The Japanese Labor Movement, 1912–1919: Suzuki Bunji and the Yūaikai

¹ Katsunori, Nakamura, “Suzuki Bunji to Taishō rōdō undō” [“Suzuki Bunji and the Taishō Labor Movement”], Hōgaku kenkyū, XXXII, No. 1 (01 1959). 43–44.

² Sakae, Ōsugi, Zenshū [Collected Works], VI (Tokyo, 1964), 170.

³ Sakuzō, Yoshino, “Suzuki Bunji no sobyō” [“Rough Sketch of Suzuki Bunji”], Rōdō undō nijū nen [Twenty Years in the Labor Movement] (Tokyo, 1931), p. 5. Yoshino was Suzuki's senior by six years.

⁴ Suzuki, , Rōdō undō, p. 42.

⁵ For a study of the various types of social reformism, see Takayoshi, Matsuo, Taishō demokurashi no kenkyū [Studies of Taishō Democracy] (Tokyo, 1966), pp. 149–52.

⁶ “Shihon to rōdō to no chōwa” [“Harmony Between Capital and Labor”], Yūai shimpō, 12 3, 1912, p. 1. Some editorials in this paper are unsigned but scholars agree that Suzuki wrote the editorials, unless other writers' names are cited.

⁷ “Shihon to rōdō to no chōwa” [“Harmony Between Capital and Labor”], Yūai shimpō, 06 15, 1914, p. 1.

⁸ Ōsugi, , pp. 171–72.

⁹ Bunji, Suzuki, “Sōritsu sōkan isshū nen” [“First Anniversary of the Founding of the Yūai shimpō”], Yūai shimpō, 11 1, 1913, p. 1.

¹⁰ “Ketsugō no chikara” [“Power of Unity”], Yūai shimpō, 10 15, 1913, p. 1.

¹¹ Bunzi, Suzuki, “Kai-in shokun ni ichigon” [“A Word to the Members”], Yūai shimpō, 02 1, 1914, p. 3.

¹² Totten, George, The Social Democratic Movement in Prewar Japan (New Haven, 1966), p. 6.

¹³ An excellent discussion of the Factory Act is counpresented by Iwao, Ayusawa, A History of Labor in Modern Japan (Honolulu, 1966), pp. 108–11.

¹⁴ Suzuki, , Rōdō undō, pp. 52–64. When the founding meeting took place the atmosphere in Tokyo, as elsewhere in Japan, was gloomy due to the death of Emperor Meiji. The meeting was held at the Mita Unitarian Church. There were electricians, mechanics, lacquerware makers, milkmen and tatami makers among the fifteen who attended.

¹⁵ Ayusawa, , p. 99.

¹⁶ Suzuki gives sketches of these and other men associated with the Yūaikai as advisers and counpresented cillors in Rōdō undō, pp. 64–87. Biographical data on many of these men can be found in Totten, Social Democratic Movement.

¹⁷ Matsuo Takayoshi has argued that Suzuki first met Shibusawa sometime in 1915 and that while Shibusawa may have contributed some money to the Yūaikai, the sum, and any influence might have carried with it, were probably not extraordinary. For Matsuo's discussion and a resume of other views of the Shibusawa-Suzuki relationship, see Matsuo, , pp. 166–67.

¹⁸ Suzuki, , Rōdō undō, p. 65.

¹⁹ Bunji, Suzuki, “Sōritsu sōkan isshū nen,” p. 1.

²⁰ Totten, George, “Labor and Agrarian Disputes in Japan Following World War I,” Economic Development and Cultural Change, IX, No. 1, Part (10 1960), 190–91.

²¹ Kublin, Hyman, Asian Revolutionary: The Life of Sen Katayama (Princeton, 1964), p. 223.

²² Ayusawa, , p. 133.

²³ Katsunori, Nakamura, “Suzuki Bunji,” Jiyū, XII (1967), 115.

²⁴ Toyoji, Kitazaki, “Yūaikai to rōdō kumiaishugi” [“The Yūaikai and Labor Unionism”] Taishō demohurashī no shisō [The Thought of Taishō Democracy], ed. Etsuji, Sumiya et al. , (Tokyo, 1966), pp. 245–75.

²⁵ “Rōdōsha yori shihonka e” [“From the Laborers to the Capitalists”], Yūai skimpō, 05 5, 1914, p. 1.

²⁶ Bunji, Suzuki, “Rōdō jigen” [“Labor Talk”], Rōdō oyobi sangyō, 03 1, 1915, p. 5.

²⁷ Totten, , Social Democratic Movement, p. 31.

²⁸ Tōru, Watanabe, “Yūaikai no soshiki no jittai” [“The Actual Conditions of the Organization of the Yūaikai”], Jimbun gakuhō, XVIII (10 1963), 1–70.

²⁹ Starting in 1914, Yūaikai branches emerged in Korea and Manchuria, Watanabe, , p. 49.

³⁰ Watanabe, , p. 38.

³¹ Suzuki wrote a series of articles explaining and criticizing the 1911 Factory Law in Yūai shimpō.

³² Shuichi, Harada, Labor Conditions in Japan (New York, 1928), p. 177.

³³ Matsuo, , p. 179.

³⁴ Nakamura, , “Suzuki Bunji to Taishō rōdō undō,” Hōgaku kenkyū, XXXII, No. 2, 3 (02 1959), 25–26.

³⁵ Katsumaro, Akamatsu, Nihon shakai undōshi, [The History of Japan's Social Movements] (Tokyo, 1967), p. 141. For a case study of Suzuki's mediation activities in strikes see his articles on the strike at the Tokyo Muslin Company, “Tōkyō musurin kaisha ni okeru dōmei hikō mondai temmatsu” [“The Facts on the Labor Strike at Tokyo Muslin Company”], Yūai shimpō, 09 1, 1914; Sept. 15,1914; Oct. 1, 1914; pp. 3–4.

³⁶ Nakamura, , “Suzuki Bunji,” Hōgaku kenkyū, 02 1959, p. 36.

³⁷ Kublin, , pp. 224–25.

³⁸ Bunji, Suzuki, “Beikoku rōdō taikai shusseki no ki” [“Account of Attendance at the American Labor Convention”], Rōdō oyobi sangyō, No. 53, 01 1, 1916, pp. 8–9.

³⁹ For instance see Suzuki's article, “Waga shinai naru Yūaikai-in shokun” [“My Beloved Yūaikai Members”], Yūai shimpō, 07 15, 1914, p. 1.

⁴⁰ Bunji, Suzuki, “Nihon no kokuminsei to rōdō undō” [“The Japanese National Character and the Labor Movement”], Rōdō oyobi sangyō, No. 60, 08 1, 1916, pp. 2–9.

⁴¹ Nakamura, , “Suzuki Bunji,” Hōgaku kenkyū, 02 1959, p. 41.

⁴² Ibid., p. 40.

⁴³ Matsuo, , p. 181.

⁴⁴ Suzuki, , Rōdō undō, pp. 85–86.

⁴⁵ Ibid., p. 87.

⁴⁶ Biographical information on both the young intellectuals and the worker-leaders can be located in Totten, Social Democratic Movement.

⁴⁷ Matsuo presents an analysis of the rising popularity of democratic ideas in Japan during World War I in his Taishō demokurashi, pp. 177–79. Also, see his article, “The Development of Democracy in Japan,” The Developing Economies, IV, No. 4 (12 1966).

⁴⁸ Matsuo, , “The Development of Democracy in Japan,” p. 626.

⁴⁹ Ibid., p. 627.

⁵⁰ Kyochokai, , eds., Saikin no shakai undō [Recent Social Movements] (Tokyo, 1929), p. 255.

⁵¹ Totten, George, “Labor and Agrarian Disputes,” p. 201.

⁵² Watanabe, , p. 17.

⁵³ Ibid., p. 38.

⁵⁴ Ibid., p. 54.

⁵⁵ Matsuo, , p. 201.

⁵⁶ Watanabe, , p. 54.

⁵⁷ Nakamura, , “Suzuki Bunji,” Hōgaku kenkyū 02 1959, p. 43.

⁵⁸ Bunji, Suzuki, “Rōdō jigen,” p. 5.

⁵⁹ Bunji, Suzuki, “Dōmei higyō to rōdō dantai” [“Strikes and Labor Groups”], Rōdō oyobi sangyō, No. 75, 11 1, 1917, p. 5.

⁶⁰ Bunji, Suzuki, “Kai-in shokun ni tsugu” [“To my Fellow Members”], Rōdō oyobi sangyō, No. 78, 02 1, 1918, p. 21.

⁶¹ Levine, Solomon, Industrial Relations in Postwar Japan (Urbana, 1958), p. 63.

⁶² Bunji, Suzuki, “Tekkō Kumiai soshiki no gi” [“A Proposal for an Ironworkers Union Organization”], Rōdō oyobi sangyō, No. 79, 03 1, 1918, pp. 51–54.

⁶³ Hisashi, Asō, Shinshakaiteki chitsujo e [Toward a New Social Order] (Tokyo, 1922), p. 559.

⁶⁴ Bunji, Suzuki, “Kome sōdō to Yūaikai” [“The Rice Riots and the Yūaikai”], Rōdō oyobi sangyō, No. 86, 10 1, 1918, pp. 2–4.

⁶⁵ Matsuo, , pp. 192–93.

⁶⁶ Ibid., pp. 192–93.

⁶⁷ Ibid., p. 209.

⁶⁸ Ibid., pp. 211–12.

⁶⁹ Ibid., pp. 212–13.

⁷⁰ Ibid., p. 216.

⁷¹ Ibid., p. 221.

⁷² Ayusawa, , p. 120–21.

⁷³ Ibid., p. 121.

⁷⁴ Suzuki, , Rōdō undō, pp. 186–98.

⁷⁵ Ibid., pp. 183–84.

⁷⁶ Totten, , Social Democratic Movement, p. 141.

⁷⁷ Suzuki, , Rōdō undō, p. 185.

⁷⁸ Jōtarō, Kawakami, ed., Asō Hisashi den [Biography of Aso Hisashi] (Tokyo, 1958), pp. 126–27.

⁷⁹ Matsuo, , p. 226.

⁸⁰ The rivalry between the Kansai and Kantō branches of the Yūaikai needs close study. The suggestion in this essay that Kantō revisionists consciously planned their moves specifically to outmaneuver their Kansai counterparts is tentative.

⁸¹ For the complete resolution, see Suzuki, , Rōdō undō, pp. 182–83.

⁸² Sōdōmei Gojūnenshi kankō i-inkai, eds., Sōdōmei gojūnen shi [The Fifty Year History of the General Federation, I] (Tokyo, 1965), 63–64.

⁸³ Shimbun, Tokyo Nichi-Nichi, eds., Yūaikai no soshiki to kono naijō [The Organization and Internal Condition of the Yūaikai] (Tokyo, 1921), p. 10.

⁸⁴ Ibid., p. 12.