Kita Ikki (北 一輝, Kita Ikki; 3 April 1883 – 19 August 1937; real name: Kita Terujirō (北 輝次郎)) was a Japanese author, intellectual and political philosopher who was active in early Shōwa period Japan. Drawing from an eclectic range of influences, Kita was a self-described socialist who has also been described by detractors as the "ideological father of Japanese fascism", though this has been highly contested, as his writings touched equally upon pan-Asianism, Nichiren Buddhism, fundamental human rights and egalitarianism and he was involved with Chinese revolutionary circles. While his publications were invariably censored and he ceased writing after 1923, Kita was an inspiration for elements on the far-right of Japanese politics into the 1930s, particularly his advocacy for territorial expansion and a military coup. The government saw Kita's ideas as disruptive and dangerous; in 1936 he was arrested for allegedly joining the failed coup attempt of 26 February 1936 and executed on 19 August 1937.
Kita was born on Sado Island, Niigata Prefecture, where his father was a sake merchant and the first mayor of the local town. Sado island, which used to be used for penal transportation, had a reputation for being rebellious, and Kita took some pride in this. He studied Chinese classics in his youth and became interested in socialism at the age of 14. In 1900 he began publishing articles in a local newspaper criticizing the Kokutai ("Structure of State") theory. This led to a police investigation which was later dropped. In 1904 he moved to Tokyo, where he audited lectures at Waseda University, but never earned a university degree. He met multiple influential figures in the early socialist movement in Japan but quickly became disillusioned; the movement was, according to him, full of "opportunists".
At age 23, Kita published his first book in 1906 after one year of research – a massive 1,000-page political treatise titled The Theory of Japan's National Polity and Pure Socialism (国体論及び純正社会主義). In it, he criticized the government ideology of Kokutai and warned that socialism in Japan was in danger of degenerating into a watered down, simplified form of itself because socialists were too keen on compromising.
Kita first outlined his philosophy of nationalistic socialism in his book The Theory of Japan's National Polity and Pure Socialism, also known as Kokutairon and Pure Socialism (国体論及び純正社会主義, Kokutairon Oyobi Junsei Shakaishugi), published in 1906, where he criticized Marxism and class conflict-oriented socialism as outdated. He instead emphasized an exposition of the evolutionary theory in understanding the basic guidelines of societies and nations. In this book Kita explicitly promotes the platonic state of authoritarianism, emphasizing the close relationship between Confucianism and the "from above" concept of national socialism stating that Mencius is the Plato of the East and that Plato's concept of organizing a society is far preferable to Marx's.
Kita was highly critical of the State Shinto imperial cult. He argued that the dominant idea which considered the return of imperial rule under the Meiji Restoration to be a return to an eternal and unchanged Japanese mode of governance was false, and instead described it as the "Meiji Revolution". By emphasizing the difference between the different eras of imperial rule, Kita argued that the function of the Emperor should change once again to be one of a representative of the whole people, owning all agricultural land, mountains, forests, stocks, shares, enterprises worth over ¥10 million in capital, properties over ¥1 million in value, and lands over ¥100,000 in value and managing these on behalf of the nation. In order to effectively meet the needs of the people, a new legislative chamber directly communicating with the Emperor would replace the House of Peers with universal male suffrage and ability to run for office. Kita also called for the ability to criticize the notion of the kokutai, as the Emperor was only one element of Japanese society with the other being the people. As such, the people had to right to disobey the Imperial Rescript on Education.
Engagement with the 1911 Revolution
Kita's second book is titled An Informal History of the Chinese Revolution (支那革命外史 Shina Kakumei Gaishi) and is a critical analysis of the 1911 Revolution.
Attracted to the cause of the 1911 Revolution, Kita became a member of the Tongmenghui (United League) led by Song Jiaoren. He traveled to China to assist in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty.
However, Kita was also interested in the far-right. The right-wing, ultranationalist Kokuryūkai (Amur River Association/Black Dragon Society), was founded in 1901. Kita—who held views on Russia and Korea remarkably similar to those espoused by the Kokuryukai—was sent by that organization as a special member, who would write for them from China and send reports on the ongoing situation at the time of the 1911 Xinhai revolution.
By the time Kita returned to Japan in January 1920, he had become disillusioned with the 1911 Revolution, and the strategies offered by it for the changes he envisioned. He joined Ōkawa Shūmei and others to form the Yuzonsha (Society of Those Who Yet Remain), an ultranationalist and Pan-Asianist organization, and devoted his time to writing and political activism. He gradually became a leading theorist and philosopher of the right-wing movement in pre-World War II Japan.
Toward the reorganization of Japan
His last major book on politics was An Outline Plan for the Reorganization of Japan (日本改造法案大綱, Nihon Kaizō Hōan Taikō). First written in Shanghai but banned in 1919, the book was published in 1923, by Kaizōsha, publisher of the magazine Kaizō, which was censored by the Government. The common theme to his first and last political works was the notion of a national policy (Kokutai). Through correct kokutai, Japan would overcome a coming national crisis of economics or international relations, lead a united and free Asia, and unify world culture through Japanized and universalized Asian thoughts. This would prepare for the appearance of a sole superpower, which would be inevitable for future world peace. It thus contained aspects associated with the doctrine of pan-Asianism.
According to his political program, a coup d'état would be necessary as to impose a more-or-less state of emergency regime based on a direct rule by a powerful leader. Due to the respect that the Emperor enjoyed in the Japanese society, Kita identified the sovereign as the ideal person to lead this program. The Emperor would suspend the Constitution, form a council, and radically reorganize the Cabinet and the Diet. Diet members would be elected by the people, to be free of any "malign influence". This would make the true meaning of the Meiji Restoration clear.
The new "National Reorganization Diet" would amend the Constitution according to a draft proposed by the Emperor. Kita laid out the measures to be enacted in the Constitution:
Limits on individual wealth, private property, and assets of companies.
Establishment of national entities to be operated by the government like the Japanese Government Railways.
Land reform: all urban land would become municipal property.
Abolition of the kazoku peerage system and the House of Peers.