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
Ky™sh™kai, S™d™mei,
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 Reimeika (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 Ky™kai 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 Taish™ 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 Taish™ 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 Sh™g™ro 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 J declares war with 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:
J 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):
ed. Oosugi Sakae, ??? Arahata 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:advocated 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: 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 NightÕs
Passing:
1923 Arishima Takeo commits suicide
===Mindscape Novels (Shinkyoo shoosetsu):
1917 Shiga Naoya, Ki no saki 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