Yūzonsha

The Yūzonsha (猶存社, Society of Those Who Yet Remain) was a radical Japanese nationalist pan-Asianist organization founded in August 1919.^[1] The group arose from a pre-existing debate society, the (Old and Young Society), which was founded in October 1918 by  [jp], editor of .^[1] Though the Rōsōkai was not explicitly pan-Asianist, or indeed political in its focus, its membership included many leading pan-Asianists and political commentators.

Dissatisfied with the overly non-political nature of the Rōsōkai, Ōkawa Shūmei and Mitsukawa Kametarō elected to form the Yūzonsha on 8 August 1919.^[2] This organization had a clear pan-Asianist reformist agenda, and included prominent members such as Kanokogi Kazunobu, , , , , , Yasuoka Masahiro, , and .

Shortly after the formation of the society Mitsukawa and Ōkawa asked the radical pan-Asianist Kita Ikki, author of the quasi-totalitarian Kokka Kaizō Hōan Daikō (A Plan for National Reconstruction), to provide ideological leadership.^[2] Though he agreed to do so, moving to the organization's headquarters, he largely remained aloof from the organization; which did take on some of his ideology and was involved in illegally circulating copies of his banned work.

Though the Yūzonsha had plans to spread its radical pan-Asianist and nationalist message to university students, as a counter to the views espoused by Yoshino Sakuzō, it met with little success. The organization launched a monthly journal, in August 1920, but only published three issues before ceasing publication; equally unsuccessful were its attempts to publish books, only a few pamphlets were produced.^[3]

It was involved in a couple of political campaigns, notably a successful one to prevent the annulment of Hirohito's engagement to Princess Kuni Nagako, and an unsuccessful campaign to prevent his 1921 tour of Europe.^[4][3] The group eventually dissolved in 1923, alongside the Rōsōkai after disagreements between Kita and Ōkawa, particularly over Russo-Japanese relations.^[3]

References[]

Sources[]

• Szpilman, Christopher W.A. (2011). "The Yuzonsha's "War Cry," 1920". In Saaler, Sven; Szpilman, Christopher W.A. (eds.). Pan-Asianism : a documentary history, volume 2. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 55–60. ISBN 978-1-4422-0602-1.