Tanno Setsu
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was a Japanese
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 ...
,
labor activist A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. A majority of unions appoint rather than elect their organizers. In some unions, the orga ...
,
Kameido Incident The took place in 1923 in the aftermath of the Great Kantō earthquake. The Kameido police in Tokyo arrested labor activists, in fear that they would spread disorder. Troops of the 13th Cavalry Regiment proceeded to execute the prisoners and to ...
survivor, and an active member of
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 ...
and
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 ...
Tokyo groups in the 1920s. Tanno became a member of the Nankatsu Labor Union, and was especially interested in its communist
Hyōgikai was a trade union centre in Japan which operated from 1920. ''Hyōgikai'' was founded at a conference in Kobe on May 24–27, 1925.Beckmann and Okubo, pp. 87, 90. As of late 1925, ''Hyōgikai'' had 59 affiliated trade unions and around 35,000 memb ...
wing where she established and was head of its women's division. Though many of her communist peers shifted to
anarchist communism Anarcho-communism, also known as anarchist communism, (or, colloquially, ''ancom'' or ''ancomm'') is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property but retains resp ...
, Tanno and her husband, Watanabe Masanosuke, the
Japanese Communist Party The is a left-wing to far-left political party in Japan. With approximately 270,000 members belonging to 18,000 branches, it is one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party advocates the establishment of a democr ...
's general secretary, remained Bolshevist communists.


Early life

Tanno Setsu was born in
Fukushima may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture ** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...
prefecture in 1902 to a large family. She moved when she was 10 years old to
Hitachi, Ibaraki 250px, Hitachi Sakura Festival is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 174,219 in 78,209 households and a population density of 770 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 w ...
prefecture when her father found a job as a carpenter building the Number Two Hydroelectric Plant in Daiyūin, the smelting district. Despite her father having an above average salary, her family was always short on money. She lived in a dirt floor tenement house intended for low-ranking miners without running water. As an adolescent, Tanno's responsibilities included caring for her baby sibling. Tanno desired to enter school to become a teacher, but there was not enough money to do so. Instead, following her
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
education, she went to Honzan hospital's nurse training school. The spring of her 16th birthday, her family was no longer able to support her financially, so Tanno paid for her clothes and food using the hospital's daily wage. During her studies, she was a subscriber to the magazine ''
Fujin Kōron (meaning ''Woman's Review'' in English) is a Japanese bi-weekly women's magazine published by Chūōkōron-Shinsha. It was founded under the concept of women's liberation and establishment of selfhood. It was first published in January 1916 (Ta ...
''. Tanno was slowly exposed to communist and socialist policy by her male peers, Sōma Ichiro,
Kawai Yoshitora Yoshitora Kawai (1902–1923) was a Japanese communist activist involved with many Tokyo-based political groups. He attended Honzan hospital's nurse training school, but moved to Tokyo's Kōtō, Kameido district in September 1920 after being e ...
, and Kitajima Kichizō, who had picked up socialism from Oka Sensei, a teacher at the nursing college who supported worker's liberation. She joined a
coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...
in 1919 connected with
Japan General Federation of Labor 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 ...
.


Early 1920s


Arrival to Tokyo

Tanno's friend,
Kawai Yoshitora Yoshitora Kawai (1902–1923) was a Japanese communist activist involved with many Tokyo-based political groups. He attended Honzan hospital's nurse training school, but moved to Tokyo's Kōtō, Kameido district in September 1920 after being e ...
, moved to
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
in September 1920, but was quickly arrested and sent to prison in
Sugamo is a neighborhood in Toshima, Tokyo, Japan. It is home to , a shopping street popular among the older generation, earning it the nickname "Granny's Harajuku." It lies at the crossing point of the JR Yamanote Line and National Route 17. Availab ...
for his ties to the Socialist Alliance. From prison, Kawai sent Tanno, Sōma, and Kitajima copies of Ōsugi Sakae's Labor News. In 1921 without fulfilling her required three years of service to the nursing school, she moved to Tokyo's Kameido district with Sōma and Kitajima to reunite with Kawai. She initially found a job at Juntendō Hospital with Kawai's help, but began work at an at-cost clinic in
Shimbashi , sometimes transliterated Shimbashi, is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Name Read literally, the characters in Shinbashi mean "new bridge". History The area was the site of a bridge built across the Shiodome River in 1604. The river was l ...
soon after. Under Kawai's encouragement, she joined the Gyōminkai (Enlightened People's Society), a communist study group, and began living at their office. She also became involved with the Sekirankai, a socialist organization for Japanese women, and was involved with many May Day demonstrations. During this time, Tanno began studying
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
at Kanda English-language School and organized a club to analyze
Tane Maku Hito ''Tane maku Hito'' (種蒔く人, "The Sower") was a Japanese proletarian literary magazine in the early 1920s. Overview ''Tane maku Hito'' was a Japanese proletarian literary magazine published in Akita Prefecture, and later Tokyo, between 1 ...
, a proletarian magazine. After an incident where a student of the school attempted to publish poetic works speaking out against the government in a new magazine, Tanno was questioned by police, and her involvement with left-leaning groups was written in newspapers at the time. Her family encouraged Tanno to return home under the false pretense that her mother was sick, with the intention of preventing Tanno from returning and participating further in Japan's growing socialist movement. Amid a festival crowd, Tanno was able to flee from her family to a
train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...
and escape back to Tokyo.


Formation of the Nankatsu Labor Union

Tanno continued attending Gyōminkai and Sekirankai meetings upon her return to Tokyo in 1922. She also joined the Nankatsu Labor Union, founded by Masanosuke Watanabe in 1922, along with Kawai, Kitajima, and Sōma. Believing that intellectual groups would not help change conditions for workers, Tanno quit her job in nursing and began working in Kameido district as a
Seikosha was a branch of the Japanese company Seiko that produced clocks, watches, shutters, computer printers and other devices. It was the root of the manufacturing companies of the Seiko Group. History *1881 — Kintarō Hattori opens the watc ...
watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...
factory worker under the name Sakanoue Kiyo. At this time, the Japanese communist part was dividing into anarchist and Bolshevist wings, and Tanno was aligned with the latter. Tanno met Watanabe Masanosuku upon seeing his lecture on
Das Kapital ''Das Kapital'', also known as ''Capital: A Critique of Political Economy'' or sometimes simply ''Capital'' (german: Das Kapital. Kritik der politischen Ökonomie, link=no, ; 1867–1883), is a foundational theoretical text in Historical mater ...
during a Gyōminkai meeting. Kawai Yoshitora encouraged the two together, and they became friends. When Tanno was lured home by family to Onahama a third time, Watanabe attempted to persuade her family to let her return with him to Tokyo, but was unsuccessful. Tanno managed to escape and return to Kameido in January 1923. In March 1923, she joined the Nankatsu Labor Union on their walk from Tokyo to
Noda, Chiba is a city located in the northwestern corner of Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 154,114 in 69,191 households and a population density of 1500 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city is famous ...
in support of a
soy sauce Soy sauce (also called simply soy in American English and soya sauce in British English) is a liquid condiment of Chinese origin, traditionally made from a fermented paste of soybeans, roasted grain, brine, and '' Aspergillus oryzae'' or ''Asp ...
manufacturer's strike. In April, she joined Kawai Yoshitora's newly created Communist Youth League. Police began arresting those associated with the communist party in June, but members were quickly released and went into hiding. Watanabe turned himself in to authorities, believing his incarceration would prevent further arrests, and was taken to prison in Ichigaya. Tanno then moved in with Watanabe's mother.


Surviving the Great Kantō Earthquake and Kameido Incident

While on her way to attend a Yōkakai meeting, the
1923 Great Kantō earthquake The struck the Kantō Plain on the main Japanese island of Honshū at 11:58:44 JST (02:58:44 UTC) on Saturday, September 1, 1923. Varied accounts indicate the duration of the earthquake was between four and ten minutes. Extensive firestorms an ...
struck. She rushed home to check on Watanabe's mother who was alive and had nearly escaped the collapse of her home. The fires and impending tsunami encouraged Tanno to flee across the Katsunishi Bridge with Kawai's family and Watanabe's mother. Upon her return, many of the displaced Nankatsu Labor Union members chose to live in the office, taking turns watching out for the authorities. On September 2, 1923, the
Special Higher Police The , often abbreviated , was a Japanese policing organization, established within the Home Ministry in 1911, for the purpose of carrying out high policing, domestic criminal investigations, and control of political groups and ideologies deemed ...
came and arrested between 6 and 8 Nankatsu Labor Union members at their office in an event known as the Kameido Incident. Tanno managed to escape by giving her alias Sakanoue Kiyo and running to hide on the second-floor window's ledge behind a sliding tatami door. The Kameido police continued to make arrests, and many of the union members were killed in prison, including Tanno's nursing school friends Kawai Yoshitora and Kitajima Kichizō. Tanno Setsu married Watanabe Masanosuke in 1924.


Late 1920s

In 1926, Tanno went underground with the Nankatsu Labor Union, hiding out in For Rent Houses from authorities. Money was very scarce, and she was almost recognized and arrested on several occasions.


Nankatsu Labor Union Women's department proposal

Tanno attempted to propose to Nankatsu Labor Union's communist Hyōgikai wing the formation of a Women's Department in 1926. However, her proposal was rejected by Hyōgikai leaders on the basis that a new department specifically for women was unnecessary. Together with Watanabe, Tanno proposed the department again and became the head of the new department in 1927.


Imprisonment of Nanshoku Labor Union members

On March 15, 1928, many Nankatsu Labor Union members were discovered and arrested. Tanno, and others who remained, continued to shift their residence around and operating under aliases, with the men dressing as stock brokers. However, many members continued to be arrested, and incidents between the police and communist members began to make newspaper headlines. On December 3, 1928, Tanno jumped through a window to escape police, but was quickly caught after jumping a fence. She was incarcerated at Tomizaka Police Station, where she was questioned for three days and brutally beaten. After a week, Tanno learned from the police officials that her husband Watanabe had been killed in
Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...
. Tanno was transferred around to multiple police stations before her trial on October 3, 1928. In prison, she contracted
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
and temporarily left on parole. Though she attempted to avoid the authorities, Tanno was rearrested.


Release

Tanno remained in prison until September 1938. Immediately following her release, she tried to flee to China, but was unable to.「丹野セツ」
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Following
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 ...
, Tanno's activism transitioned from advocating socialism to hospital administration and reform. She established and later became director of Yotsugi Clinic in Katsushika, Tokyo.


Personal life


Relationship with family

Tanno had a strained relationship with her family, who did not share her political beliefs. On multiple occasions, she was lured home by letters saying someone had become sick, only to find everyone well. On her return trips home, she was often locked in her room and not allowed to leave without a family escort. On at least one occasion, she was physically beaten by her younger brother.


Relationship with Watanabe Masanosuke

Tanno met Watanabe in 1923 during a Gyōminkai meeting presentation of Das Kapital. At the time, Watanabe's previous girlfriend, a worker at the Nagamine Celluloid Factory, had left him because her parents could not support Watanabe's political views. Tanno and Watanabe were initially not very close, but urged together by their mutual friend Kawai Yoshitora, a relationship began. In 1924, Tanno and Watanabe married, and began their married life in the Nankatsu labor union office alongside Watanabe's mother. They never had children.


References

{{authority control 1902 births 1987 deaths People from Fukushima Prefecture Japanese communists Japanese feminists Japanese socialists Socialist feminists