Osugi Sakae
Encyclopedia
was a radical Japan
ese anarchist
. He published numerous anarchist periodicals, helped translate various western anarchist essays into Japanese for the first time, and created Japan's first Esperanto
school in 1906. He, Noe Itō
, and his nephew were murdered in what became known as the Amakasu Incident
.
, according to his autobiography, Jijōden. However, the Ōsugi family registry misrepresents his date of birth by several months, leading to some confusion in other reports. He was the eldest son of Ōsugi Azuma, a captain in the Japanese military, and Kusui Yutaka. Little is known of his siblings, except for the youngest, Ayame. She was married to Tachibana Sōsaburō and moved to Portland, Oregon
. Their son, Munekazu, would be the third victim of the Amakasu Incident in 1923.
In his early teens, Ōsugi enlisted in Cadet School, but was a poorly motivated and rebellious student. He was reprimanded often, and nearly expelled more than once. On one occasion it was implied that he took part in illicit, homosexual behavior with a younger cadet, for which he was held in the school stockade for ten days and received thirty days of confinement. He later took part in a knife fight (though he fought unarmed, fearing to injure his opponent), and received injuries which required two weeks of hospitalization. After this incident he was finally expelled from the school.
, with the encouragement of a childhood friend, Rei, advice from an associate of his father, Lieutenant Morioka, and the blessings of his parents. While in cram school he experienced independent living for the first time and began associations that would last years and lead to his experimental phase in Christianity
and socialism
.
After the death of his mother, whom he cared for more than his father, he became somewhat depressed and redirected his energies into his studies. He began to read large numbers of books, but counted only a handful as having an impression on him later in life, primarily works by Gorky
, Turgenev
, Tolstoy
, and Dostoevsky
. He later wrote that he'd been most influenced by Oka Asjirō's Discourse on Evolution:
His depression over his mother's death also led him to begin searching for a spiritual outlet in Christianity. He attended several churches, but never fully accepted the miracles of the faith, and "believed that God is something within the self". He was eventually baptised when others assured him he would understand the religion more if he did so, but he later wrote that he was never fully satisfied.
He also began to involve himself in socialism more at this time, mostly because of exposure to the most radical newspaper available in Tokyo at the time, Yorozu Chōhō. He would further involve himself in the socialist movement when Kōtoku Shūsui
and Sakai Toshihiko
formed the Commoners' Society (Heimin-sha). It was in this organization's paper, the Heimin Shimbun
(Common People's Newspaper), that he began to write letters to the editor, and he participated in handing out the paper in public. When the Heimin shimbun folded, his first article, "Socialism and patriotism" (Shakaishugi to aikokushugi), was published in Hikari, another radical paper, in August-September 1905. However, his participation with socialism was largely superficial at this time, and he admitted later that he did so largely because he felt the need to take part in a paper he often read.
Later exposure to criticisms of Christianity from prominent socialists led him to question his faith, but it was not until the onset of the Russo-Japanese War
that he fully cut his ties to the religion. When his local church began to merge its sermons with patriotic and pro-war sentiments, he felt this was a betrayal of his spiritual principles and left it permanently.
While in prison he taught himself various languages, including Italian
, Esperanto
, Russian
, English
, French
, and German
.
His initial prison sentences were due to separate instances of activist-related activity. The first was for the aforementioned trolly fare protest riot. Later he was arrested for violating press laws in connection with two articles he published in late 1906 and early 1907. Still later he served two more separate terms in 1908 for violating the Peace Police Law on two separate occasions, the Rooftop Incident (Yane-jō jiken) and the Red Flag Incident (Akahata jiken) in early and late 1908, respectively.
While in prison, Kōtoku, now an avowed anarchist, encouraged him to research the work of Bakunin and Kropotkin
. Ōsugi was particularly receptive to Kropotkin's scientific approach to anarchy, and he would later translate Kropotkin's autobiography in 1920.
When he was arrested in 1908 as part of the Red Flag Incident, he was handed the heaviest prison term he would receive in his life. However, the prison terms saved him and others convicted at the time from being associated with the High Treason Incident
(Taigyaku Jiken) of 1910. At the trials, 12 anarchists, including Kōtoku Shūsui and one of the few anarchists found not guilty during the Red Flag trials, were found guilty of conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor and were sentenced to death.
Ōsugi later encountered the defendants in prison, but was too afraid to speak to them too loudly. Kōtoku was unable to hear him, as he was nearly deaf. Ōsugi also encountered their executioner, who retired after their execution.
After this experience he never challenged the state with open calls for violent revolution, and his future essays instead focused on individualism and criticisms of capitalism. He would not be arrested again until 1919, for assaulting a police officer, for which he was sentenced to a three-month term. He was also briefly held in detention in France in 1922 before being deported to Japan.
as part of his philosophical and political beliefs in egoism
and free love
.
He first met Ichiko, a 26-year-old reporter for the Tokyo Daily Newspaper (Tōkyō nichinichi shimbun) in April 1914, at a meeting of his Sanjikarizumu kenkyūkai (Syndicalism study Society), through two of his anarchist associates, Miyajima Sukeo and his wife, Reiko. Initially Osugi did not record any mention of her in his writings. However, in 1915 he had moved with his wife to Zushi, Kanagawa prefecture, to publish the second Kindai Shisō. On Fridays he would commute to Tokyo to teach his Furansu bungaku kenkyūkai (French Literature Study Society) classes and would spend the night in Ichiko's house. Eventually this led to their affair, which would be an open secret by December of that year.
During this time he encountered Itō on several occasions, as both were anarchists who mingled in similar circles. In February 1913, Osugi attended a meeting of the Seitō-sha Kōenkai (Seitō-sha Kōenkai lecture meeting), but he later made no mention of her in his review of the event. In September of that year, Itō published a translation of an article by Emma Goldman
, which Osugi had also intended on writing. Her work impressed him, and he praised it highly in a review on articles about women's liberation.
It was not until September 1914 that they met each other, introduced by Watanabe Masatarō, in the home of her husband, Tsuji Jun. Initially their attraction was platonic, based on their mutual beliefs in anarchism. Later, when the Heimin shimbun was banned by the police, Itō's Seitō was the only journal to criticize the police openly. This display of solidarity was noted by Osugi, and a response in thanks was produced by Arahata in the next issue of the Heimin shimbun. Over time, Osugi would visit Itō at her home three times in February 1915. However, his affair with her probably did not begin until February 1916.
In 1916 he was stabbed by Ichiko, in an incident that would lead to an open scandal. The incident has been a source for popular culture (see a calendar with a drawing of it, lower left corner, in http://www.delbarrio.eu/kalendaro.htm) and was the inspiration for the film Eros plus Massacre
, by Yoshishige Yoshida
and Masahiro Yamada
(1969).
The killing of such high profile anarchists, along with a young child, became known as the Amakasu Incident
, and sparked surprise and anger throughout 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...
ese anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
. He published numerous anarchist periodicals, helped translate various western anarchist essays into Japanese for the first time, and created Japan's first Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
school in 1906. He, Noe Itō
Noe Ito
was a Japanese anarchist, social critic, author and feminist.-Biography:Itō graduated from Ueno Girls' High School in Ueno, Tokyo, and joined the Bluestocking Society , producer of the feminist arts and culture magazine Seitō in 1912...
, and his nephew were murdered in what became known as the Amakasu Incident
Amakasu Incident
The Amakasu Incident occurred on September 16, 1923, in the chaos immediately following the Great Kantō earthquake, in Japan. Fearing that anarchists would take advantage of the disaster to overthrow the government, a squad of military police led by Lieutenant Masahiko Amakasu arrested Sakae Osugi,...
.
Childhood
Sakae Ōsugi was born on January 17, 1885, in Marugame, KagawaMarugame, Kagawa
is a city located in Kagawa, Japan.-Geography:As of 2008, the city had an estimated population of 110,550 and the density of 989 persons per km². Marugame occupies the centre of an alluvial plain. The total area is 111.79 km².-Points of interest:...
, according to his autobiography, Jijōden. However, the Ōsugi family registry misrepresents his date of birth by several months, leading to some confusion in other reports. He was the eldest son of Ōsugi Azuma, a captain in the Japanese military, and Kusui Yutaka. Little is known of his siblings, except for the youngest, Ayame. She was married to Tachibana Sōsaburō and moved to Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. Their son, Munekazu, would be the third victim of the Amakasu Incident in 1923.
In his early teens, Ōsugi enlisted in Cadet School, but was a poorly motivated and rebellious student. He was reprimanded often, and nearly expelled more than once. On one occasion it was implied that he took part in illicit, homosexual behavior with a younger cadet, for which he was held in the school stockade for ten days and received thirty days of confinement. He later took part in a knife fight (though he fought unarmed, fearing to injure his opponent), and received injuries which required two weeks of hospitalization. After this incident he was finally expelled from the school.
Interest in socialism and Christianity
In 1902 he eventually decided to attain a middle school education (comparable to a U.S. college education) in Literature in TokyoTokyo
, ; 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...
, with the encouragement of a childhood friend, Rei, advice from an associate of his father, Lieutenant Morioka, and the blessings of his parents. While in cram school he experienced independent living for the first time and began associations that would last years and lead to his experimental phase in Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and socialism
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,...
.
After the death of his mother, whom he cared for more than his father, he became somewhat depressed and redirected his energies into his studies. He began to read large numbers of books, but counted only a handful as having an impression on him later in life, primarily works by Gorky
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
, Turgenev
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His first major publication, a short story collection entitled A Sportsman's Sketches, is a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century...
, Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, and Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
. He later wrote that he'd been most influenced by Oka Asjirō's Discourse on Evolution:
My interest in natural science was awakened first by this book. At the same time, the theory of evolution, holding that all things change, cried out for the reformation of various social systems which remained as authorities deep within my mind, and made it extremely easy to associate myself with the tenets of socialism.
His depression over his mother's death also led him to begin searching for a spiritual outlet in Christianity. He attended several churches, but never fully accepted the miracles of the faith, and "believed that God is something within the self". He was eventually baptised when others assured him he would understand the religion more if he did so, but he later wrote that he was never fully satisfied.
He also began to involve himself in socialism more at this time, mostly because of exposure to the most radical newspaper available in Tokyo at the time, Yorozu Chōhō. He would further involve himself in the socialist movement when Kōtoku Shūsui
Kotoku Shusui
, better known by the nom de plume , was a Japanese socialist and anarchist who played a leading role in introducing anarchism to Japan in the early 20th century, particularly by translating the works of contemporary European and Russian anarchists, such as Peter Kropotkin, into Japanese...
and Sakai Toshihiko
Sakai Toshihiko
was a Japanese socialist, writer, historian. He is also known under the pen name Kosen Sakai .He is known for his translation with Shūsui Kōtoku.- External links :* at Aozora bunko...
formed the Commoners' Society (Heimin-sha). It was in this organization's paper, the Heimin Shimbun
Heimin Shimbun
Heimin Shimbun was a socialist newspaper established in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century. Japanese anarchist Kōtoku Shūsui served as one of the paper's editors. By the beginning of 1904, it was Tokyo's leading publication advocating socialism. Eighty-two people eventually expressed their...
(Common People's Newspaper), that he began to write letters to the editor, and he participated in handing out the paper in public. When the Heimin shimbun folded, his first article, "Socialism and patriotism" (Shakaishugi to aikokushugi), was published in Hikari, another radical paper, in August-September 1905. However, his participation with socialism was largely superficial at this time, and he admitted later that he did so largely because he felt the need to take part in a paper he often read.
Later exposure to criticisms of Christianity from prominent socialists led him to question his faith, but it was not until the onset of the Russo-Japanese War
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
that he fully cut his ties to the religion. When his local church began to merge its sermons with patriotic and pro-war sentiments, he felt this was a betrayal of his spiritual principles and left it permanently.
Anarchism and the High Treason Incident
Ōsugi still held military aspirations as a matter of practicality, since he still had no other career ambitions. However, in 1906 he was arrested during a demonstration-turned-riot against increasing trolly fares, after which a military career became impossible. While in prison he took the time to fully study socialism and its various tenets, and completed his transition to a socialist. His interest in science would also lay the groundwork for his eventual shift to anarchism.While in prison he taught himself various languages, including Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
, Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
.
His initial prison sentences were due to separate instances of activist-related activity. The first was for the aforementioned trolly fare protest riot. Later he was arrested for violating press laws in connection with two articles he published in late 1906 and early 1907. Still later he served two more separate terms in 1908 for violating the Peace Police Law on two separate occasions, the Rooftop Incident (Yane-jō jiken) and the Red Flag Incident (Akahata jiken) in early and late 1908, respectively.
While in prison, Kōtoku, now an avowed anarchist, encouraged him to research the work of Bakunin and Kropotkin
Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin was a Russian prince and anarchist.Kropotkin may also refer to:*Pyotr Nikolayevich Kropotkin , Soviet/Russian geologist, tectonician, and geophysicist*Mount Kropotkin, a peak in Antarctica...
. Ōsugi was particularly receptive to Kropotkin's scientific approach to anarchy, and he would later translate Kropotkin's autobiography in 1920.
When he was arrested in 1908 as part of the Red Flag Incident, he was handed the heaviest prison term he would receive in his life. However, the prison terms saved him and others convicted at the time from being associated with the High Treason Incident
High Treason Incident
The , also known as the , was a socialist-anarchist plot to assassinate the Japanese Emperor Meiji in 1910, leading to a mass arrest of leftists, and the execution of 12 alleged conspirators in 1911....
(Taigyaku Jiken) of 1910. At the trials, 12 anarchists, including Kōtoku Shūsui and one of the few anarchists found not guilty during the Red Flag trials, were found guilty of conspiracy to assassinate the Emperor and were sentenced to death.
Ōsugi later encountered the defendants in prison, but was too afraid to speak to them too loudly. Kōtoku was unable to hear him, as he was nearly deaf. Ōsugi also encountered their executioner, who retired after their execution.
After this experience he never challenged the state with open calls for violent revolution, and his future essays instead focused on individualism and criticisms of capitalism. He would not be arrested again until 1919, for assaulting a police officer, for which he was sentenced to a three-month term. He was also briefly held in detention in France in 1922 before being deported to Japan.
Free love and scandal
Ōsugi was married to Hori Yasuko in September 1906, but later pursued a relationship with Kamichika Ichiko and author Noe ItōNoe Ito
was a Japanese anarchist, social critic, author and feminist.-Biography:Itō graduated from Ueno Girls' High School in Ueno, Tokyo, and joined the Bluestocking Society , producer of the feminist arts and culture magazine Seitō in 1912...
as part of his philosophical and political beliefs in egoism
Ethical egoism
Ethical egoism is the normative ethical position that moral agents ought to do what is in their own self-interest. It differs from psychological egoism, which claims that people can only act in their self-interest. Ethical egoism also differs from rational egoism, which holds merely that it is...
and free love
Free love
The term free love has been used to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage. The Free Love movement’s initial goal was to separate the state from sexual matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery...
.
He first met Ichiko, a 26-year-old reporter for the Tokyo Daily Newspaper (Tōkyō nichinichi shimbun) in April 1914, at a meeting of his Sanjikarizumu kenkyūkai (Syndicalism study Society), through two of his anarchist associates, Miyajima Sukeo and his wife, Reiko. Initially Osugi did not record any mention of her in his writings. However, in 1915 he had moved with his wife to Zushi, Kanagawa prefecture, to publish the second Kindai Shisō. On Fridays he would commute to Tokyo to teach his Furansu bungaku kenkyūkai (French Literature Study Society) classes and would spend the night in Ichiko's house. Eventually this led to their affair, which would be an open secret by December of that year.
During this time he encountered Itō on several occasions, as both were anarchists who mingled in similar circles. In February 1913, Osugi attended a meeting of the Seitō-sha Kōenkai (Seitō-sha Kōenkai lecture meeting), but he later made no mention of her in his review of the event. In September of that year, Itō published a translation of an article by Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
, which Osugi had also intended on writing. Her work impressed him, and he praised it highly in a review on articles about women's liberation.
It was not until September 1914 that they met each other, introduced by Watanabe Masatarō, in the home of her husband, Tsuji Jun. Initially their attraction was platonic, based on their mutual beliefs in anarchism. Later, when the Heimin shimbun was banned by the police, Itō's Seitō was the only journal to criticize the police openly. This display of solidarity was noted by Osugi, and a response in thanks was produced by Arahata in the next issue of the Heimin shimbun. Over time, Osugi would visit Itō at her home three times in February 1915. However, his affair with her probably did not begin until February 1916.
In 1916 he was stabbed by Ichiko, in an incident that would lead to an open scandal. The incident has been a source for popular culture (see a calendar with a drawing of it, lower left corner, in http://www.delbarrio.eu/kalendaro.htm) and was the inspiration for the film Eros plus Massacre
Eros Plus Massacre
is a Japanese black-and-white film released in 1969. It was directed by Yoshishige Yoshida, who wrote it in cooperation with Masahiro Yamada.-Plot:The film is a biography of anarchist Sakae Ōsugi, who was assassinated by the Japanese military in 1923...
, by Yoshishige Yoshida
Yoshishige Yoshida
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter.-Career:Graduating from Tokyo University, Yoshida entered the Shōchiku studio in 1955 and debuted as a director in 1960 with Rokudenashi...
and Masahiro Yamada
Masahiro Yamada (screenwriter)
was a Japanese screenwriter and poet. He often worked with Yoshishige Yoshida and also penned scripts for Ultraman and other episodes in the Ultra series.- External links :...
(1969).
The Amakasu Incident
On September 16, 1923, in the chaos immediately following the Great Kantō Earthquake, Osugi and his lover/partner, Noe Itō, and his six-year-old nephew, Munekazu Tachibana, were arrested, beaten to death and thrown into a well by a squad of military police led by Lieutenant Amakasu Masahiko.The killing of such high profile anarchists, along with a young child, became known as the Amakasu Incident
Amakasu Incident
The Amakasu Incident occurred on September 16, 1923, in the chaos immediately following the Great Kantō earthquake, in Japan. Fearing that anarchists would take advantage of the disaster to overthrow the government, a squad of military police led by Lieutenant Masahiko Amakasu arrested Sakae Osugi,...
, and sparked surprise and anger throughout Japan.
Timeline of Osugi's life
- 1885 - January: Sakae Ōsugi born
- 1889 - December: Father transferred from TokyoTokyo, ; 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...
to Sendai - 1891 - April: Enters elementary school
- 1895 - July: The first Sino-Japanese WarFirst Sino-Japanese WarThe First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
begins; father dispatched to war zone - 1897 - April: Advances to higher elementary school
- 1898 - April: Enters Shibata Middle School
- 1899 - Summer: Travels to Tokyo, Nagoya, and OsakaOsakais a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
to visit relatives - 1901 - April: Receives 30-day disciplinary confinement to Cadet School, probably for homosexual activity; November: Stabbed during fight with another cadet and expelled from Cadet School after returning to Shibata
- 1902 - January: Moves to Tokyo and enters Tokyo Academy; June: Mother dies; October: Enters fifth year at Junten Middle School
- 1903 - September: Enters Tokyo Foreign Language School, and experiments with Christianity; December (approximately): Begins to frequent the Heimin-sha
- 1904 - February: Russo-Japanese WarRusso-Japanese WarThe Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
begins; father dispatched to war zone - 1905 - July: Graduates from Foreign Language School
- 1906 - March: Arrested in demonstration against increasing Tokyo trolly fare; June: Released on bail; September: Marries Hori Yasuko, and begins teaching EsperantoEsperantois the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
; November: Begins editing Katei zasshi, and charges filed against Ōsugi for writing "Shimpei shokun ni atau" - 1907 - March: Charges filed against Ōsugi for writing "Seinen ni uttau"; May: Incarcerated in Sugamo Prison; November: Released from prison
- 1908 - January: Arrested for the Rooftop Incident, and incarcerated in Sugamo Prison; March: Released from prison; June: Arrested for the Red Flag Incident; September: Incarcerated in Chiba Prison
- 1909 - November: Father dies
- 1910 - November: Released from prison
- 1912 - October: Begins publishing Kindai Shisō
- 1914 - April: First meets Kamichika Ichiko; September: Stops publishing Kindai Shisō, and introduced to Itō Noe; October: Begins publishing Heimin shimbun
- 1915 - March: Stops publishing Heimin shimbun; October: Begins publishing second Kindai shisō; December: Begins affair with Kamichika Ichiko, and removed from control of second Kindai Shisō
- 1916 - January: Second Kindai Shisō ceases publication; February: Begins affair (perhaps) with Itō Noe; May: Itō Noe leaves husband, Tsuji Jun, for Ōsugi; November: Stabbed by Kamichika Ichiko
- 1917 - January: Hori Yasuko renounces ties with Ōsugi; September: First daughter born
- 1918 - January: Begins publishing Bummei hihyō; April: Stops publishing Bummei hihyō, and begins publishing Rōdō shimbun; July: Stops publishing Rōdō shimbun
- 1919 - May: Strikes policeman Andō Kiyoshi; July: Charged for striking policeman; October: Begins publishing Rōdō undō; December: Incarcerated in Toyotama Prison, and second daughter born
- 1920 - March: Released from prison; June: Stops publishing Rōdō undō; October: Goes to ShanghaiShanghaiShanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
to attend Congress of Far Eastern Socialists; December: Taken into temporary custody at founding meeting of Nihon shakaishgi dōmei in Tokyo - 1921 - January: Begins publishing second Rōdō undō in cooperation with Bolshevik faction; March: Third daughter born; June: Stops publishing second Rōdō undō; December: Begins publishing third Rōdō undō
- 1922 - June: Fourth daughter born; September: Attends Osaka meeting to found national labor union; November: Invited to attend the International Congress of Anarchists in Berlin in early 1923; December: Departs for Europe
- 1923 - February: Arrives in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
; May: Arrested at May DayMay DayMay Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
demonstration in St. Denis; June: Deported from France; July: Arrives in Japan. Last issue of third Rōdō undō; September: Murdered together with Noe Itō and nephew in aftermath of the Great Kantō Earthquake.
Sakae Ōsugi in films
- Director Kiju YoshidaYoshishige Yoshidais a Japanese film director and screenwriter.-Career:Graduating from Tokyo University, Yoshida entered the Shōchiku studio in 1955 and debuted as a director in 1960 with Rokudenashi...
made Eros Plus MassacreEros Plus Massacreis a Japanese black-and-white film released in 1969. It was directed by Yoshishige Yoshida, who wrote it in cooperation with Masahiro Yamada.-Plot:The film is a biography of anarchist Sakae Ōsugi, who was assassinated by the Japanese military in 1923...
(エロス＋虐殺) in 1969, about Osugi's life
External links
- The Anarchist Movement in Japan, a pamphlet by John Crump; includes information on Sakae Ōsugi and Kōtoku Shūsui
- e-texts of Osugi Sakae at Aozora bunkoAozora BunkoAozora Bunko is a Japanese digital library. This online collection encompasses several thousands of works of Japanese-language fiction and non-fiction. These include out-of-copyright books or works that the authors wish to make freely available....
- Osugi and Bakunin compares Osugi's internationalism with Bakunin's slavicPan-SlavismPan-Slavism was a movement in the mid-19th century aimed at unity of all the Slavic peoples. The main focus was in the Balkans where the South Slavs had been ruled for centuries by other empires, Byzantine Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Venice...
chauvinismChauvinismChauvinism, in its original and primary meaning, is an exaggerated, bellicose patriotism and a belief in national superiority and glory. It is an eponym of a possibly fictional French soldier Nicolas Chauvin who was credited with many superhuman feats in the Napoleonic wars.By extension it has come...
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