The , also known as the , was a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

plot to assassinate the Japanese

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

in 1910, leading to a mass arrest of leftists, and the execution of 12 alleged conspirators in 1911.

Investigation

On 20 May 1910, the police searched the room of Miyashita Takichi (1875–1911), a young lumbermill employee in

Nagano Prefecture is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Nagano Prefecture has a population of 2,052,493 () and has a geographic area of . Nagano Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the ...

, and found materials which could be used to construct bombs. Investigating further, the police arrested his accomplices, Nitta Tōru (1880–1911), Niimura Tadao (1887–1911), Furukawa Rikisaku (1884–1911) and

Kōtoku Shūsui , better known by the pen name , was a Japanese socialist and anarchist who played a leading role in introducing anarchism to Japan in the early 20th century. Historian John Crump described him as "the most famous socialist in Japan". He was ...

and his former common-law wife,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

author

Kanno Suga , also known as , was a Japanese anarcha-feminist journalist. She was the author of a series of articles about gender oppression, and a defender of freedom and equal rights for men and women. In 1910, she was accused of treason by the Japanese g ...

. Upon questioning, the police discovered what the prosecutor's office regarded as a nationwide conspiracy against the Japanese monarchy. In the subsequent investigation, many known leftists and suspected sympathizers were brought in for questioning around the country. Eventually, 25 men and one woman were brought to trial on the charge of violation of Article 73 of the Criminal Code (harming or intending harm to the Emperor or member of the imperial family). Four of those arrested were Buddhist monks. The case was tried in a closed court, and the

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

was

Hiranuma Kiichirō was a prominent right-wing Japanese politician and Prime Minister of Japan in 1939. He was convicted of war crimes committed during World War II and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Early life Hiranuma was born in what is now Tsuyama Ci ...

. Evidence against the defendants was mainly circumstantial. Nonetheless, twenty-four of the twenty-six defendants were sentenced to death by

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

on 18 January 1911, and the remaining two defendants were sentenced to 8 years and 11 years for violation of explosives ordinances. Of the death sentences, an Imperial Rescript commuted twelve to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

on the following day. Of the remaining twelve, eleven were executed on 24 January 1911. These included Shūsui, a prominent Japanese anarchist, Ōishi Seinosuke, a doctor, and

Uchiyama Gudō was a Sōtō Zen Buddhist priest and anarcho-socialist activist executed in the High Treason Incident. He was one of few Buddhist leaders who spoke out against the Meiji government in its imperialist projects. Gudō was an outspoken advocate f ...

, the only one of the Buddhist priests arrested to be executed. The last of the condemned defendants, the only woman,

Kanno Sugako , also known as , was a Japanese anarcha-feminist journalist. She was the author of a series of articles about gender oppression, and a defender of freedom and equal rights for men and women. In 1910, she was accused of treason by the Japanese g ...

, was executed the next day. The case was largely used as a pretext by authorities to round up dissidents. Only five or six of those accused and convicted in the trial actually had anything to do with the plot to kill the emperor. Even the foremost defendant, Shūsui, had not been involved in the plot since the very earliest stages, but his high prestige made him the principal figure to the prosecution. The High Treason Incident is indirectly related to The

Red Flag Incident The refers to a political rally that took place in Tokyo, Japan, on June 22, 1908. In the mixed political climate of the late Meiji and early Taishō period, celebrated political activist and anarchist Koken Yamaguchi was discharged from a te ...

of 1908. During the High Treason investigation, anarchists already incarcerated were questioned about possible involvement, including

Ōsugi Sakae was a radical Japanese anarchist. He published numerous anarchist periodicals, helped translate western anarchist essays into Japanese for the first time, and created Japan's first Esperanto school in 1906. He, Itō Noe, and his nephew were mu ...

Sakai Toshihiko was a Japanese socialist, writer, and historian. He is also known by the pen name . He is also known for his translation with Shūsui Kōtoku. Biography Sakai was born as the third son to a samurai class family in what is now Miyako, Fukuoka. ...

, and Yamakawa Hitoshi. Being already in jail saved many from facing further charges. Kanno, who was found not guilty during the Red Flag trials, was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death in the High Treason trials.

Aftermath

The High Treason Incident created a shift in the intellectual environment of the late

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

towards more control and heightened repression for ideologies deemed potentially subversive. It is often cited as one of the factors leading to the promulgation of the

Peace Preservation Law The was a Japanese law enacted on April 22, 1925, with the aim of allowing the Special Higher Police to more effectively suppress socialists and communists. In addition to criminalizing forming an association with the aim of altering the ''kokuta ...

s. A plea for a retrial was submitted after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but this was turned down by the Supreme Court in 1967.

References

Books

* {{Authority control 1910 in Japan Anarchism in Japan Anti-anarchism History of anarchism Politics of the Empire of Japan Failed assassination attempts in Asia Failed regicides Treason trials Incidents in the history of Buddhism in Japan Buddhism in the Meiji period Meiji socialism