Hidemi Ozaki

A communist and commentator on China issues. Born in Tokyo on April 29, 1901. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University, he joined the Asahi Shimbun Company. He lived in Shanghai as a correspondent for the newspaper from 1928 (Showa 3). During this time, he became involved in the Chinese left-wing cultural movement and began to actively support the Chinese Revolution. He became acquainted with Lu Xun and Smedley, who introduced him to the German Sorge, a member of the Soviet Communist Party, and assisted Sorge in his intelligence operations in China. In 1932, he was transferred to the Osaka Asahi Shimbun headquarters. He met Sorge again in 1934. After this, he supported Sorge's intelligence activities in Japan and worked to ensure a war between Japan and the Soviet Union. He was transferred to Tokyo in the same year. In 1938, he left the Asahi Shimbun Company and became a consultant in the Konoe Fumimaro cabinet. The following year, in 1939, he resigned from this position when the Konoe Cabinet resigned en masse, and became a consultant at the South Manchuria Railway Research Department. After returning from China, Ozaki was active as a commentator on Chinese issues, and developed his own theory on the East Asian Cooperative Society in works such as "Shina in the Storm" (1937), "Modern China Theory" (1939), and "China Social and Economic Theory" (1940). He was arrested when the Sorge Incident came to light in October 1941, and executed on November 7, 1944 (Showa 19). In 1946 (Showa 21), a collection of his prison letters, "Affection is Like a Falling Star," was published and became a best-seller.

[Yamada Takao]

"A Rebellion: The Life of Hidemi Ozaki" by Michitaro Kazama (1959, Shiseido)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

共産主義者で中国問題評論家。明治34年4月29日東京に生まれる。東京帝国大学法学部卒業後朝日新聞社に入社。1928年（昭和3）から同紙特派員として上海(シャンハイ)に住む。このとき中国の左翼文化運動にかかわり、積極的に中国革命を支持するようになる。そして魯迅(ろじん／ルーシュン)やスメドレーと知り合い、スメドレーの紹介によりドイツ人でソ連共産党員のゾルゲを知り、ゾルゲの中国における情報工作に協力する。1932年大阪朝日新聞本社に転勤。1934年ゾルゲと再会。これ以後、日本におけるゾルゲの情報活動を支援し、日ソ不戦のために努力する。同年東京に転勤。1938年、朝日新聞社を退社し近衛文麿(このえふみまろ)内閣の嘱託に就任する。翌1939年、近衛内閣総辞職とともにこれを辞し、満鉄調査部の嘱託になる。中国から帰国後の尾崎は中国問題評論家として活躍し、『嵐(あらし)に立つ支那(シナ)』（1937）、『現代支那論』（1939）、『支那社会経済論』（1940）などによって、独自の東亜協同体論を展開した。1941年10月ゾルゲ事件が発覚して逮捕され、1944年（昭和19）11月7日処刑された。1946年（昭和21）に獄中書簡集『愛情はふる星のごとく』が出版されベストセラーになった。

［山田敬男］

『風間道太郎著『ある反逆―尾崎秀実の生涯』（1959・至誠堂）』

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