Naoe Kinoshita

Social activist and novelist. Born on September 8, 1869, as the eldest son of a low-ranking samurai in Matsumoto, Shinshu (Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture). In 1888 (Meiji 21), he graduated from Tokyo Senmon Gakko (the predecessor to Waseda University) and returned to his hometown to become a newspaper reporter, but his righteous views were rejected by his hometown party, so he switched from political activism to the reform movement. In 1893, he passed the barrister exam and converted to Christianity. In 1897, together with Nakamura Tahachiro and others, he launched Japan's first universal suffrage movement, and was the first victim to be imprisoned. In 1899, he moved to Tokyo and joined Shimada Saburo's Mainichi Shimbun newspaper. Since then, he has continued to be an active voice, taking up social issues such as the abolition of prostitution and the Ashio mine pollution issue, with passion backed by Christian humanism and the logic of a lawyer. He also participated in the founding of the Social Democratic Party in May 1901 (Meiji 34), and at the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, he encouraged Sakai Toshihiko, Kotoku Shusui and others to start a non-war movement, and published serial articles in the Mainichi Shimbun called "Pillar of Fire" (1904) and "Confession of a Husband" (1904-05), in which he advocated non-war and criticized the family system. After the war ended, conflicts between socialists came to the surface, and Naoe left the materialist faction. He worked with Ishikawa Sanshiro and others to publish the Christian magazine "Shinkigen," but left the socialist movement in the autumn of 1906. He left the newspaper company and lived in Ikaho, Gunma Prefecture for a time, devoting himself to his writing career, but he became more inclined toward religion, seeking the realization of an ideal society through people's "repentance," and from 1910 he devoted himself to the Okada method of meditation. As a republican, many of his novels were banned, his criticism in newspapers and magazines was considered dangerous by publishers, and the only collection of his essays was "Hunger and Thirst" (1907). He was forgotten by the public for a long time. After Sakai Toshihiko died in 1933 (Showa 8), he resumed writing and devoted himself to researching Meiji history, but his work was interrupted by the progression of stomach cancer, and he passed away on November 5, 1937.

[Toshifumi Gogami]

"Collected Works of Kinoshita Naoe, 15 volumes (1968-1973, Meiji Documents)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

社会運動家、小説家。明治2年9月8日、信州松本（長野県松本市）の下級武士の長男に生まれる。1888年（明治21）東京専門学校（早稲田(わせだ)大学の前身）を卒業、帰郷して新聞記者となるが、正義の主張は郷党にいれられず、政治運動から矯風運動に方向をかえた。93年には代言人(だいげんにん)試験に合格、キリスト教にも入信した。97年中村太八郎(たはちろう)らとわが国初めての普通選挙運動を起こし、最初の犠牲者として獄窓を経験した。99年上京して島田三郎の『毎日新聞』に入社、以来、廃娼(はいしょう)問題、足尾(あしお)鉱毒問題などの社会問題を取り上げて、キリスト教ヒューマニズムに裏づけられた情熱と弁護士の論理で、激しい言論活動を続けた。1901年（明治34）5月の社会民主党の結成にも参加し、日露開戦にあたっては堺利彦(さかいとしひこ)・幸徳秋水(こうとくしゅうすい)らを促して非戦運動を開始し、『毎日新聞』に『火の柱』（1904）、『良人(りょうじん)の自白』（1904～05）を連載して非戦論と家族制度批判を展開した。戦争が終わると社会主義者間の対立が表面化し、尚江は唯物論派と別れ、石川三四郎らとキリスト教派の雑誌『新紀元』の刊行に尽力していたが、06年秋、社会主義運動から離脱した。新聞社を退社し、一時群馬県の伊香保(いかほ)に住んで作家活動に沈潜したものの、理想社会の実現を人々の「悔い改め」に求めて宗教への傾斜を強め、10年からは岡田式静坐(せいざ)法に没頭した。共和主義者であったがため、小説の多くは発禁となり、新聞雑誌上の評論は出版社に危険視され、評論集としてまとめられたのは『飢渇(きかつ)』（1907）ただ1冊。長い間世間から忘れ去られていた。33年（昭和8）堺利彦が亡くなると執筆を再開し、明治史の調査に打ち込んだが、胃癌(いがん)の進行によって中断され、昭和12年11月5日死去した。

［後神俊文］

『『木下尚江著作集』全15巻（1968～73・明治文献）』

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