Denzo Inoue - Denzo Inoue

A Meiji era liberal and civil rights activist. A leader in the Chichibu Incident. Born into an old family in Shimoyoshida Village, Chichibu County, Musashi Province (Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture). He was a middleman in silk and raw silk, ran a kimono shop, and also served as a village council member, health committee member, and calligrapher. In May 1884 (Meiji 17), he announced that he had joined the Liberal Party, but in fact he had joined earlier. He was an enlightened man who became acquainted with Oi Kentaro, and after Murakami Yasuharu was arrested, he became a secretary of the Chichibu Liberal Party. In the summer of 1884, the Konmin Party was formed in the Yoshida region, and he joined it. In October, Oi sent a messenger to Inoue to persuade him to stop the uprising, and although Inoue was also a moderate within the Konmin Party, he was overpowered by the farmers. On November 1, he was appointed chief accountant during the uprising and invaded Ogano and Omiya (Chichibu City), but on the afternoon of the 4th, he fled from the headquarters of Eisuke Tashiro and Minano. He was sentenced to death in absentia.

After hiding out in Chichibu for a year or two, he traveled to Hokkaido and lived in Ishikari Town (present-day Ishikari City) under the name Fusajiro Ito, where he ran a scrivener's business and a shop and built a happy family. However, at the end of the Meiji period, he moved to Notsukeushi (Kitami City) and, just before his death in June 1918 at the age of 66, he revealed his past for the first time, shocking the world.

[Koji Inoue]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

明治時代の自由民権家。秩父(ちちぶ)事件の指導者。武蔵(むさし)国秩父郡下吉田村（埼玉県秩父市）の旧家に生まれる。絹、生糸の仲買い、呉服物店を営み、村会議員、衛生委員、筆生(ひっせい)も務めた。1884年（明治17）5月自由党に入党と公表されたが、実際はこれより早かった。開明的で大井憲太郎とも知己になり、村上泰治の逮捕後、秩父自由党の幹事になる。84年夏から吉田地方を中心に困民(こんみん)党が結成されると、これに参加。10月には大井が井上のもとに蜂起(ほうき)中止の説得使を派遣し、彼も困民党のなかでは穏和派であったが、農民に押し切られた。11月1日、蜂起に際して会計長に任じられ、小鹿野(おがの)、大宮(おおみや)（秩父市）に侵入したが、4日午後になると田代栄助(たしろえいすけ)と皆野(みなの)の本陣から逃亡。欠席裁判では死刑を宣告された。

　1、2年秩父に潜んだのち北海道に渡り、伊藤房次郎と名のって石狩(いしかり)町（現石狩市）に住み、代書業と商店を営み幸福な家庭をつくったが、明治末年野付牛(のつけうし)（北見市）に移住し、大正7年6月、66歳で死去する直前に初めて過去を明かし、世に衝撃を与えた。

［井上幸治］

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