Episode 310 – Freedom and People’s Rights, Part 1

October 18, 2019

This week, we’re starting a look at the Jiyu Minken Undo — the Freedom and People’s Rights Movement — by talking a bit about its ideological origins as well as some of the movement’s early leaders.

Sources

Jansen, Marius. The Making of Modern Japan

Ozaki, Yukio. The Autobiography of Ozaki Yukio

Bowen, Roger W. Rebellion and Democracy in Meiji Japan.

Images

Eto Shinpei’s participation in the Aikoku Koto helped destroy that party almost as soon as it got off the ground — when he was beheaded for treason the party disbanded to avoid coming under scrutiny because of its association with him.
Nakae Chomin as a younger man.
Itagaki Taisuke as a young man (c. 1880).
The Toyo Jiyu Shinbun, or Eastern Free Press. It was suppressed after slightly more than a month of publication.
Okuma Shigenobu. Tragically I had a hard time finding pictures of him from the early Meiji Period, but the English style suit here definitely shows off his Anglophilia.