On this day in 1911, the Japanese government executed twelve anarchists, including radical journalists Kanno Sugako and Kōtoku Shūsui (shown), as part of a widespread crackdown on left-wing activism. Among those executed were Uchiyama Gudō, a Buddhist priest and socialist who spoke out against the Meiji government for its imperialism and advocated for conscripted soldiers to desert en masse.

The pretext for this crackdown was the "High Treason Incident", a plot to assassinate the Emperor of Japan. The incident began when police searched the room of Miyashita Takichi, a young lumbermill employee, and found materials which could be used to construct bombs, concluding that there was a broader conspiracy to harm the imperial family.

On the basis of this plot, the Japanese government rounded up leftist activists from all over the country. 24 of the 26 defendants actually brought to trial were sentenced to death, despite the evidence against nearly all of them being circumstantial.

Among those executed anarcha-feminist journalist Kanno Sugako (some sources say she was executed on January 25th). At the age of 29, Kanno became the first woman with the status of political prisoner to be executed in the history of modern Japan.

Prior to his execution, Kōtoku Shūsui etched this message on the wall of his cell: "How has it come about that I have committed this grave crime? Today my trial is hidden from outside observers and I have even less liberty than previously to speak about these events. Perhaps in 100 years someone will speak out about them on my behalf."

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  • YuccaMan [he/him]
    ·
    8 months ago

    Somebody help me name exactly what kind of guy my new coworker is. He's identified himself as a libertarian, has mentioned several times in conversation how much he loves Dostoevsky and classical music and Marcus Aurelius and such like, and has even read the Gulag Archipelago (the first time I've encountered a real person who's read it, I might add.) Very big into chess and the gym and science and so forth. I don't wanna savage him, he's a nice enough guy, but I find him vaguely insufferable and I can't tell why. Other than him being a STEMlord and a bit of a tryhard anyway.

    • comrade_pibb [comrade/them]
      ·
      8 months ago

      comfortable white guy who's only real politics are rooted in abstract threats to his own privilege

      • YuccaMan [he/him]
        ·
        8 months ago

        That part, but also probably the sort of guy who's very into the idea of those things imparting virtue, and notions of meritocracy that basically boil down to "If you're poor and undereducated, it's your fault"

      • ilyenkov [she/her, they/them]
        ·
        8 months ago

        To go further: every chud pics some kinda historical guy (history as they imagine it) to pretend to be. Maybe it's a viking, maybe it's a 50's "family man", etc.

        This guy pretends to be a great intellectual. Maybe Cicero or Thonas Aquinas or something.

      • YuccaMan [he/him]
        ·
        8 months ago

        Fair point, I don't know why I bothered to say that. Other than the fact that he (surprisingly) isn't outwardly obnoxious. There's just been a few alarm bells tripped here and there. So far.