He was born in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, into a family of former Iwakuni domain samurai. It is said that his grandmother doted on him and he grew up willful. His mother had left the household while she was carrying him, and he grew up in a complicated family. His later "Autobiography" frankly describes these childhood days as well.
After graduating from the higher school in Yamaguchi, he entered the politics course of Tokyo Imperial University. In Tokyo he saw a vast gap between rich and poor such as he had never seen at home, and was deeply shocked. He was also strongly influenced by the Christian thinker Uchimura Kanzō and began to agonize deeply over how to live.
He attended a rally where Tanaka Shōzō and others appealed on behalf of victims of pollution from the Ashio copper mine, and was so moved that he donated the overcoat, haori jacket and even the scarf he was wearing on the spot. A newspaper reported this as the act of "a remarkably charitable university student." It was an episode that showed his upright character, unable to ignore others' suffering.
He graduated from Tokyo Imperial University and that same year married Hide. He began submitting papers to economics journals and came to think of contributing to people's happiness through economics. The next year he became a university lecturer and, while also lecturing at other schools, wrote economic articles for a newspaper.
After much agonizing he quit all his teaching posts and entered communal life at Itō Shōshin's "Mugaen," which preached selfless love. But after only about two months he left and joined a newspaper. The episode shows his characteristic way of living, taking bold action in pursuit of ideals while turning back if he was not convinced.
Invited by the economist Tajima Kinji, he became a lecturer at Kyoto Imperial University and thereafter devoted himself to research. A few years later he completed "Studies in Economics," a collection summing up his research so far. His research life in Kyoto was the starting point from which he became one of Japan's leading economists.
He went to Europe for two years of study. While abroad he was awarded a doctorate in law, and on returning he became a professor at Kyoto Imperial University. The societies he saw in European countries made him think anew about the problem that even rich nations held many poor people.
He serialized "Tale of Poverty" in a newspaper and published it as a book the next year. Treating poverty from the standpoint of economics, the book sold well amid the spirit of Taishō democracy. It argued that ending poverty required the rich to give up luxury, but economists including Fukuda Tokuzō, regarded as his lifelong rival, sharply criticized it as unrealistic.
He founded "Studies of Social Problems," a journal he edited himself, and kept publishing it for more than ten years. The next year he became dean of the economics faculty at Kyoto Imperial University. From around this time he leaned deeply toward Marxism in economics and pursued research in it. His lectures are said to have had a great influence on students.
The economist Kushida Tamizō sharply criticized Kawakami's understanding of Marxism as mistaken. Kawakami admitted the criticism hit the mark and, spurred on, relearned Marxism from its foundations. He pressed ahead with translating works such as "Capital" and published in his journal the process by which he revised his own views.
Pressed by the university to resign, he left Kyoto Imperial University. The reasons given included a short text he wrote for an advertising pamphlet, an election speech, and members of a student study group causing trouble. Economics students held a protest meeting, but could not change the course of events.
After leaving the university, while devoting himself to translating "Capital," he began secretly donating funds to the Communist Party, and that year he joined the Japanese Communist Party himself. Going into hiding, he took part in underground activities, helping edit the party paper and translating documents setting out party policy. It was a decision to throw away everything for his ideals.
He was arrested by police at a house in Tokyo where he was hiding and, sentenced to five years for violating the Peace Preservation Law, was sent to prison. In prison he issued a statement admitting the defeat of his Communist Party activities, which caused a great shock. Also in prison he turned to Chinese poetry, composing poems himself and savoring the works of the Chinese poet Lu You.
With his sentence reduced, he was released from prison. That day, in a note dictated to his family, he announced that he was closing his life as a Marxist scholar. Thereafter he kept writing works such as an autobiography recounting his life, and later moved to Kyoto. The fruits of his study of Chinese poetry were also gathered into a book appreciating Lu You's poems.
When the war ended he intended to return to activity, but weakness of old age and malnutrition combined with pneumonia, and he died at his home in Kyoto. His "Autobiography," published the next year, was widely read. Known both as a fine prose writer and as a composer of Chinese poems, his way of life still draws the interest of many people.
Uemura ShōenYoshino SakuzōArishima TakeoNagai KafūNoguchi UjōSuzuki MiekichiSaitō MokichiShiga Naoya
People of the Taishō period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.