Genichi Suzue

A social activist and China scholar in the Showa period. His pen names include Oji Yan and Wang Shuzhi. Born in Shimane Prefecture to a family of House of Representatives members, he struggled to get a good education after his family business went bankrupt. He became a clerk at the Tasaka Law Office in Tokyo, but dropped out and studied at Meiji University's special course. In 1919 (Taisho 8), he became a reporter for the Japanese language newspaper "New China" in Beijing, and in 1921, he became a reporter at the Beijing branch of the International Press Agency. Around this time, he became acquainted with Chinese revolutionary groups and got to know Nakae Ushikichi. He became a research student at the South Manchuria Railway Research Department and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Cultural Affairs Department for China, and wrote works such as "History of the Chinese Proletarian Movement" (1929), "Class Conflict in the Chinese Revolution" (1930), and "The Life of Sun Yat-sen" (1931). In 1927 (Showa 2), he participated in the Pan-Pacific Labor Conference in Wuhan, and as an emissary of the Comintern, he contacted the Japanese left-wing movement and was closely involved in the Chinese revolutionary movement. He was arrested in 1967 on suspicion of violating the Peace Preservation Law, but was released shortly thereafter. He died of tuberculosis in 1945.

[Mamoru Wada]

"The Legend of Genichi Suzue" by Shinichi Eto and Shushin Kyo (1984, University of Tokyo Press)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

昭和期の社会運動家、中国研究者。ペンネームに王子言、王枢之など。島根県の衆議院議員の家に生まれたが、家業の破産により苦学。東京の田坂法律事務所の書生となり明治大学別科に学ぶが中退。1919年（大正8）北京(ペキン)の邦字紙『新支那(しな)』の記者、21年国際通信社北京支局記者となる。このころより中国の革命家グループと交わり、中江丑吉(うしきち)を識(し)る。満鉄調査部、外務省対支文化事業部の研究生となり、『支那無産運動史』（1929）、『支那革命の階級対立』（1930）、『孫文伝』（1931）などを著した。27年（昭和2）武漢の汎(はん)太平洋労働会議に参加、コミンテルンの使者として日本の左翼運動と連絡をとり、中国の革命運動にも密接なかかわりをもった。42年治安維持法違反容疑で逮捕され、まもなく釈放されたが、昭和20年結核のため死去した。

［和田　守］

『衛藤瀋吉・許淑真著『鈴江言一伝』（1984・東京大学出版会）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例