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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booked some festival tickets
need to see if i can rope some friends into going this year too
today’s cool facts:
Nahuatl is still a fairly widely spoken language with about 1.7 million speakers
iron blooded orphans is even better on a rewatch. there’s so much good character stuff that is only more clear once you know where everyone ends up
also so funny that the only characterization shino gets for like the first 10 episodes is “wow! i’m attracted to women!” but it is the one really strong weak point pre-teiwaz
Just finished this webcomic where a guy kidnapped and forced into a cult as a minor climbs the ranks of the cult to hopefully change it from the inside, but ends up brainwashing himself in the process. Still kinda processing it, but the art style is fucking incredible and super powerful.
Like he eventually escapes the cult, but his brain is fundamentally re-wired and his worldview is changed completely.
What’s wild is that fucking US senators had direct ties to this cult and gave them Godamn funding and unequivocal praise. Really makes you lose all faith in humanity, but of course, there is a clear class issue briefly mentioned but not directly addressed (if that makes sense)
Got a follow req from “a leftist” on Mastodon. Took a peek at their profile and a recent post was all about how JT from Second Thought is all wrong and into AuThoRitaRiaN1zm plus a huge TANKIE.
You can guess what my tankie ass did with that follow req.
