Political prisoners in Imperial Japan were detained and prosecuted by the government of the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

for dissent, attempting to change the national character of Japan,

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

activity, or association with a group whose stated aims included the aforementioned goals. Following the dissolution of the

after

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 ...

, all remaining political prisoners were released by policies issued under the

Allied occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

Meiji period – Shōwa period

Beginning in the

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 ...

, the government of the

detained Japanese residents suspected of political dissidence. In 1925, 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 ...

was passed. Article 1 of the law stipulates that:

"Anyone who organises an association with the objective of change the ''
kokutai is a concept in the Japanese language translatable as "system of government", "sovereignty", "national identity, essence and character", "national polity; body politic; national entity; basis for the Emperor's sovereignty; Japanese constituti ...
'' or denying the private property system, or who joins such an association with full knowledge of its objectives, shall be liable to imprisonment with or without hard labour for a term not exceeding ten years."

Only about 5,000 out of more than 74,000 suspected violators of the Peace Preservation Law between 1928 and 1941 were prosecuted. Those who recanted were either released or received short prison terms. On 4 October 1945, the GHQ issued the Removal of Restrictions on Political, Civil, and Religious Liberties directive, which stipulated the release of

political prisoners A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...

. It was estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 political prisoners were in prison by the end of the war. Following the release of political prisoners on 10 October 1945, the GHQ enacted the "Restoration of Electoral Rights to Released Political Prisoners."

Notable political prisoners

* Shigeo Kamiyama * Shoichi Ichikawa *

Kiyoshi Miki was a Japanese philosopher, literary critic, scholar and university professor. He was an esteemed student of Nishida Kitarō and a prominent member of the Kyoto School. Miki was a prolific academic and social critic of his time. He also had ...

Jun Tosaka was a Shōwa era Kyoto-trained Japanese intellectual, and teacher. Some identify strands of Marxism in his later philosophy. His criticisms of governments and their war policies caused him to end up in prison on various occasions. Life Jun To ...

Notable prisons

Sugamo Prison Sugamo Prison (''Sugamo Kōchi-sho'', Kyūjitai: , Shinjitai: ) was a prison in Tokyo, Japan. It was located in the district of Ikebukuro, which is now part of the Toshima ward of Tokyo, Japan. History Sugamo Prison was originally built in 1 ...

Fuchu Prison Fuchu, King of Chu (), clan name Xiong, () was from 227 to 223 BC the last king of the state of Chu during the late Warring States period of ancient China (though sources argue that Lord Changping was the last king of Chu). Fuchu was his give ...

Memoirs

*'' Eighteen Years in Prison'' (Gokuchu juhachi-nen) by Kyuichi Tokuda and Yoshio Shiga. Published by the Japanese Communist Party in 1948.

References

External links

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *{{cite web, url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/filmmore/transcript/transcript3.html, title=American Experience . MacArthur, publisher=

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

Japanese Resistance Political repression in Japan Political prisoners in former countries Political prisoners in Japan