Hitoshi Yamakawa

Socialist. Born December 20, 1880 in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture. Opposed to the educational reform in 1897 (Meiji 30), he dropped out of Doshisha and moved to Tokyo, where he met Morita Yushu (Bunji). In 1900, he started a small magazine with Morita, and was charged with lèse majesté for an article published in the magazine, Youth's Gospel (No. 1), and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. Released on parole in 1904, he visited Kotoku Shusui at the Heiminsha, and was so impressed that he returned home. In 1906, he joined the Japan Socialist Party, and was then invited by Kotoku to move to Tokyo, where he worked on editing the daily newspaper, Heimin Shimbun. While he was in prison for the Red Flag Incident in 1908, the High Treason Incident occurred, but he escaped death because he was still in prison. After his release, he returned to his hometown and ran a pharmacy. After the death of his first wife, Osuka Satoko, he closed his pharmacy and moved to Tokyo in 1913 (Taisho 5), joining Uibunsha, run by Sakai Toshihiko, and rejoining the socialist movement. In the same year, he married Aoyama Kikue. After the Russian Revolution, he energetically criticized democracy, made the flag of Marxism clear, and established himself as a socialist theorist. At the same time, he formed a labor union study group with Arahata Kanson and published the magazine Aofuku, and also presided over the Wednesday Society, nurturing socialists such as Nishi Masao. In 1922, he participated in the founding of the Japanese Communist Party, and his article "A Change in the Direction of the Proletarian Movement," published in the summer of the same year, had a groundbreaking impact on the movement of the time, becoming a huge hit as the so-called "Yamakawaism." He did not join the reconstituted Second Communist Party, and when "Rouno" was launched by Yamakawa and others in 1927 (Showa 2), the conflict between the two became decisive. Thereafter, Yamakawa acted as the leader of the labor-farmer Marxist faction. In 1937, he was imprisoned in the Popular Front Incident. After the war, in 1946 (Showa 21), he advocated a Popular Front and aimed for a united front, but was unsuccessful. Thereafter, he continued to work from the position of the left wing of the Socialist Party, and in 1976, he founded the Socialist Association and became its representative. He died of pancreatic cancer on March 23, 1958. He is grave in the Yamakawa Cemetery next to the Sanmon gate of Chorenji Temple in Kurashiki.

[Yuko Suzuki]

"The Complete Works of Yamakawa Eki, 20 volumes in total (previously published: volumes 2-10 and 19, 1966-1982, Keiso Shobo)" ▽ "Yamakawa Kikue and Mukaizaka Itsuro (eds.), "Yamakawa Eki Autobiography" (1961, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Japan's Non-Communist Marxist: The Life and Thought of Yamakawa Eki, by Koyama Hirotake and Kishimoto Eitaro (1962, Sanichi Shobo)" ▽ "The Life of Yamakawa Eki, by Kawaguchi Takehiko, two volumes in total (1986, 1987, Socialist Association Publishing Department)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

社会主義者。明治13年12月20日岡山県倉敷に出生。1897年（明治30）学制改革に反対し同志社を中退、上京し、守田有秋（文治）を知る。1900年守田と始めた小雑誌『青年の福音(ふくいん)』掲載の文が不敬罪に問われ（不敬罪第1号）、重禁錮3年半の刑を受け入獄。04年仮出獄し、平民社に幸徳秋水を訪ね、感銘を受けて帰郷。06年日本社会党に入党、ついで幸徳に招かれ上京し、日刊『平民新聞』の編集に従事。08年赤旗事件で入獄中、大逆事件が起こったが、獄中にいたため命拾いした。出獄後郷里に戻り、薬屋を営む。最初の妻、大須賀里子との死別後、薬屋を閉じ、16年（大正5）に上京、堺利彦(さかいとしひこ)の経営する売文社に入り、ふたたび社会主義運動に参加。同年青山菊栄と結婚。ロシア革命後、精力的に民本主義批判の論陣を張り、マルクス主義の旗幟(きし)を鮮明にして、社会主義理論家の地歩を固めた。同時に荒畑寒村と労働組合研究会をつくり『青服(あおふく)』を発行、また水曜会を主宰して西雅雄(まさお)らの社会主義者を育てた。22年日本共産党の創立に参画、同年夏発表の「無産階級運動の方向転換」は、当時の運動に画期的な影響を与え、いわゆる「山川イズム」として一世を風靡(ふうび)した。再建された第二次共産党には加わらず、27年（昭和2）山川らによって『労農』が創刊されるに及んで、両者の対立は決定的となった。以後、山川は労農派マルクス主義の総帥として活動。37年人民戦線事件で投獄された。戦後、46年（昭和21）人民戦線を提唱し、統一戦線を志向したが、不成功に終わった。以後は社会党左派の立場から活動を続け、51年には社会主義協会を結成し、代表となった。昭和33年3月23日、膵臓癌(すいぞうがん)で死去。墓は倉敷・長連寺山門横の山川墓地にある。

［鈴木裕子］

『『山川均全集』全20巻（既刊分＝第2～10巻、19巻・1966～82・勁草書房）』▽『山川菊栄・向坂逸郎編『山川均自伝』（1961・岩波書店）』▽『小山弘健・岸本英太郎著『日本の非共産党マルクス主義者　山川均の生涯と思想』（1962・三一書房）』▽『川口武彦著『山川均の生涯』全二巻（1986、87・社会主義協会出版部）』

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