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Shōzō Tanaka

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Tanaka Shōzō
Shōzō Tanaka
Born(1841-12-15)December 15, 1841
Sano, Tochigi, Japan
Died4 September 1913(1913-09-04) (aged 71)
Sano, Japan
Nationality Japan
Occupation(s)Politician, Environmental activist

Shōzō Tanaka (田中 正造, Tanaka Shōzō, 15 December 1841 – 4 September 1913)Shōzō Tanaka (田中 正造, Tanaka Shōzō, 15 December 1841 – 4 September 1913)[1] was a Japanese politician and social activist, and is considered to be Japan's first conservationist.[2] Tanaka was politically active in the Meiji Restoration and leader in the Freedom and Popular Rights Movement. In Japan's first general election of 1890, he was elected to the House of Representatives as a member of the Rikken Kaishintō, a liberal political party.[3] He is most well known for his advocacy of rural residents around the Watarase River whose health and livelihoods were negatively effected by pollution from the Ashio Copper Mine in the 1880's.[4] Tanaka also contributed to philosophical thought on nature in the early Meiji era.[4]

Early Life

Tanaka was born in the Watarase River Basin. He was raised by his father, the headman of Konaka Village and principal of the Jōrenji Temple school in present-day Sano, Tochigi.[5] Tanaka struggled with reading and writing in school, however, he excelled in aural memorization. For example he had the Confucian Analects and Mencius committed to memory.[6] He was an apt farmer and engaged in some entrepreneurial farming projects during his youth. His community came to know Tanaka for his steadfast sense of judgement and responsibility.[7] In 1857, Tanaka's father was promoted to superintendent of the eight villages that made up the domain. Even at the age of 17, Tanaka's village was happy to elect him as headman in his father's place, where he served for twelve years.[5]


Political Activism

Tanaka participated in the Freedom and Popular Rights Movement through his position as headman in the village of Kanaka.[8]

The end of the Tokugawa era saw major changes in Japanese economic system, which allowed for a national market, domestic trade, and the commercialization of agriculture. Such changes created a stratified lower class, with village elites (Gono).[9] Headmen like Tanaka were at the top tier of this newly stratified peasant class.[9] As a headman, Tanaka rose up and challenged the feudal system made up of shogun government controlling the domain which encompassed his village.[10] One of the only ways of doing this was through petition, which, Tanaka dedicated himself to at the risk his own life. In 1890, Gono took over local prefectural assemblies. These assemblies pushed against the oligarchical government and made demands on behalf of the peasant class they represented.[9] The government halfway relented to these demands; however, it came at the expense of the Freedom and Popular Rights Movement.[11] Although it took 10 years, successes of the prefectural assemblies eventually included a constitution from the emperor and an elected body.

In May 1868, Tanaka was imprisoned for challenging a higher-ranking official. Tanaka submitted a petition which called for the official’s arrest for the embezzlement of government money.[12] In prison, Tanaka was tortured. He was forced to maintain to stress positions for extensive periods of time and survived for 30 days by licking a stick of dried bonito.[13]Tanaka was convicted of, "...disturbing the peace of the Fief, betraying the trust of his position (as Headman of Kanaka), plotting in a nefarious manner and submitting presumptuous petitions...".[14] He was released from prison in 1869.[15]


He was born in the village of Konaka in present-day Sano, Tochigi Prefecture, and was the son of the village headman. In 1857, he became headman after his father and served for twelve years.[16]: 113  In 1879, he founded the Tochigi Shimbun, a periodical in which he discussed human rights and contemporary issues.[17]

Tanaka became a member of the Tochigi Prefectural Assembly in 1880, and its Chairman in 1886.[18] In the general election of 1890, the first ever held in Japan, he was elected to the House of Representatives as a member of the Rikken Kaishintō, a liberal political party.[18]

Tanaka is best known for his advocacy in connection with the pollution caused by waste from the Ashio Copper Mine.[19] Starting from the mid-1880s, rivers near the mine became highly polluted and in 1890 a large flood carried poisonous wastes from the mine into surrounding areas.[20] Tanaka took the cause to the National Diet, but his efforts to publicise the pollution met with little success due to government censorship.[16]: 115  In 1900, villagers in the valley of the Watarase River, downstream from the mine, planned a mass protest in Tokyo, but were rebuffed by government troops and forced to disperse. In 1901, Tanaka resigned from the Diet, then tried to deliver a letter directly to Emperor Meiji who were returning to his residence from the Diet.[19][21] While he was stopped by the guards, this incident shocked the resident of Tokyo that his letter was published by national newspapers. In 1911, the Diet passed the Factory Law, Japan's first law to address industrial pollution.[21]

Tanaka was a supporter of local autonomy and the primacy of agriculture.[16]: 112  He spent the rest of his life developing his own environmental philosophy and encouraging villagers to protest against various construction projects.[22] After leaving the Diet he lived in Yanaka village, now a district of the city of Sano, until his death by stomach cancer in 1913.[17] At the time of his death, Tanaka was literally penniless as to spend his properties to the past actions; all of his possessions were an unfinished manuscript, a book of the New Testament, handkerchief paper, river nori, 3 pebbles, 3 diaries, a bound copy of the Meiji Constitution and the Gospel of Matthew in a cloth bag.[23] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihito

See also

References

  1. ^ "Tanaka, Shozo".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Wray, Harry. Japan Examined: Perspectives on Modern Japanese History. University of Hawaii Press. p. 113. ISBN 978-0824808396.
  3. ^ "Tanaka, Shozo". National Diet Library, Japan. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Stolz, Robert. "Remake Politics, Not Nature: Tanaka Shozo's Philosophies of 'Poison' and 'Flow' and Japan's Environment".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ a b Walker, Brett (2011). Toxic Archipelago: A History of Industrial Disease in Japan. Washington University Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0295991382.
  6. ^ Strong, Kenneth (1977). Ox Against the Storm : A biography of Tanaka Shozo, Japan's Conservationist Pioneer. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. p. 4.
  7. ^ Strong, Kenneth (1977). Ox Against the Storm : A Biography of Tanaka Shozo, Japan's Conservationist Pioneer. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. p. 5.
  8. ^ Strong, Kenneth (1977). Ox Against the Storm: A Biography of Tanaka Shozo: Japans Conservationist Pioneer. Victoria: University of British Columbia Press.
  9. ^ a b c Notehelfer, Fred G. (1997). Rethinking the Meiji Restoration. Los Angeles: University of Southern California. pp. 2, 3, .{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
  10. ^ Strong, Kenneth (1977). Ox Against the Storm: A Biography of Tanaka Shozo: Japans Conservationist Pioneer. Victoria: University of British Columbia Press.
  11. ^ Notehelfer, Fred G. (1997). Rethinking the Meiji Restoration. Los Angeles: University of Southern California. p. 9.
  12. ^ Strong, Kenneth (1977). Ox Against the Storm : A Biography of Tanaka Shozo, Japan's Conservationist Pioneer. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. p. 14.
  13. ^ Strong, Kenneth (1977). Ox Against the Storm : A Biography of Tanaka Shozo, Japan's Conservationist Pioneer. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. p. 15.
  14. ^ Strong, Kenneth (1977). Ox Against the storm : A Biography of Tanaka Shozo, Japan's Conservationist Pioneer. Vancouver: University of British Columbia. pp. 15, 16.
  15. ^ Walker, Brett (2011). Toxic Archipelago: A History of Industrial Disease in Japan. Washington University Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0295991382.
  16. ^ a b c Wray, Harry; Conroy, Hilary (1983). Japan Examined: Perspectives on Modern Japanese History. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824808396. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
  17. ^ a b "田中正造" [Shōzō Tanaka]. Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponika) (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shogakukan. 2013. OCLC 153301537. Archived from the original on August 25, 2007. Retrieved 2013-11-08.
  18. ^ a b "Tanaka, Shozo". National Diet Library, Japan. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
  19. ^ a b Mari Yamaguchi (November 7, 2013). "Anti-nuclear Japanese lawmaker attacked from all sides for handing letter to Emperor Akihito". Associated Press. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
  20. ^ Kichiro Shoji and Masuro Sugai. "The Ashio Copper mine pollution case: The origins of environmental destruction, Ch. 1, Sec. II". United Nations University. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
  21. ^ a b Imura, Hidefumi (2005). Environmental Policy in Japan. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 9781781008249. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
  22. ^ Robert Stolz. "Remake Politics, Not Nature: Tanaka Shozo's Philosophies of "Poison" and "Flow" and Japan's Environment". The Asia-Pacific Journal. Retrieved November 8, 2013.
  23. ^ In 1973, Emperor Akihito visited the area and received the actual letter Tanak tried to deliver to the Meiji Emperor, the grandfather of Emperor Akihito. 田中正造展示室資料解説 (pdf). Retrieved on March 24, 2017

Sources

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