was a Japanese socialist, politician, and trade unionist.
Biography
Hisashi Asō was born in the Oita Prefecture in 1891. He enrolled in the French Law Department of
Tokyo Imperial University in 1913 and graduated in 1917. Following this, he worked as a journalist at the
Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun but left before long to aid in founding the
Renmeikai and
Shinjinkai in December 1918 with
Yoshino Sakuzō Yoshino may refer to:
* Yoshino cherry, another name for ''Prunus × yedoensis'', a flowering cherry tree
* Japanese cruiser ''Yoshino'', a protected cruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy
Places
* Yoshino, Nara, a town located in Yoshino Distr ...
.
During the 1920s, Asō became active in the Japanese labor movement. He participated in several labor disputes and, joining the
Yūaikai in 1919, became the union's political section chief in 1925. In 1926, however, the leadership of the union expelled Asō and several others over secret plans to create a centrist proletarian party. He then created the
Japan Labour Union League
The was a trade union centre in Japan. It was founded in December 1926, following the split in the Social Democratic Party (Japan, 1926), Social Democratic Party as the leaders of the dissident Japan Labour-Farmer Party were expelled from the soci ...
and
Japan Labour-Farmer Party
The was a socialist political party in Japan between December 1926 and December 1928. During its existence, it occupied a centrist position in the divided socialist movement.
Foundation
The Japan Labour-Farmer Party was one of several prole ...
with the expelled members in December 1926, becoming the party's Chairman. In July 1932, he participated in the founding of the
Socialist Masses Party and became Secretary-General of the party. Finally, in 1936, Asō won a seat in the
House of Representatives for District 5 of Tokyo.
Asō also began to move towards collaboration with
renovationist elements of the right-wing in the 1930s. Although condemning the Manchurian Incident as capitalistic and imperialist, he claimed that it had pushed the army in an anti-capitalist direction and became involved in the
March Incident of 1931. After the release of
an army pamphlet espousing anti-capitalist principles in 1934, Asō also become one of the strongest advocates of collaboration with the army along with his fellow party member
Kanichirō Kamei. He similarly embraced the Konoe New Order as a method to achieve socialism. In 1938, Asō, Kamei, and Akiyama Teisuke worked together to draft plans for a new reformist, totalitarian political party to be led by themselves and
Fumimaro Konoe
Prince was a Japanese politician and prime minister. During his tenure, he presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World W ...
. The following year, Asō and Kamei managed to push for a merger of the Socialist Masses Party and
Tōhōkai
was a Japanese fascist political party which advocated Nazism. The party was active in Japan during the 1930s and early 1940s. Its origins lay in the right-wing political organization Kokumin Domei which was formed by Adachi Kenzō in 1933. I ...
against the reservations of party President
Abe Isoo
was a Japanese Christian socialist, parliamentarian and pacifist. He largely contributed to development of baseball in Japan, and was called "Father of Japanese baseball." He created a baseball club of Waseda University.
Early life and educ ...
, only for the merger to fail at the last minute.
In 1940, Asō succeed Abe as President of the Socialist Masses Party after the latter left with other members of the party's right-wing faction due to opposing
Saitō Takao's expulsion. He would lead the party to dissolution on 6 July 1940 in anticipation of obtaining a leading role in Konoe's
Imperial Rule Assistance Association, but died of a heart attack only two months later in September.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aso, Hisashi
20th-century Japanese politicians
Japanese socialists
Japanese trade unionists
1891 births
1940 deaths