Red Flag Incident
Encyclopedia
The Red Flag Incident refers to a political rally that took place in Tokyo
, Japan
on June 22 of 1908.
In the mixed political climate of the turn of the century Late Meiji-Taisho Era, a celebrated political activist and anarchist Koken Yamaguchi was discharged from a term in prison. His release was met with a crowd waving red flags carrying Anarchist Communist slogan such as Museifu Kyosan and Kakumei (lit. revolution) and a chorus of communist songs. The police attacked and suppressed the small uprising, and ten prominent activists, including Osugi Sakae
, Hitoshi Yamakawa
and Kanson Arahata were arrested.
In later trials, most of the arrested found guilty received sentences of one year or more, and Osugi received the longest prison term. Although this is a relatively minor event in the complicated history of Meiji politics, it gained precedence later when the incarceration of certain members of this scuffle (namely Sakae, Yamakawa and Arahata) protected them from being involved in a much harsher protest, the High Treason Incident
, which resulted in a number of activists being sentenced to death.
This incident marked the beginning of the fight of the imperial government against the socialist movement in Japan.
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on June 22 of 1908.
In the mixed political climate of the turn of the century Late Meiji-Taisho Era, a celebrated political activist and anarchist Koken Yamaguchi was discharged from a term in prison. His release was met with a crowd waving red flags carrying Anarchist Communist slogan such as Museifu Kyosan and Kakumei (lit. revolution) and a chorus of communist songs. The police attacked and suppressed the small uprising, and ten prominent activists, including Osugi Sakae
Osugi Sakae
was a radical Japanese anarchist. He published numerous anarchist periodicals, helped translate various western anarchist essays into Japanese for the first time, and created Japan's first Esperanto school in 1906...
, Hitoshi Yamakawa
Hitoshi Yamakawa
was a Japanese socialist intellectual from the Meiji Era. A member or an elite family of writers and thinkers of the Meiji Era, he became interested in socialism while still in his hometown of Okayama. in 1900, he penned an article printed in the magazine "Seinen no Fukuin" (December 20, 1880 -...
and Kanson Arahata were arrested.
In later trials, most of the arrested found guilty received sentences of one year or more, and Osugi received the longest prison term. Although this is a relatively minor event in the complicated history of Meiji politics, it gained precedence later when the incarceration of certain members of this scuffle (namely Sakae, Yamakawa and Arahata) protected them from being involved in a much harsher protest, the High Treason Incident
High Treason Incident
The , also known as the , was a socialist-anarchist plot to assassinate the Japanese Emperor Meiji in 1910, leading to a mass arrest of leftists, and the execution of 12 alleged conspirators in 1911....
, which resulted in a number of activists being sentenced to death.
This incident marked the beginning of the fight of the imperial government against the socialist movement in Japan.