Life and Times of Tanaka Shozo

Tanaka Shozo(1841-1913)was a village headman in his native place in Tochigi Prefecture(the present name), north of Tokyo. His was not a wealthy family. The house in which he was born still stands today, a humble-looking partially two-storeyed house, and is open to the visitors, with volunteers to guide you on certain days. When Japan had its Parliament under the Meiji Constitution in 1890, which was replaced by the present one after the Second World War, Tanaka was elected to the Lower House, and served there for 11 years.
He came to know that the rivers near his native place were contaminated by the copper mining when he saw dead fish in those rivers. Crops also could not be grown. He repeatedly took up the matter in the Parliament, even demanded the closure of the mines, and the long-drawn struggle against the mining capital became his most well-known public activity. The odds were heavy, as Japan was moving toward "the Rich Country, Strong Military", the human rights were suppressed, more often than not brutally, and pro-government ideologues like Fukuzawa Yukichi(1835-1901)were strongly against the closure of the mines saying that it would thwart the progress of civilization. Tanaka was considered to be anti-government, and put in prison five times in all. But he was trying to be non-violent throughout. He said, for example, that since man has got a language he should not resort to violoence. He also said that civilization does not destroy mountains, rivers, villages and man. His concept of civilization thus had a very different meaning from that of Fukuzawa's above. He fell fatally ill while surveying the rivers.
On 20 February 2011, about 200 activists, scholars, and villagers got together at his native place, now Sano city, to discuss how to commemorate Tanaka's birth centenary which will come after two years. Many aspects of his life were discussed, and among them was his view of Japan's wars with China and Russia. They all happened toward the end of his life. It was emphasized that Tanaka was against those wars, and called for abolishing the military completely. Here is the reason why some scholars trace the origin of the Article 9 of Japan's Constitution to him. Korean intellectuals drafted a Declaration of Independence on 1 March 1919, and this date has had a great significance in Korea until today. I am writing this on 1 March 2011 to remember that Tanaka expressed sympathies with Korea on several occasions, and paid high respect to the strict discipline of the Korean peasant army.