''Kaizō'' (改造 ''kaizō'') was a Japanese general-interest magazine that started publication during the Taishō period and printed many articles of socialist content. ''Kaizō'' can be translated into English as "Reorganize", "Restructure", "Reconstruct" or "Reconstruction".

Beginnings

In 1919, after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Yamamoto Sanehiko's company, called ''

Kaizōsha Kaizōsha (改造社) was a major Japanese publishing company in the first half of the 20th century.Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese intellectuals were also examining social issues and socialist thought. Essays by writers such as Christian socialist Kagawa Toyohiko, Marxist

Kawakami Hajime was a Japanese Marxist economist of the Taishō and early Shōwa periods. Biography Born in Yamaguchi, he graduated from Tokyo Imperial University. After writing for ''Yomiuri Shimbun'', he attained a professorship in economics at Kyoto Imp ...

, and

Yamakawa Hitoshi was a Japanese revolutionary socialist who played a leading role in founding the Japanese Communist Party in 1922. He was also a founding member of the Rono-ha (Labour-Farmer Faction), a group of Marxist thinkers opposed to the Comintern. His ...

were published and helped the magazine gain popularity. It also published

Shiga Naoya was a Japanese writer active during the Taishō and Shōwa periods of Japan, whose work was distinguished by its lucid, straightforward style and strong autobiographical overtones. Early life Shiga was born in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, ...

's novel ''

A Dark Night's Passing is the only full-length novel by Japanese writer Naoya Shiga. It was published in serialised form in the magazine ''Kaizō'' between 1921 and 1937. The story follows the life of a wealthy, young Japanese writer in the early 1900s, who seeks to ...

'' (1921–37),

Riichi Yokomitsu was an experimental, modernist Japanese writer. Yokomitsu began publishing in dōjinshi such as ''Machi'' ("Street") and ''Tō'' ("Tower") after entering Waseda University in 1916. In 1923, he published ''Nichirin'' ("The Sun"), '' ...

's ''Shanghai'' (1929-1931), and

Jun'ichirō Tanizaki was a Japanese author who is considered to be one of the most prominent figures in modern Japanese literature. The tone and subject matter of his work ranges from shocking depictions of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions to subtle por ...

's ''

Quicksand Quicksand is a colloid A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a ...

'' (1928–30). Another popular general-interest magazine '' Chūōkōron'' (中央公論) was established before ''Kaizō,'' but sales of ''Kaizō'' overtook it despite its radical content. In 1922, ''Kaizōsha'' invited

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

to give lectures in Japan. He arrived in Japan 7 days after the

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences ( sv, Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the Swedish Royal Academies, royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special ...

had announced he won the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

Jun Ishiwara Jun Ishiwara or Atsushi Ishihara (石原純; January 15, 1881 – January 19, 1947) was a Japanese theoretical physicist, known for his works on the electronic theory of metals, the theory of relativity and quantum theory. Being the only Japanese ...

, a Japanese theoretical physicist, summarized his lecture at

Keio University , mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword , type = Private research coeducational higher education institution , established = 1858 , founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa , endowmen ...

and published it in ''Kaizō''. ''Kaizōsha'' published translations of Einstein’s lecture texts in Japan the next year and during the period from 1922 to 1924 it published translations of all of his papers.

Oppression

In 1942, during the middle of

World War II 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 ...

, publications printing communist essays begin to suffer government oppression ( Yokohama Incident). After police beat confessions out of "Communist" staffers, ''Kaizō'' was forced to "voluntarily" dissolve in 1944.James L. McClain, ''Japan: A Modern History'' p 491 Publication was resumed in 1946, but management was poor, and labor troubles exacerbated the situation, forcing ''Kaizō'' to cease publication in 1955.

Featured Works

'' - by

Nobuko is a feminine Japanese given name. Although the name is always romanized the same way, the kanji characters can be different. Possible writings * 信子, "trust, child" * 伸子, "to lengthen, child" * 延子, "to prolong, child" * 暢子, "ex ...

- by Miyamoto Yuriko
''

Kappa Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; el, κάππα, ''káppa'') is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value o ...

'' - by

Ryūnosuke Akutagawa , art name , was a Japanese writer active in the Taishō period in Japan. He is regarded as the "father of the Japanese short story", and Japan's premier literary award, the Akutagawa Prize, is named after him. He committed suicide at the age of ...

The Wind Has Risen ''The Wind Has Risen'' (風立ちぬ, ''Kaze tachinu'') is a Japanese novel by Tatsuo Hori, published between 1936 and 1938, and is regarded as his most acknowledged work. The story is set in a sanitarium in Nagano, Japan, where the nameless prota ...

'' - by

Hori Tatsuo was a Japanese translator and writer of poetry, short stories and novels. Early life Born in Tokyo, Hori studied Japanese literature at Tokyo Imperial University under Saisei Murō and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa. In addition to Japanese writers of ...

A Flock of Swirling Crows - by Kuroshima Denji
Shanghai - by

References

Keene, Donald. ''Dawn to the West: Japanese Literature in the Modern Era''. Columbia University Press

External links

An article in Japanese that includes a cover picture of ''Kaizō''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaizo 1919 establishments in Japan 1955 disestablishments in Japan Defunct political magazines published in Japan Magazines established in 1919 Magazines disestablished in 1955 Monthly magazines published in Japan Banned magazines Censorship in Japan