During the Taisho period, labor movements, farmers’ movements, and women’s liberation movements became active, and people began to assert “their own rights.” New trends also emerged in literature and art.
Basic Knowledge
In the labor movement, Suzuki Bunji founded the Yuaikai in 1912. It was renamed the Japanese Federation of Labor in 1921 and became the center of full-scale labor unions. In rural areas, tenant disputes demanding lower rents occurred frequently, and the Japan Farmers’ Union (Kagawa Toyohiko and Sugiyama Genjiro) was founded in 1922. In the women’s movement, Hiratsuka Raicho founded the literary magazine 『Seitō』 in 1911 and declared, “In the beginning, women were the sun.” In 1920, the New Women’s Association (Hiratsuka and Ichikawa Fusae) was founded, and in 1924, the League for the Promotion of Women’s Suffrage was formed to demand voting rights.
Shirakaba school Mushanokoji Saneatsu, Shiga Naoya, and Arishima Takeo (humanitarianism and idealism)
New Currents school Akutagawa Ryunosuke 『Rashomon』 『The Nose』 『Hell Screen』
Aesthetic school Tanizaki Junichiro 『The Tattooer』
Proletarian literature Kobayashi Takiji 『Crab Cannery Ship』, Hayama Yoshiki 『People Who Live in the Sea』
Children’s literature Suzuki Miekichi 『Akai Tori』, Kitahara Hakushu (children’s songs)
Art Kishida Ryusei 『Portrait of Reiko』, Yokoyama Taikan (Japanese painting)
In Depth (Background and Effects)
In 1922, the National Levelers’ Association was founded in Nara, organizing the liberation movement of discriminated Buraku communities. The Levelers’ Declaration from its founding meeting, drafted by Saiko Mankichi, ends with the words, “Let there be passion in the human world; let there be light in humanity,” and is considered Japan’s first declaration of human rights. In 1923, the predecessor of the Hokkaido Ainu Association was also founded. In scholarship, Yanagita Kunio established folkloristics and wrote 『The Legends of Tono』. In philosophy, Nishida Kitaro’s 『An Inquiry into the Good』 attempted to combine Western philosophy and Eastern thought, forming the Kyoto School. In education, the New Education Movement (progressive education) arose, and independent schools such as Jiyu Gakuen and Seijo Elementary School were established.
- Yuaikai (1912) → Japanese Federation of Labor (1921, Suzuki Bunji)
- Japan Farmers’ Union (1922) = Kagawa Toyohiko and Sugiyama Genjiro
- 『Seitō』 (1911) = Hiratsuka Raicho, “In the beginning, women were the sun”
- National Levelers’ Association (1922) = Levelers’ Declaration (Saiko Mankichi)
- Shirakaba school = Mushanokoji Saneatsu and Shiga Naoya
- Akutagawa Ryunosuke = New Currents school, 『Rashomon』
- Nishida Kitaro = 『An Inquiry into the Good』, Kyoto School
Points of Caution (Easily Confused)
① Hiratsuka Raicho (Seitōsha 1911, New Women’s Association 1920) and Ichikawa Fusae (New Women’s Association, women’s suffrage movement, postwar member of the House of Councillors) are often studied together, but their roles differed. ② The Shirakaba school (humanitarianism, Shiga Naoya) and proletarian literature (socialism, Kobayashi Takiji) were ideologically opposite. ③ Yanagita Kunio (folkloristics) and Nishida Kitaro (philosophy) worked in different fields. ④ 『Seitō』 (1911, literary magazine) and the New Women’s Association (1920, movement organization) were separate organizations formed in different years.
Practice
- Who drafted the declaration of the National Levelers’ Association, founded in 1922?
- Who was the women’s activist who founded 『Seitō』?
- Who was the leading proletarian-literature writer who wrote 『Crab Cannery Ship』?