Seigo Nakano

Politician. Born in Fukuoka City on February 12, 1886. Graduated from Waseda University. After working as a reporter for the Tokyo Asahi Shimbun, he was elected to the House of Representatives eight times in a row from 1920 (Taisho 9). He respected Inukai Tsuyoshi and joined the Reform Club, but later joined the Constitutional Party and the Rikken Minseito Party, before forming the National Alliance with Adachi Kenzo and others in 1932. He became a believer in national socialism from around the time of the Manchurian Incident, and in 1933 (Showa 8) he organized the ideological group Tohokai, left the National Alliance in 1935, and reorganized the Tohokai into a political association in 1936. In 1940 he became a permanent general affairs officer of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association, but was disappointed with the association and resigned the following year in 1941. He came into fierce conflict with Prime Minister Tojo Hideki following the revision of the Special Wartime Criminal Law, and contributed an article entitled "On the Wartime Prime Minister" to the New Year's Day 1943 issue of the Asahi Shimbun, enraging Tojo. On October 21st of the same year, he was arrested in connection with the Toho Doshikai Incident, which was alleged to have been an attempt to overthrow the government through direct action, and on the 25th he was transferred from the Metropolitan Police Department to the Military Police, but was released on the 26th after Judge Kobayashi Kenji overruled his request for detention. However, late that night, he committed suicide by seppuku with a Japanese sword. The cause of his suicide remains a mystery to this day.

[Tatsuzo Ohno]

"Nakano Seigo, by Inomata Keitaro (1988, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "My Father, Nakano Seigo: His Times and Thought, by Nakano Yasuo (1994, Kobunsha)" ▽ "Nakano Seigo the Man, by Ogata Taketora (Chuko Bunko)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

政治家。明治19年2月12日福岡市に生まれる。早稲田(わせだ)大学卒業。東京朝日新聞記者を経て1920年（大正9）から衆議院議員に連続8回当選。犬養毅(いぬかいつよし)を尊敬し革新倶楽部(くらぶ)に入ったが、その後、憲政会、立憲民政党を経て、1932年安達謙蔵(あだちけんぞう)らと国民同盟を結成した。満州事変のころから国家社会主義を信奉し、1933年（昭和8）思想団体東方会を組織、1935年国民同盟から離脱、1936年に東方会を政治結社に改組した。1940年大政翼賛会常任総務となったが、同会に失望して翌1941年辞任。戦時刑事特別法改正を契機として東条英機(とうじょうひでき)首相と激しく対立し、『朝日新聞』1943年元旦(がんたん)号に「戦時宰相論」を寄稿して東条を激怒させた。同年10月21日、直接行動で倒閣を図ったとされた東方同志会事件で逮捕され、25日身柄を警視庁から憲兵隊に移されたが、小林健治裁判官が勾留(こうりゅう)を却下したため26日釈放された。しかしその深夜、日本刀で切腹自殺を遂げた。自殺の原因はいまも謎(なぞ)に包まれている。

［大野達三］

『猪俣敬太郎著『中野正剛』（1988・吉川弘文館）』▽『中野泰雄著『父・中野正剛――その時代と思想』（1994・恒文社）』▽『緒方竹虎著『人間中野正剛』（中公文庫）』

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