Peace Preservation Law: Difference between revisions
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The Peace Preservation Law was extremely important and unquestionably deserves its own article. I removed discussion of two earlier laws that are barely related, if at all, and are not in fact called "Peace Preservation Laws" in scholarly literature. These earlier laws have been given their own separate articles and linked to appropriate jawiki pages. I also added some context, made copyedits, and removed some unsourced statements that were dubious. |
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[[File:Censorship TMPD.png|thumb|250px|[[Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu|The special higher police]] bureau, censorship section of the [[Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department]].]] |
[[File:Censorship TMPD.png|thumb|250px|[[Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu|The special higher police]] bureau, censorship section of the [[Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department]].]] |
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| ⚫ | The '''{{nihongo|Peace Preservation Law|治安維持法|Chian Iji Hō}}''' was a Japanese law enacted on 12 May 1925 with the aim of allowing the [[Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu|Special Higher Police]] to more effectively suppress socialists and communists.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McClain |first1=James L. |title=Japan: A Modern History |date=2002 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |location=New York |isbn=0393041565 |page=[https://archive.org/details/japanmodernhisto00mccl/page/390 390] |edition=1st |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/japanmodernhisto00mccl/page/390 }}</ref> In addition to criminalizing forming an association with the aim of altering the ''[[kokutai]]'' ("national essence") of Japan, the law also explicitly criminalized criticism of the system of [[private property]], and became the centerpiece of a broad apparatus of [[thought control]] in Imperial Japan. Altogether more than 70,000 were arrested under the provisons of the Peace Preservation Law between 1925 and its repeal by [[Occupation of Japan|American Occupation authorities]] in 1945. |
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The '''Public Security Preservation Laws''', commonly referred to as the '''Peace Preservation Laws''', were a series of laws enacted from 1894 to 1925 during the [[Empire of Japan]]. Collectively, the laws were designed to suppress [[political dissent]] from the left.<ref>Richard H. Mitchell, ''Thought Control in Prewar Japan'' (1976).</ref> |
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==Passage== |
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==Safety Preservation Law of 1894== |
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The '''{{nihongo|Safety Preservation Law of 1894|保安条例|Hoan Jōrei}}''' was an Imperial Ordinance issued on 25 December 1894, intended to suppress the [[Freedom and People's Rights Movement]]. It was the most drastic of the several laws enacted after 1875 to contain political opposition to the [[Meiji oligarchy]]. It imposed stringent restrictions on the press, public speeches and political meetings. Article Four of the Law authorized the chief of the [[Tokyo Metropolitan Police]], with the approval of the [[Home Ministry (Japan)|Home Minister]], to banish from [[Tokyo]] for three years anyone who was found to be inciting disturbances or scheming to disrupt public order within 7.5 miles of the [[Kokyo|Imperial Palace]]. Within three days of the law’s promulgation, 570 people prominent in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement (including future Tokyo governor [[Ozaki Yukio]]) were arrested and expelled. The Law was repealed in 1898, but was soon replaced by the more stringent Public Order and Police Law of 1900. |
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Following the [[Russian Revolution]] of 1917, communist ideas began spreading in Japan, and the government became increasingly concerned that communism represented a threat to the [[emperor system]] and Japan's divine ''kokutai'' ("national essence"). The 1918 Rice Riots and the assassination of Prime Minister [[Hara Kei]] only deepened concerns that dangerous ideas were spreading through society. Efforts to pass a Peace Preservation Law began within the Diet as early as 1921, and gathered momentum after the formation of the [[Japan Communist Party]] in 1922, although opposition to the law remained strong. Finally, the law was passed in 1925, in conjunction with the passage of the [[Universal Manhood Suffrage Law]], which allowed all male citizens to vote in elections, regardless of wealth or status. Fears that newly enfranchised working-class voters might vote for socialists or communists played an important role in overcoming earlier opposition to the law. |
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==Public Order and Police Law of 1900== |
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[[File:Yamagata Aritomo.jpg|thumbnail|Yamagata Aritomo]] |
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The '''{{nihongo|Public Order and Police Law of 1900|治安警察法|Chian Keisatsu Hō}}''' was issued by the administration of [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] [[Yamagata Aritomo]] specifically against the [[organized labor]] movements. In addition to restrictions on [[freedom of speech]], assembly and association, it also specifically prohibited workers from organizing and going on strike. A provision banning women from political associations was deleted in 1922. |
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==Provisions== |
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The provisions forbidding workers to organize and go on strike were deleted in 1926, although identical provisions were immediately added in an amendment to the Public Security Preservation Law of 1925. |
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The law provided:<ref>Richard H. Mitchell, "Japan's Peace Preservation Law of 1925: Its Origins and Significance." Monumenta Nipponica (1973): 317-345.</ref> |
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However, as with the previous Public Safety Preservation Law of 1894, the Public Order and Police Law of 1900 was used to suppress political dissent. In 1920, professor [[Morito Tatsuo]] of [[Tokyo Imperial University]] was prosecuted for publishing an article critical of the [[anarchism|anarchist]] [[Peter Kropotkin]] (in which Morito discussed anarchist ideas). Morito spent three months in jail on charges of [[treason]]. His case set a [[precedent]] in [[Japanese law]] that effectively criminalized the discussion of ideas. The government's clampdown on dissent further intensified after the 1921 assassination of Prime Minister [[Hara Takashi]]. |
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The Public Order and Police Law of 1900 was supplemented by the Public Security Preservation Law of 1925. It remained in effect until the end of [[World War II]], when it was repealed by the [[Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers|American occupation authorities]]. |
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==Public Security Preservation Law of 1925== |
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[[File:Hiranuma Kiichiro.jpg|thumbnail|[[Hiranuma Kiichirō]] ]] |
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| ⚫ | The '''{{nihongo| |
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<blockquote> Anyone who has formed an association with the aim of altering the ''[[kokutai]]'' or the system of private property, and anyone who has joined such an association with full knowledge of its object, shall be liable to imprisonment with or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding ten years. </blockquote> |
<blockquote> Anyone who has formed an association with the aim of altering the ''[[kokutai]]'' or the system of private property, and anyone who has joined such an association with full knowledge of its object, shall be liable to imprisonment with or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding ten years. </blockquote> |
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By using the highly vague and subjective term ''kokutai'', the law attempted to blend politics and ethics, but the result was that any political opposition could be branded as "altering the ''kokutai''". Thus the government had ''[[wiktionary:carte blanche|carte blanche]]'' to outlaw any form of dissent. |
By using the highly vague and subjective term ''kokutai'', the law attempted to blend politics and ethics, but the result was that any political opposition could be branded as "altering the ''kokutai''". Thus the government had ''[[wiktionary:carte blanche|carte blanche]]'' to outlaw any form of dissent. |
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==Consequences== |
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| ⚫ | Renewed activity by the |
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| ⚫ | In 1927, a sub-bureau, the "Thought Section," was established within the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the Special Higher Police within the [[Home Ministry (Japan)|Home Ministry]] in order to make use of the new legal authority granted by the Peace Preservation Law to ferret out and suppress subversive ideologies. A "Student Section" was also established within the [[Ministry of Education (Japan)|Ministry of Education]] to monitor subversive thought among university professors and students. Within the Ministry of Justice, special "Thought Prosecutors" (''shisō kenji'') were appointed to suppress "[[thought criminal]]s" (''shisō hanzaisha''). |
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| ⚫ | Renewed underground activity by the banned [[Japan Communist Party]] in 1928 led to the [[March 15 incident]], in which police arrested more than 1,600 Communists and suspected Communists under the provisions of thePeace Preservation Law. The same year, the highly anti-Communist government of [[Tanaka Giichi]] pushed through an amendment to the law, raising the maximum penalty from ten years to death. |
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By 1933, coerced "[[Tenkō|ideological conversions]]" (''[[Tenkō|tenko]]'') had become the main means of enforcing the Peace Preservation Law, rather than judicial punishment.<ref name=Tipton>{{cite book | title=The Policing of Politics in the Twentieth Century: Historical Perspectives|chapter=The Tokko and Political Police in Japan, 1911-1945|publisher=Berghahn Books|last=Tipton|first=Elise K. |date= 1997|editor1-last=Mazower |editor1-first=Mark|pages=234}}</ref> In order to elicit ''tenkō'' from prisoners suspected of ideological radicalism, the police employed physical torture, as well as physchological torture and familial pressure.<ref name=Tipton/> |
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In the 1930s, with Japan's increasing [[militarism]] and [[totalitarianism]], dissent was tolerated less and less. In early February 1941, the |
In the 1930s, with Japan's increasing [[militarism]] and [[totalitarianism]], dissent was tolerated less and less. In early February 1941, the original Peace Preservation Law of 1925 was heavily amended to make punishments even more severe. Terms for people suspected of Communist sympathies harsher, and for the first time religious organizations were included within the purview of the Thought Police. In addition, the appeals court for thought crimes was abolished, and the Ministry of Justice given the right to appoint [[defense attorney]]s in cases of thought crime. The new provisions became effective on May 15, 1941. |
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[[File:Hotsumi Ozaki.JPG|thumb|[[Hotsumi Ozaki]], hanged under the provisions of the Public Security Preservation Law]] |
[[File:Hotsumi Ozaki.JPG|thumb|[[Hotsumi Ozaki]], hanged under the provisions of the Public Security Preservation Law]] |
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From 1925 through 1945, over 70,000 people were arrested under the provisions of the |
From 1925 through 1945, over 70,000 people were arrested under the provisions of the Peace Preservation Law, but only about 10% reached trial, and the death penalty was imposed on only two offenders, spy [[Richard Sorge]] and his informant, [[Hotsumi Ozaki]]. The Peace Preservation Law was repealed following the end of [[World War II]] by the [[Occupation of Japan|American occupation authorities]]. The repeal was effected on October 15, 1945. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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==Further reading== |
==Further reading== |
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* Minichiello, Sharon. ''Retreat from Reform: Patterns of Political Behavior in Interwar Japan'' (University of Hawaii Press, 1984). |
* Minichiello, Sharon. ''Retreat from Reform: Patterns of Political Behavior in Interwar Japan'' (University of Hawaii Press, 1984). |
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* Mitchell, Richard H. "Japan's Peace Preservation Law of 1925: Its |
* Mitchell, Richard H. "Japan's Peace Preservation Law of 1925: Its Origins and Significance." Monumenta Nipponica (1973): 317-345. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2383786 online] |
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* Mitchell, Richard H. ''Thought Control in Prewar Japan'', Cornell University Press, 1976 |
* Mitchell, Richard H. ''Thought Control in Prewar Japan'', Cornell University Press, 1976 |
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{{JapanEmpireNavbox}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:1894 in law]] |
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[[Category:1900 in law]] |
[[Category:1900 in law]] |
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[[Category:1925 in law]] |
[[Category:1925 in law]] |
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Revision as of 20:48, 26 October 2021
The Peace Preservation Law (治安維持法, Chian Iji Hō) was a Japanese law enacted on 12 May 1925 with the aim of allowing the Special Higher Police to more effectively suppress socialists and communists.[1] In addition to criminalizing forming an association with the aim of altering the kokutai ("national essence") of Japan, the law also explicitly criminalized criticism of the system of private property, and became the centerpiece of a broad apparatus of thought control in Imperial Japan. Altogether more than 70,000 were arrested under the provisons of the Peace Preservation Law between 1925 and its repeal by American Occupation authorities in 1945.
Passage
Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, communist ideas began spreading in Japan, and the government became increasingly concerned that communism represented a threat to the emperor system and Japan's divine kokutai ("national essence"). The 1918 Rice Riots and the assassination of Prime Minister Hara Kei only deepened concerns that dangerous ideas were spreading through society. Efforts to pass a Peace Preservation Law began within the Diet as early as 1921, and gathered momentum after the formation of the Japan Communist Party in 1922, although opposition to the law remained strong. Finally, the law was passed in 1925, in conjunction with the passage of the Universal Manhood Suffrage Law, which allowed all male citizens to vote in elections, regardless of wealth or status. Fears that newly enfranchised working-class voters might vote for socialists or communists played an important role in overcoming earlier opposition to the law.
Provisions
The law provided:[2]
Anyone who has formed an association with the aim of altering the kokutai or the system of private property, and anyone who has joined such an association with full knowledge of its object, shall be liable to imprisonment with or without hard labour, for a term not exceeding ten years.
By using the highly vague and subjective term kokutai, the law attempted to blend politics and ethics, but the result was that any political opposition could be branded as "altering the kokutai". Thus the government had carte blanche to outlaw any form of dissent.
Consequences
In 1927, a sub-bureau, the "Thought Section," was established within the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the Special Higher Police within the Home Ministry in order to make use of the new legal authority granted by the Peace Preservation Law to ferret out and suppress subversive ideologies. A "Student Section" was also established within the Ministry of Education to monitor subversive thought among university professors and students. Within the Ministry of Justice, special "Thought Prosecutors" (shisō kenji) were appointed to suppress "thought criminals" (shisō hanzaisha).
Renewed underground activity by the banned Japan Communist Party in 1928 led to the March 15 incident, in which police arrested more than 1,600 Communists and suspected Communists under the provisions of thePeace Preservation Law. The same year, the highly anti-Communist government of Tanaka Giichi pushed through an amendment to the law, raising the maximum penalty from ten years to death.
By 1933, coerced "ideological conversions" (tenko) had become the main means of enforcing the Peace Preservation Law, rather than judicial punishment.[3] In order to elicit tenkō from prisoners suspected of ideological radicalism, the police employed physical torture, as well as physchological torture and familial pressure.[3]
In the 1930s, with Japan's increasing militarism and totalitarianism, dissent was tolerated less and less. In early February 1941, the original Peace Preservation Law of 1925 was heavily amended to make punishments even more severe. Terms for people suspected of Communist sympathies harsher, and for the first time religious organizations were included within the purview of the Thought Police. In addition, the appeals court for thought crimes was abolished, and the Ministry of Justice given the right to appoint defense attorneys in cases of thought crime. The new provisions became effective on May 15, 1941.
From 1925 through 1945, over 70,000 people were arrested under the provisions of the Peace Preservation Law, but only about 10% reached trial, and the death penalty was imposed on only two offenders, spy Richard Sorge and his informant, Hotsumi Ozaki. The Peace Preservation Law was repealed following the end of World War II by the American occupation authorities. The repeal was effected on October 15, 1945.
References
- ^ McClain, James L. (2002). Japan: A Modern History (1st ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 390. ISBN 0393041565.
- ^ Richard H. Mitchell, "Japan's Peace Preservation Law of 1925: Its Origins and Significance." Monumenta Nipponica (1973): 317-345.
- ^ a b Tipton, Elise K. (1997). "The Tokko and Political Police in Japan, 1911-1945". In Mazower, Mark (ed.). The Policing of Politics in the Twentieth Century: Historical Perspectives. Berghahn Books. p. 234.
Further reading
- Minichiello, Sharon. Retreat from Reform: Patterns of Political Behavior in Interwar Japan (University of Hawaii Press, 1984).
- Mitchell, Richard H. "Japan's Peace Preservation Law of 1925: Its Origins and Significance." Monumenta Nipponica (1973): 317-345. online
- Mitchell, Richard H. Thought Control in Prewar Japan, Cornell University Press, 1976
