Bunji Suzuki

A social activist during the Taisho and Showa periods. Born on September 4, 1885 to a family of sake brewers in Miyagi Prefecture. After attending Yamaguchi High School, he graduated from the law department of Tokyo Imperial University. While studying at Tokyo University, he joined Hongo Church in Ebina Danjo through the guidance of his senior from his hometown, Yoshino Sakuzo, and was influenced by Abe Isoo and Kuwata Kumazo, leading to an interest in social issues. After graduating, he worked for Shueisha and the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun Company for a time, and in 1911 (Meiji 44), he began social work as a secretary for the Unitarian United Christian Kodo Kai, and founded the Yuaikai the following year. Initially, it had a strong flavor of a mutual aid and training institution, but by around 1916 (Taisho 5), it had grown into a nationwide labor union. In 1904, the organization was renamed the Great Japan Labor Federation Friendship Association, and the year after that, the Japan Labor Federation, and its management was changed to a consensus system under the Central Committee, but Suzuki continued to serve as chairman until 1930 (Showa 5). During this time, he strengthened his anti-communist stance in the wake of the Great Kanto Earthquake, and in 1951, he participated in the founding of the Social Democratic Party and became a member of the Central Executive Committee. In 1953, he was elected from Osaka, the base of the Federation, in the first general election by general suffrage in 1953. In 1957, he became an advisor to the Social Democratic Party after a merger with the proletarian parties. He was also elected from Tokyo in the general elections of 1961 and the following year, but was expelled from the Social Democratic Party in 1965 for opposing the expulsion of Saito Takao from the Diet. During this time, he also worked hard to develop the peasant movement, serving as chairman of the Kanto Domei, the Japanese Farmers' Union, in 1949, and has attended the General Conference of the International Labor Organization (ILO) four times as a workers' representative since 1949. After Japan's defeat in the war, he was appointed as an advisor to the Japan Socialist Party when it was formed, and while preparing to run for a seat in the Diet, he fell ill and passed away on March 12, 1946.

[Matsuo Takatsugu]

"Twenty Years of the Labor Movement" by Fumiji Suzuki (1931, Ichigensha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

大正・昭和期の社会運動家。明治18年9月4日宮城県の酒造業者の家に生まれる。山口高校を経て東京帝国大学法科を卒業。東大在学中、同郷の先輩吉野作造(さくぞう)の手引きで海老名弾正(えびなだんじょう)の本郷(ほんごう)教会に入り、安部磯雄(いそお)、桑田熊蔵(くまぞう)らの影響を受け、社会問題に関心を抱く。卒業後一時秀英舎(しゅうえいしゃ)、東京朝日新聞社に勤めたあと、1911年（明治44）ユニテリアン派の統一基督(キリスト)教弘道(こうどう)会幹事として社会事業を始め、翌年友愛会を結成。当初は共済・修養機関的色彩が強かったが、16年（大正5）ごろより全国的労働組合に成長。19年大日本労働総同盟友愛会、翌々年日本労働総同盟と改称、運営を中央委員会による合議制に改めたが、引き続き鈴木は30年（昭和5）まで会長を務めた。この間、関東大震災を機に反共色を強め、26年社会民衆党創立に参画し中央執行委員となり、28年の普選による最初の総選挙には、総同盟の拠点大阪より当選。32年の無産党合同により社会大衆党顧問に就任。36年およびその翌年の総選挙にも東京より当選したが、40年斎藤隆夫(たかお)の議員除名に反対し、社大党から除名された。この間24年日本農民組合関東同盟会長を務めるなど、農民運動の発展にも尽力し、また24年以来、国際労働機関（ILO）の総会に労働者代表として4回出席した。敗戦後、日本社会党結成とともに顧問に推され、代議士出馬準備中、病に倒れ、昭和21年3月12日死去した。

［松尾尊兌］

『鈴木文治著『労働運動二十年』（1931・一元社）』

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