The Origins of Socialist Thought in Japan

400 Pages·1983·2.932 MB·English

by  John D. Crump

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY
EDITIONS: JAPAN
THE ORIGINS OF SOCIALIST
THOUGHT IN JAPAN

THE ORIGINS OF SOCIALIST
THOUGHT IN JAPAN
JOHN CRUMP
Volume 67
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published in 1983
This edition first published in 2011
by Routledge
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© 1983 John Crump
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0-203-84228-6 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-56498-4 (Set)
eISBN 13: 978-0-203-84317-8 (Set)
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-59182-9 (Volume 67)
eISBN 13: 978-0-203-84228-7 (Volume 67)
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The Origins of
Socialist Thought in Japan
JOHN CRUMP
CROOM HELM
London & Canberra
ST.MARTIN’S PRESS
New York
© 1983 John Crump
Croom Helm Ltd, Provident House, Burrell Row,
Beckenham, Kent BR3 1AT
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Crump, John
The origins of socialist thought in Japan.
1. Socialism-Japan-History
I. Title
355’.00952 HX412
ISBN 0-7099-0739-7
© 1983 John Crump
All rights reserved. For infomation write:
St. Martin’s Press, Inc,. 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
First published in the United States of America in 1983
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Crump. J.D. (John D.), 1944–
The origins of socialist thought in Japan.
Bibliogrphy: p.
Includes index.
1. Communism-Japan-History. 2. Socialism-Japan-History. I. Title.
HX412.C78 1983 335’.00952 82–23075
ISBN 0-312-58872-0
CONTENTS
List of Tables
Preface
Introduction
PART ONE TO THE END OF THE RUSSO-JAPANESE
WAR (1905) 1
1. THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITALISM IN JAPAN AND THE
FORMING OF A WORKING CLASS 3
The Revolution of 1868 3
Industrialisation 6
The Forming of a Working Class 11
The Samurai 11
The Artisans 13
The Peasants 14
Women 16
Oppression by the State 17
2. POPULISM (NARODNISM) AND OTHER
RUSSIAN INFLUENCES 29
Western Sources 30
First News of ‘Socialism’ 31
The ‘People’s Rights Movement’ 35
Russian Populism 37
Tolstoy 42
The Russo-Japanese War 44
3. STUDYING AT THE FEET OF EUROPEAN
SOCIAL-DEMOCRACY 55
Sakai Yūzaburō 55
‘Authorities’ on ‘Socialism’ 57
v
vi Contents
Quintessence of Socialism 58
Kirkup, Dawson, Ely 61
False Optimism 62
The SPD 64
State Capitalism Again 65
Reformism 66
Parliamentarism 72
European Social-Democracy and the
Russo-Japanese War 73
Marx and Engels 75
4. INFLUENCES FROM ENGLISH-SPEAKING
COUNTRIES—AMERICA, BRITAIN, NEW ZEALAND 89
Japanese Students in America 89
Christianity and ‘Socialism’ 91
Shying Away from the Class Struggle 93
Henry George 96
Fabianism 99
Percy Alden 101
Labour Leaders 103
New Zealand’s Lib-Labs 104
Stony Ground 106
5. THE LEGACY FROM THE OLD SOCIETY 114
Money and the Samurai 114
Samurai Among the Early Socialists 115
The Samurai Ethos 117
Commodity Production 119
Money and the Peasants 122
Confucianism 124
Taoism 127
Elitism 129
The Monarchy 133
6. JAPANESE ‘SOCIALISM’ TO 1905 141
‘Socialism’ as an Alternative Form
of Capitalism 144
Contents vii
PART TWO FROM THE END OF THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR
(1905) TO THE GREAT RICE RIOTS (1918) 149
7. THE FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITALISM AND
THE FIRST FLEXING OF THE WORKING
CLASS’ MUSCLES 151
The Conditions of the Workers 153
Strikes and Insurrections 158
Direct Action in Practice and Theory 164
The First World War 168
The Rice Riots 175
8. KŌTOKU SHŪSUI AND THE AMERICAN CONNECTION 182
The Socialist Party of America 185
The Socialist Labour Party 190
The Industrial Workers of the World 193
The Anarchists 198
The Shakai Kakumeitō (Social-Revolutionary
Party) 201
9. INSPIRATION FROM RUSSIA 212
The Nagasaki Russians 214
Bronislas Pilsudski and Grigorii Gershuni 217
The Russian Anarchists 220
Kropotkin 222
The Russian Revolution 232
10. SOCIAL-DEMOCRACY AND SYNDICALISM IN
CONTENTION—EUROPEAN BATTLES REFOUGHT IN JAPAN 239
Arnold Roller’s The Social General Strike 242
The Emergence of Support for Kōtoku’s Direct
Actionism 246
The Conference of the Nippon Shakaitō
Socialist Party of Japan) 250
The Widening Rift 255
Keir Hardie in Japan 262
The Social-Democratic Faction 265
The Syndicalist Faction 273