The was a radical
Japanese nationalist
Japanese nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that the Japanese are a monolithic nation with a single immutable culture. Over the last two centuries, it has encompassed a broad range of ideas and sentiments. It is useful ...
pan-Asianist organization founded in August 1919.
[Szpilman 2011, p. 55] The group arose from a pre-existing debate society, the
Rōsōkai (Old and Young Society), which was founded in October 1918 by , editor of
''Dai Nihon'' (Greater Japan).
Though the Rōsōkai was not explicitly
pan-Asianist, or indeed political in its focus, its membership included many leading pan-Asianists and political commentators.
Dissatisfied with the overly non-political nature of the Rōsōkai,
Ōkawa Shūmei and Mitsukawa Kametarō elected to form the Yūzonsha on 8 August 1919.
[ Szpilman 2011, p. 56] This organization had a clear pan-Asianist reformist agenda, and included prominent members such as
Kanokogi Kazunobu,
Nunami Takeo,
Kasagi Yoshiaki,
Shimonaka Yasaburō,
Kanauchi Ryōsuke,
Ayakawa Takeji,
Yasuoka Masahiro
was a Japanese scholar of yangmingism who, through his philosophy, reportedly exerted considerable influence on many Japanese politicians, including postwar prime ministers of Japan. He has been considered a backroom power broker or eminence ...
,
Shimizu Kōnosuke
Shimizu may refer to:
People
* Shimizu (surname) (清水, "clear" or "pure water"), a common Japanese surname
Places Japan
*Shimizu, Fukui -chō, town, Fukui Prefecture
*Shimizu, Shizuoka -chō, town, Shizuoka Prefecture
*Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka ...
,
Iwata Fumio and
Nishida Mitsugi is a Japanese surname
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cult ...
.
Mitsukawa and Ōkawa asked the radical pan-Asianist
Kita Ikki
was a Japanese author, intellectual and political philosopher who was active in early Shōwa period Japan. Drawing from an eclectic range of influences, Kita was a self-described Socialist thought in Imperial Japan, socialist who has also been ...
, author of the quasi-totalitarian ''Kokka Kaizō Hōan Daikō'' (A Plan for National Reconstruction), to provide ideological leadership.
Though he agreed to do so, moving to the organization's headquarters, he largely remained aloof from the organization; which did take on some of his ideology and was involved in illegally circulating copies of his banned work.
The organization launched a monthly journal,
''Otakebi'' (War Cry) in August 1920, but published only three issues before ceasing publication; equally unsuccessful were its attempts to publish books, and only a few pamphlets were produced.
[Szpilman 2011, p. 57]
Yūzonsha advocated
Esperanto
Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...
, rather than
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
, as the language of the Pan-Asian unit. The leaders of the organization argued that making Esperanto the lingua franca would greatly facilitate achieving unity among the peoples of Asia.
[Szpilman 2011, p. 58–59]
It was involved in a couple of political campaigns, notably a successful one to prevent the annulment of
Hirohito's engagement to Princess
Kuni Nagako
Nagako (6 March 190316 June 2000), posthumously honoured as Empress Kōjun, was a member of the Imperial House of Japan, the wife of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) and the mother of Emperor Emeritus Akihito. She was Empress of Japan from 1926 until ...
, and an unsuccessful campaign to prevent his 1921 tour of Europe.
The group eventually dissolved in 1923, alongside the Rōsōkai after disagreements between Kita and Ōkawa, particularly over
Russo-Japanese relations.
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yūzonsha (猶存社) (The Society of Those Who Yet Remain)
Japanese nationalist organizations
Organizations established in 1919
*
Esperanto movement
Esperanto in Japan
Think tanks based in Japan