Eijiro Kawai

A social thinker and democratic socialist of the Taisho and Showa periods. Born in Tokyo on February 13, 1891. Graduated from the law department of Tokyo Imperial University in 1915 (Taisho 4), he joined the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce and studied in the United States to research the Factory Act. After returning to Japan in 1916, he was involved in drafting the Japanese government's policy proposal for the first International Labor Conference, but resigned due to a disagreement with his superiors. The following year, he became an associate professor at the University of Tokyo. From 1922, he studied in England for three years, studying at Oxford University and other institutions. In 1926, he became a professor at the University of Tokyo, where he was in charge of social policy and industrial policy. Heavily influenced by the idealist philosophy of T. H. Green and the British Labour Party's style of socialism, he conceived his own unique socialist system based on a personalistic ethics, and advocated liberalism in politics and socialism in economics. He also believed that parliamentarianism was the only way to realize this. From this perspective, he criticized Marxism at the height of its power in the early Showa period, and debated with labor-farmer Marxists such as Omori Yoshitaro and Sakisaka Itsuro. As fascism spread in the country, he launched his criticism of fascism, and from around 1934 (Showa 9), he became a star in the intellectual circles. He also clashed with Professor Hijikata Seibi and others within the university. As a result, he came under increasing pressure from the right wing, the military, and the Ministry of Education, and in October 1938, his books "Criticism of Fascism" (1934), "Revised Principles of Social Policy" (1935), "Current Situation and Liberalism" (1937), and "Second Student Life" (1937) were banned. In January of the following year, he was suspended from his post as a result of the so-called "Hiraga academic purge" by Hiraga Yuzuru, the president of the University of Tokyo, which punished both the Kawai and Hijikata factions. In February, he was indicted for violating the Publication Law. He waged a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court, but in 1943 his fine was finalized. He was banned from all writing during the Pacific War, and while he was preparing for the postwar period, he died suddenly of an illness on February 15, 1944. In addition to the above, his other works include "The System of Thought of Thomas Hill Green" (1930), "Biographies of Social Thinkers" (1936), and "To Students" (1940). His ideas had a major influence on the postwar Social Thought Research Association and the Democratic Socialism Research Council.

[Yoshiaki Yoshimi]

"The Complete Works of Eijiro Kawai, Vol. 23 and 1 Supplementary Volume, edited by the Social Thought Research Group (1967-70, Shakai Shisosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

大正・昭和時代の社会思想家、民主社会主義者。明治24年2月13日東京に生まれる。1915年（大正4）東京帝国大学法科を卒業し、農商務省に入り、工場法案研究のためアメリカに留学。帰国後、19年、第1回国際労働会議の日本政府方針案起草に従事したが、上司と意見が対立して辞任した。翌年東大助教授に就任。22年から3年間イギリスに留学し、オックスフォード大学などで学んだ。26年東大教授となり、社会政策、工業政策などを担当。T・H・グリーンの理想主義哲学やイギリス労働党流の社会主義の強い影響を受け、人格主義的倫理観を基礎においた独自の社会主義体系を構想し、政治的には自由主義を、経済的には社会主義を主張した。そしてその実現のためにはあくまで議会主義によるべきだとした。この立場から昭和初年のマルクス主義全盛期にはこれを批判し、大森義太郎(よしたろう)、向坂逸郎(さきさかいつろう)ら労農派マルクス主義者と論争した。国内のファッショ化が進むとファシズム批判を展開し、34年（昭和9）前後から論壇の花形的存在となった。学内でも土方成美(ひじかたせいび)教授らと対立した。このため右翼、軍部、文部省の圧迫が激しくなり、38年10月、著書『ファシズム批判』（1934）、『改訂社会政策原理』（1935）、『時局と自由主義』（1937）、『第二学生生活』（1937）が発禁処分とされ、翌39年1月には平賀譲(ひらがゆずる)東大総長の河合、土方両派を処分するといういわゆる「平賀粛学」によって休職となり、さらに2月には出版法違反で起訴された。法廷闘争を展開して大審院まで争ったが、43年罰金刑が確定した。太平洋戦争中はいっさいの文筆活動を禁止され、戦後に備えていたが、昭和19年2月15日急病で没した。著書には前記のほか『トーマス・ヒル・グリーンの思想体系』（1930）、『社会思想家評伝』（1936）、『学生に与う』（1940）などがある。その思想は戦後の社会思想研究会、民主社会主義研究会議に大きな影響を与えている。

［吉見義明］

『社会思想研究会編『河合栄治郎全集』23巻・別巻1巻（1967～70・社会思想社）』

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