather minimal limits on individual wealth and private property, enact a land reform
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
to benefit the farmers, and thus strengthen Japan to enable it to liberate Asia from Western imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
. This was termed the Showa Restoration
Showa Restoration
The Shōwa Restoration was promoted by Japanese author Kita Ikki, with the goal of restoring power to the newly enthroned Japanese Emperor Hirohito and abolishing the liberal Taishō democracy. The aims of the "Showa Restoration" were similar to the Meiji Restoration as the groups who envisioned it...
.
Historians argue about what Kita's political stance was. Taken at face value, he appears to have created a hybrid of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, state socialism
State socialism
State socialism is an economic system with limited socialist characteristics, such as public ownership of major industries, remedial measures to benefit the working class, and a gradual process of developing socialism through government policy...
or "socialism from above", agrarianism
Agrarianism
Agrarianism has two common meanings. The first meaning refers to a social philosophy or political philosophy which values rural society as superior to urban society, the independent farmer as superior to the paid worker, and sees farming as a way of life that can shape the ideal social values...
, and militarism
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
. Although his writings call for Japan to liberate Asia, he also calls for Japan to embark on overseas expansion due to increasing population pressures.
Japan's population has doubled in 50 years, and if expansion continues at this pace we will have to feed at least 250 million people a century from now on, which means that we will be forced to acquire more territory.
This blend of seemingly-opposed philosophies and contradictory goalsMasking a deeper consistency from the time of his early articles: he calls for Japanese expansion to Korea and Manchuria, as well as for militant war with Russia and Britain—whom he dubs "landlord nations", with Japan a so-called "proletarian nation". was reflected in various forms throughout early Shōwa-period Japan. This eclectic blend is one of the reasons why Kita has been hard to understand. Some have argued that this is one of the reasons why it is next to impossible for historians to agree on Kita’s political stance, though Nik Howard takes the view that Kita's ideas are actually highly consistent ideologically throughout his career, with relatively small shifts in response to the changing reality he faced at any given time.
Arrest and execution
Kita’s Outline Plan, his last book, exerted a major influence on the Japanese military—especially the Imperial Japanese ArmyImperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
factions who participated in the failed coup of 1936
February 26 Incident
The was an attempted coup d'état in Japan, from February 26 to 29, 1936 carried out by 1,483 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly occupied by the rebelling troops...
. After the coup attempt, Kita was arrested by the Kempeitai
Kempeitai
The was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945. It was not an English-style military police, but a French-style gendarmerie...
for complicity, tried by a closed military court, and executed.
In Fiction
- Ikki Kita is a major character in the historical fantasyHistorical fantasyHistorical fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy and related to historical fiction, which makes use of specific elements of real world history. It is used as an umbrella term for the sword and sorcery genre and sometimes, if fantasy is involved, the sword-and-sandal genre too...
novel Teito MonogatariTeito Monogatariis a massive Japanese historical fantasy epic written by Hiroshi Aramata.-Overview:The story is a retelling of the history of Edo from an occultist perspective. The premise is based on the idea that the curse of Taira no Masakado greatly influenced the city's history from its inception to the...
by Hiroshi AramataHiroshi Aramatais a Japanese author, translator, and screenplay writer, as well as a specialist in natural history and cartography.His most popular novel was Teito Monogatari , which has sold over 3.5 million copies in Japan alone. He also wrote Alexander Senki, a novel which eventually evolved into the anime...
. In the novel, he is also portrayed as a shaman who is deeply devout to the KegonKegonKegon is the name of the Japanese transmission of the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism.Huayan studies were founded in Japan when, in 736, the scholar-priest Rōben originally a monk of the Hossō tradition invited Shinshō to give lectures on the Avatamsaka Sutra at...
Sutras. - Kita appears in manga artist Motoka MurakamiMotoka Murakamiis a Japanese manga artist who writes primarily shōnen manga. He won the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen for Gakuto Retsuden in 1982 and the Shogakukan Manga Award twice, for shōnen for Musashi no Ken in 1984 and for general manga in 1996 for Ron, serialized in Big Comic Original from 1991 to 2006...
's Showa-era epic Ron.
See also
- Sadao ArakiSadao ArakiBaron was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army before World War II. A charismatic leader and one of the principal nationalist right-wing political theorists in the late Japanese Empire, he was regarded as the leader of the radical faction within the politicized Japanese Army and served as...
- Seigo NakanoNakano Seigowas a Japanese political leader who advocated a fascist Japan to complete the Meiji Restoration.Nakano sought to bring about a rebirth of Japan through a blend of the samurai ethic, Neo-Confucianism, and populist nationalism modeled on European fascism...
- Shōwa RestorationShowa RestorationThe Shōwa Restoration was promoted by Japanese author Kita Ikki, with the goal of restoring power to the newly enthroned Japanese Emperor Hirohito and abolishing the liberal Taishō democracy. The aims of the "Showa Restoration" were similar to the Meiji Restoration as the groups who envisioned it...
- Japanese nationalismJapanese nationalismencompasses a broad range of ideas and sentiments harbored by the Japanese people over the last two centuries regarding their native country, its cultural nature, political form and historical destiny...
- Japanese literatureJapanese literatureEarly works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...
External links
- Martial Law —a movie about the life and death of Kita Ikki