Who was this person?
A social activist of the Meiji to early Shōwa periods. Born into a village headman's family in Mimasaka Province, he worked his way through study in the United States, then returned and opened Kingsley Hall in Kanda, Tokyo, taking part in building labour unions and founding the Social Democratic Party. He later went into exile in the United States, became a leader of the Comintern in the Soviet Union, and died in Moscow.
| Name | Katayama Sen (片山潜) |
|---|---|
| Born–died | 1859 – 1933 |
| Period | Meiji–Shōwa |
| Birthplace | Mimasaka Province |
| Main achievements |
|
He was born the second son of the Yabuki family, village headmen in a mountain village in Mimasaka Province, now Okayama Prefecture. His childhood name was Sugatarō. When he was about three his father left home to become a monk, so he was raised by his mother. Amid farm life, he is said to have developed a strong longing for learning.
He was adopted by relatives, the Katayama family, and took their surname. Some say the adoption was to avoid military service. After studying at a local private school he entered Okayama Normal School, but his wish to learn in a wider world was strong, and he soon left school to go to Tokyo.
He went to Tokyo and worked as a houseboy at the Kōgyokusha school, studying while doing chores. Life was hard, but his friend Iwasaki Seishichi, whom he met there, became a lifelong friend who supported him for years, even helping pay his school costs in America. When Iwasaki went to America, Katayama decided to follow.
He went to America and studied English while working as a dishwasher, cook and so on near San Francisco. The days of working while studying were hard, but attending a Chinese Christian church, he came to faith and was later baptized. Seeing American society from the bottom up became the basis of his later thought.
In America he studied at several colleges and seminaries and was strongly influenced by Christian ideas of tackling social problems at Yale Divinity School and elsewhere. He also read Greek classics in the original, earned degrees and returned home after more than ten years. Back home he taught English but soon lost the post and sought a new path.
Following the settlement movement in Britain and America, he converted his home in Kanda, Tokyo, into Kingsley Hall, a base for helping poor people. Regarded as Japan's first settlement house, it offered children's education, lectures and more. Around the same time he married, and later a daughter and son were born.
With Takano Fusatarō and others, he played a major role in founding Japan's first true labor unions and launched the journal Labor World, serving as its chief writer. He argued that working people should unite to protect their livelihoods and became one of the founders of the Japanese labor movement.
With Abe Isoo, Kōtoku Shūsui and others, he founded the Social Democratic Party, Japan's first socialist party. It aimed to end the gap between rich and poor and build an equal society, but the government banned it the same day. Still, Katayama spread socialist ideas through lectures and writings.
He went to America again and attended an international socialist congress in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. In the midst of the Russo-Japanese War, he shook hands on stage with the Russian delegate Plekhanov, declaring that the workers of both countries opposed the war, and drew loud applause. He was also chosen as vice-chairman of the congress.
He joined the Japan Socialist Party, but opinion split between Katayama and others who sought to change society through parliament and Kōtoku Shūsui and others who stressed direct action. Katayama formed a new party, but it was quickly banned. Though at odds with comrades of different views, he followed the path he believed in.
He was arrested and jailed for leading a Tokyo streetcar strike that took place over New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. That year he was released under an amnesty marking Emperor Taishō's accession, but the crackdown on socialists grew harsher, and continuing his work in Japan became difficult.
He left Japan and went into exile in America. When the Russian Revolution broke out three years later, he was strongly drawn to it and came to support the ideas of Marx and Lenin. He led the movement in North America, helping to found communist parties in the United States and Mexico.
He went to Soviet Russia and became a leader of the Comintern, which directed the world communist movement. From abroad he guided the founding of Japan's Communist Party and worked in the international antiwar movement. In his last years he suffered serious illness and lived in Moscow, supported by his daughters.
He died of illness in a Moscow hospital. Many people attended his funeral, and his ashes were buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Katayama is the only Japanese buried there. He also has a memorial stone at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo, and a memorial hall stands in his hometown of Kumenan, Okayama Prefecture.
A. A social activist of the Meiji to early Shōwa periods. Born into a village headman's family in Mimasaka Province, he worked his way through study in the United States, then returned and opened Kingsley Hall in Kanda, Tokyo, taking part in building labour unions and founding the Social Democratic Party. He later went into exile in the United States, became a leader of the Comintern in the Soviet Union, and died in Moscow.
A. Period: Meiji–Shōwa. Born in 1859, died in 1933.
A. Katayama Sen was born in Mimasaka Province.
A. In 1904, during the Russo-Japanese War, Japan's delegate Katayama Sen and Russia's delegate Plekhanov shook hands on stage at an international socialist congress in Amsterdam. It drew a great response as a symbol of workers from countries at war joining hands.
See also: Wikipedia (ja) / Wikipedia (en) / Wikipedia (fr) / Wikipedia (zh) / Wikidata
Follow this life (autoplay)Ueki EmoriMikimoto KōkichiTsubouchi ShōyōAkiyama YoshifuruKanō JigorōŌyama SutematsuUchimura KanzōTanabe Sakurō
People of the Meiji period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.