Tokyo, Apr 16.
The growth of social movements in Japan during the past few years has been remarkable. By social /movements is connoted, in a general way, the activities of" the masses, Jof the vast and progressive proletfariat of the Japanese nation, in the Jeconomie, political, literary, artistic snd_cultural spheres:
The history of Japan during the last few decades affords an object lesson of much instructional © importance and value, and it is neces-]sary to remember that social movements in Japan are of comparatively, recent date. They were the out-[growth of sudden and extraordinary industrial developments in the country which brought about a rapid injerease in the number of factory workers. It was not, however, until the closing stages of the great war that the social movement, in the sense of a growing demand on the part of the working classes for recognition of their elementary rights, took definite shape. The years of industrial prosperity that followed! were marked by frequent labour troubles, and up to this time the Japanese workmen remained an' obscute class, ignorant, poor and }wholly under the control of cay although it mu: general, the Government exercised paternalistic watchfulness over] them; nevertheless, the workers, particularly the women workers, were freely exploited, especially daring the fat war years, for the industrial expansion of the country which was regarded asa patriotic duty, even a religious one. The temporary paralysis of industry] abroad during the war afforded Japan a rare opportunity to: develop ther industry, and.this opportunity she worked to the limit, The demand for workers became insatiable jas markets expanded and neve ones, utterly dreamt of, came within the reach of Japan's manufacturers. Wages naturally increased. Lured by higher wages, not a few of the ower-middle-class and middle-class lentored the ranks of labour. absorption of the yy" elements, -together with' }good pay, that enhanced the status fof the worker here both economically Jand intellectually. Fully realizing] their true power and the subordinate position in which they had hitherto Bren placed, the workmen began to claim greater rights for their class. The series of occurrences which took place abroad about this time proved to be fresh inspiration for the new. ly-awakened worker here. The pri cipal of these were the revolution jin Russia; the. forced abdication of ithe Kaiser and the subsequent asleendancy of the social democrats in (Germany; the bold claim of British labour in economic and political spheres; and the tidal onslaught of democratic ideals as preached President. Wilson. These were all new revelations to the Japanese worker and forced him and his col-Teagues to view things in a different light.
Then came a series of demands on employers and the Government. Em-pinyers were requested to raise] wages, shorten the working hours! and improve the working conditions general. The demands in the poli tical and legislative fields were leven more important. The Government was asked to rescind the law prohibiting strikes and declaring labour agitation to be a criminal act; new factory law protecting women land children was asked for; perm! sion to form unions, hitherto strict-prohibited, was demanded.
Then, almost sudderly, the movement, which hitherto was burel Jeconomic in nature, took on a poli tical hue, the workers, assisted. by certain intellectual elements, ¢s-Pecially by University professors Jand students, latinehing a movement for universal suffrage.
The Government. was at first in. clined to play ostrich, but soon hed to face the issue squarely.. Long accustomed to. the subordination of about to authority, economic or po-tical, the authorities at first tried [contemptuously to check the ascend-lucy of the new. movement. When it became clear that it was not of a mere sporadic nature, but had for its background the general tendency lof the time, the Government began to study the new situation with core. [Working conditions then were- very bad and this was unveiled by social workers. The Government then ap-' lnomerous bills and put them through) the Diet and a great deal of the working conditions were soon ame: borated, while the workers' recurrent Jdemand for the right to form unions was officially recognized, 'The first really definite political stimulus to the workers' movement, fin Japan came from England, the appearance of the first Labour Gov-lornment in England in 1924 being] the signal for a general emergence: from the stage of academic diseusyas over theories of syndicalism land the like into active propaganda, lone result of which was the forma. tion of the Rede Nominto (Workers' jand Farmers' Party). This obtained oficial recognition in March 1926, but was dissolved in 1928 for sus: pected connection with the com. finnnist plot unearthed that year. Since then, however, other worke! political parties have come istence with a more or less distinct me dividing those that—profess parliamentarianism and those which Jacknowledge Communist principles.
'Underneath the ebb and flow of the workers' political -movement—land by workers is meant manual labourers as well as brain workers—Jare minor currents of social movements of women, which are growing, apace year after year and which must play an important part in the l|futare history of the country. ~Politieally, the position of women in \iapan is below that of women in lather countries, Bat, considering. that universal "manhood suffrage! iwas introduced only recently, there is much reason for believing' that} lzcanting of the suffrage to women cannot be much longer delayed. Women to-day are allowed to. attend political gatherings, hear political speeches and deliver them, and ~woman suffrage constitutes one of the chief planks of the proletarian parties, both right and left, The two. major parties have not yet come out, [definitely on this point, but it ix believed that they will have to take their stand on this subject definitely soon, Civic consciousness amongst [women, including the working women, is spreading fast as may be witnessed by the great work the men's labour movement has done {or the improvement of the working, conditions of factory. women. other big feature in women's movements in Japan recently has been the organization of ce-operative s0- cities.
"Social reform should begin in the kitchen," is one of the slogans of] [Japan's awakened women and shows how the gentler sex here are emerg-jing from old traditions. In the cultural sphere, too, there is consider-lable activity, two main currents be-jing chiefly discernible—one, which lurges women to break the old idea that they should regard self-eff ment and self-extinction as the sum-mum bonus of a woman's life; and the other which urges women to take an active part in the life of the: nation. The one owes its origin to the intellectual section of the middle} class and the other is the outcome: lof a growing mass consciousness of political rights and responsibilities. The two are gradually merging] together and, with the development, lof the proletarian movement, the neo-cultural movement is now play ing an important part in the cultural history of Japan,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.