In 1893, Kōtoku became the English translator for the
Jiyu Shinbun, the newspaper of a newly reformed
Liberal Party. He left this post in 1895, but still remained under Nakae's tutelage. However, when many liberals united with pro-government supporters of
Itō Hirobumi in 1900 to form the right-wing
Rikken Seiyūkai party, Kōtoku became disillusioned with liberalism. He is also described as a
radical or radical-liberal because he supported anti-imperialism and anti-establishment lines, unlike mainstream liberals who defended imperialism at the time.
Socialism In 1898, he joined the staff of the
Yorozu Chōhō newspaper, wherein he published an article in 1900 condemning war in Manchuria. He published his first book in 1901, titled
Imperialism, Monster of the Twentieth Century, which was a monumental work in the history of Japanese leftism, criticising both Japanese and Western imperialism from the point of view of a revolutionary socialist. By now a committed socialist, he helped to found the
Social Democratic Party. Despite the party's commitment to parliamentary tactics, it was immediately banned. He wrote another book in 1903,
Quintessence of Socialism, acknowledging influence from
Karl Marx. He also contributed articles to
Sekai Fujin (
Women of the World), a socialist women's newspaper.
Anti-war activism (''Commoners' Society
), who published the Heimin Shinbun'' newspaper In 1903,
Yorozu Chōhō came out in support of war with Russia, as its editor decided to support the upcoming
Russo-Japanese War. In protest against this decision, in October 1903 Kōtoku was one of a number of journalists who resigned to found the
Heimin-sha group, alongside its associated anti-war
Heimin Shinbun newspaper, which started publication in November. A year after the founding of
Heimin Shinbun, Kōtoku translated and published Marx's
Communist Manifesto, for which he was fined. The newspaper was soon banned, publishing its last issue in January 1905, and Kōtoku was imprisoned from February to July 1905 for his involvement in the newspaper.
Self-exile His imprisonment only gave him further opportunities to read leftist literature, and he claimed in August 1905 that "Indeed, I had gone [to prison] as a Marxian Socialist and returned as a radical Anarchist." He travelled to the United States in November 1905 and spent until June 1906 in the country. While in America, he spent most of his time in California, and his ideology further radicalised towards
anarcho-communism. He wrote to the anarcho-communist Peter Kropotkin, who gave him permission to translate his works into Japanese in letter dated September 1906. Kōtoku also came into contact with the
Industrial Workers of the World, an
anarcho-syndicalist union, and became aware of
Emma Goldman's anarchist newspaper
Mother Earth. Before he left California, he founded a Social Revolutionary Party amongst Japanese-American immigrants, which quickly radicalised towards the use of terrorist tactics to bring about the anarchist revolution.
Return to Japan During his absence, Japanese socialists formed a new
Japan Socialist Party in February 1906. Kōtoku's new, more radical ideas clashed with the parliamentary tactics affirmed by the party, and he advocated for anarchist revolution through direct action rather than electoral strategy. The growth of these ideas led to a split in the party between 'soft' and 'hard' factions (parliamentarians and direct actionists respectively), and the party was banned in February 1907. The growth of the pro-direct action faction is considered the beginning of Japan's modern anarchist movement. Outside of party politics once more, Kōtoku worked with others to translate and publish Kropotkin's anarcho-communist book
The Conquest of Bread, alongside an American anarcho-syndicalist pamphlet
The Social General Strike. Unions were banned due to a 1900 law, however, and much anarchist discussion was highly theoretical rather than practical. Nevertheless, Kōtoku was strongly critical of
Keir Hardie when he visited Japan, decrying "Hardie's State Socialism". Despite being ideologically opposed to hierarchy, Kōtoku was seen as an 'authority' by many younger anarchists due to Japanese cultural norms, and he himself referred to Kropotkin as
sensei (teacher). == High Treason Incident and execution ==