Osaka Incident

In 1885 (Meiji 18), over 100 civil rights activists from Kanagawa (including Tama), Tochigi, Toyama, Nagano and other areas came together to plan an armed struggle against the government, led by Ooi Kentaro, Kobayashi Kusoo, Isoyama Seibei and others known as the left wing of civil rights. In a situation where the Freedom and People's Rights Movement was in decline and the volunteer movement was on the rise following the Gapsin Coup, Oi and others planned in May of that year to support the enlightened faction led by Kim Ok-gyun, who sought democratization of Korea and independence from China, to bring about a Korean revolution, create a state of war between Japan and China, which recognized itself as the suzerain of Korea, and take advantage of this critical situation to provoke a simultaneous uprising of civil rights activists from all over the country and overthrow the Meiji government. In reality, the plan was delayed due to difficulties in raising funds and the defection of Isoyama, who was tasked with promoting the Korean revolution, and the plan was discovered in November, with 38 people found guilty of treason and other crimes (several others were found guilty in separate trials and military courts-martial). The case is called the Osaka Incident because the trial took place in Osaka, where Oi and other leaders were arrested.

Many have considered this incident to be a typical example of a deviation from the civil rights movement and a fall into nationalism, due to the fact that it attempted to use the Korean revolution as a breakthrough for a domestic revolution, and the problems inherent in Oi's view of Korea, but in recent years there has been a movement to reevaluate it as part of the original civil rights movement. However, there are still many unresolved issues, such as the relationship between civil rights and national rights, and solidarity and aggression.

[Norio Makihara]

"Study of the Osaka Incident" edited by the Osaka Incident Research Group (1982, Kashiwa Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1885年（明治18）、民権左派と称される大井憲太郎(おおいけんたろう)、小林樟雄(こばやしくすお)、磯山清兵衛(いそやませいべえ)らを中心に、神奈川（多摩を含む）、栃木、富山、長野などの民権家百数十人が結集した反政府武力闘争計画。自由民権運動の後退と、甲申(こうしん)政変を契機とする義勇兵運動の高揚という状況のなかで、この年の5月ごろ大井らは、朝鮮の民主化と清(しん)国からの自立を求める金玉均(きんぎょくきん／キムオクキュン)ら開化派を支援して朝鮮革命を実現させ、朝鮮の宗主国を自認する清国と日本との戦争状態をつくりだし、その危機的状況を利用して各地民権家を一斉に蜂起(ほうき)させ、明治政府を打倒しようと計画した。実際には、資金調達の難航や朝鮮革命の任務を担う磯山の離反などで実行が遅れているうちに11月に発覚し、外患罪などで38人が有罪とされた（ほかに分離裁判、軍法会議で数人）。大井ら指導者が逮捕された大阪で裁判が行われたことから大阪事件とよばれる。

　この事件については、朝鮮革命を国内革命の突破口にしようとしたこと、大井らの朝鮮観に潜む問題点などを理由に、民権運動からの逸脱、国権主義への転落の典型的事例とする見解が多かったが、近年、本来の民権運動の一環として再評価する動きもある。しかし、民権と国権、連帯と侵略の関連など、なお未解決の問題が多い。

［牧原憲夫］

『大阪事件研究会編著『大阪事件の研究』（1982・柏書房）』

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