International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

Ishikawa Sanshirō, a Japanese socialist turned anarchist theorist influenced by the works of anarchists Edward Carpenter and Elisée Reclus , was born and raised in Saitama Prefecture. Upon graduation in 1902 from Tokyo Hōgakuin (currently Chūō University), Ishikawa began his writing career with the popular newspaper Yorozu Chūhō. After the paper endorsed the Russo-Japanese War, Ishikawa and fellow journalist Kōtoku Shusui resigned in protest and helped found the socialist society Heiminsha, publishing an associated newspaper that lasted for two years. Like other activist writers of the late Meiji era, a period when Japan was undergoing rapid industrialization and modernization, Ishikawa was imprisoned several times for his socialist advocacy. While incarcerated Ishikawa spent much of his time reading and studying the history of western socialist movements. Ishikawa turned toward anarchist theory reading the writings of Carpenter and others. Upon his release from prison Ishikawa spent 1913 to 1920 in self-imposed exile in Europe, deepening his understanding of anarchism through correspondence with Carpenter and Paul Reclus, Elisée Reclus's son. Returning to Japan in 1920, Ishikawa promoted anarchist ideas both through his Mutual Study Society and associated publications and through the practical application of the anarchosyndicalist principle of autogestion (worker self-management). ... log in or subscribe to read full text