High Treason Incident
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The High Treason Incident (大逆事件, Taigyaku Jiken), also known as the Kōtoku Incident (幸徳事件, Kōtoku Jiken), was a
Investigation
On 20 May 1910, the police searched the room of Miyashita Takichi (1875–1911), a young lumbermill employee in
In the subsequent investigation, many known leftists and suspected sympathizers were brought in for questioning around the country. Eventually, 25 men and one woman were brought to trial on the charge of violation of Article 73 of the Criminal Code (harming or intending harm to the Emperor or member of the imperial family). Four of those arrested were Buddhist monks.[2] The case was tried in a closed court, and the prosecutor was Hiranuma Kiichirō.
Evidence against the defendants was mainly
Of the death sentences, an Imperial Rescript commuted twelve to life imprisonment on the following day. Of the remaining twelve, eleven were executed on 24 January 1911. These included Shūsui,[1] a prominent Japanese anarchist, Ōishi Seinosuke, a doctor, and Uchiyama Gudō, the only one of the Buddhist priests arrested to be executed. The last of the condemned defendants, the only woman, Kanno Sugako, was executed the next day.
The case was largely used as a pretext by authorities to round up dissidents. Only five or six of those accused and convicted in the trial actually had anything to do with the plot to kill the emperor. Even the foremost defendant, Shūsui, had not been involved in the plot since the very earliest stages, but his high prestige made him the principal figure to the prosecution.
The High Treason Incident is indirectly related to The Red Flag Incident of 1908. During the High Treason investigation, anarchists already incarcerated were questioned about possible involvement, including Ōsugi Sakae, Sakai Toshihiko, and Yamakawa Hitoshi. Being already in jail saved many from facing further charges.[3] Kanno, who was found not guilty during the Red Flag trials, was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death in the High Treason trials.
Aftermath
The High Treason Incident created a shift in the intellectual environment of the late
A plea for a retrial was submitted after the end of the
References
- ^ a b Nish, Ian Hill; Cortazzi, Hugh (2002). Britain & Japan: Biographical Portraits. Japan Society Publications. p. 338.
- ^ Victoria, Brian (1997). Zen at War. Weatherhill, Inc. p. 38.
- ^ Bowen Raddeker, Helen (1997). Treacherous Women of Imperial Japan. Routledge. p. 6.
- ^ 幸徳事件 l (in Japanese). Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved 2011-08-23.
Books
- Cronin, Joseph (2014). The Life of Seinosuke: Dr. Oishi and the High Treason Incident: Second Edition. White Tiger Press.