The Anarchist Movement in Japan, 1906-1996

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Anarchist Communist Editions, ACE Pamphlet №8 . — Web paper in engish (Интернет-издание на английском). — 'Anarchive' "Anarchy is Order!": Principles, Propositions & Discussions for Land and Freedom, summer 1998. — 69 p.I must Create a System or be enslav'd by another Man's. I will not Reason & Compare: my business is to Create– William Blake.During the 19th century, anarchism has develloped as a result of a social current which aims for freedom and happiness. A number of factors since World War I have made this movement, and its ideas, dissapear little by little under the dust of history.After the classical anarchism – of which the Spanish Revolution was one of the last representatives – a new kind of resistance was founded in the sixties which claimed to be based (at least partly) on this anarchism. However this resistance is often limited to a few (and even then partly misunderstood) slogans such as 'Anarchy is order', 'Property is theft'.Information about anarchism is often hard to come by, monopolised and intellectual; and therefore visibly disapearing. The anarchive or anarchist archive Anarchy is Order (in short A.O) is an attempt to make the 'principles, propositions and discussions' of this tradition available again for anyone it concerns. We believe that these texts are part of our own heritage. They don t belong to publishers, institutes or specialists.These texts thus have to be available for all anarchists an other people interested. That is one of the conditions to give anarchism a new impulse, to let the new anarchism outgrow the slogans. This is what makes this project relevant for us: we must find our roots to be able to renew ourselves. We have to learn from the mistakes of our socialist past. History has shown that a large number of the anarchist ideas remain standing, even during the most recent social-economic developments.Don't mourn, Organise!John Crump's history of anarchism and the anarchist movement in Japan from the beginning of the 20th Century up until the pamphlet was written in the 1990s. Paper edition printed by Pirate Press (Autumn 1996). This Electronic Edition (Summer 1998).The Anarchist Communist Federation have decided to reprint John Crump s pamphlet The Anarchist Movement in Japan (which is a summary of his book Hatta Shûzô and Pure Anarchism in Interwar Japan) for a variety of reasons.One is as a tribute to the continuing struggle of the libertarian movement in Japan, bringing to the attention of English-speaking comrades what is unfortunately a little known part of the global struggle for a free and equal society. We hope this will be a starting point for greater understanding of a valuable tradition of anti-authoritarian communism and may lead to increased co-operation with Japanese anarchists today, on the road to a truly world-wide anarchist movement.Contents:Preface by the ACF Author s Dedication Author s NoteChapter One: 1906–1911 Historical and Economic Background Kôtoku Shûsui and the Emergence of Japanese Anarchism "American" Influences Kôtoku’s Return and the Anarchists Organise in Japan Mounting RepressionChapter Two: 1912–1936 End of the "Winter Period" Anarchism versus Bolshevism Ôsugi’s Death and Fresh Attempts at Terrorism The Resurgence of Anarchist Communism The Split Death Throes of the Prewar Anarchist MovementChapter Three: 1945 to the PresentSelect Bibliography