Continent Ronin - Tairikuronin

A common name for civilian nationalists and Greater Asianists who lived and wandered around China, Korea, and other countries, taking pride in playing a part in Japan's Asian policy. They were also called Chinese Ronin. Their origins can be said to be a group of disgruntled samurai who looked abroad in the early Meiji period, such as the ronin of the Genyosha group. They used overseas Japanese shops as a base to investigate the civil and political conditions in various places, and eventually linked up with the military to contribute to research on military geography. Many continental ronin worked as interpreters and military detectives during the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese wars. As Japan's imperialist foreign policy was established, the scope of continental ronin's activities narrowed overall, but they approached Chinese revolutionaries and participated in the early Xinhai Revolution, and later served as a conduit between Japanese politicians and revolutionaries and warlords, and received funding from the military, government agencies, political parties, and companies to provide information and carry out various behind-the-scenes operations, becoming somewhat specialized. They often made big claims, and looked like the protagonists of adventure novels, instilling in young people the idea of ​​nationalism and the pursuit of greatness on the continent. With Japan's defeat in 1945 (Showa 20) and the loss of its colonies and overseas interests, the continental ronin lost the conditions for their existence. Among the most famous are Kishida Ginko, Arao Sei, Ishimitsu Makiyo, Miyazaki Toten, and Nishihara Kamezo.

[Makio Okabe]

"Modern Japanese Thought Series 9: Asianism" edited by Yoshitaka Takeuchi (1963, Chikuma Shobo) "Japanese Patriots" by Bunzo Hashikawa et al. (1982, Yuhikaku Shinsho)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本のアジア政策の一翼を担う自負のもとに、中国、朝鮮などに居住、放浪した民間の国家主義者、大アジア主義者の俗称。支那(しな)浪人ともいった。明治前期、国外に目を向けた不平士族らの一群、たとえば玄洋社系の浪士らがその起源といえよう。在外日本人商店などを拠点として各地の民情、政情を探り、やがて軍部と結んで兵要地誌の調査などにも貢献した。日清(にっしん)・日露戦争では多くの大陸浪人が通訳や軍事探偵として活躍した。日本の帝国主義的対外政策が確立するにつれ、大陸浪人の活動の余地は全体としては狭まったが、中国の革命派に接近して初期の辛亥(しんがい)革命に参画し、のちに日本の政治家と革命派、軍閥とのパイプ役になったり、軍、官庁、政党、企業などから資金を得て、情報の提供や各種の裏面工作を行ったり、一種の専門化が進んだ。彼らはしばしば大言壮語し、冒険小説の主人公にも似たかっこうで、青少年に国家主義や大陸雄飛の観念を鼓吹した。1945年（昭和20）日本の敗戦と植民地・在外権益の喪失で、大陸浪人は存在の条件を失った。岸田吟香(ぎんこう)、荒尾精(あらおせい)、石光真清(いしみつまきよ)、宮崎滔天(とうてん)、西原亀三(かめぞう)らはとくに有名である。

［岡部牧夫］

『竹内好編『現代日本思想大系9　アジア主義』（1963・筑摩書房）』▽『橋川文三他著『日本の国士』（1982・有斐閣新書）』

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