Essence of Japanese-Style Anarchism

Philosophy Underpinning Modern Japanese Anarchism

One of my personal favorite philosophies is anarchism. However, when I say anarchism, I don’t mean it in the ideological sense involving social movements or the dismantling of government structures, but rather anarchism in its essential meaning. In Japan, this has historically been translated and rooted as “Museihu-shugi（無政府主義）,” or “government-less principle,” and due to this, the historical Japanese analysis of anarchism has been extremely poor and unreliable. Therefore, through examining the history of anarchism’s impact on Japan from a philosophical viewpoint, I’d like to deepen our understanding of what a true anarchist really is.

In Japan, anarchism as a philosophy was introduced from Western Europe from the late Meiji to the Taisho period, and it was historically accepted as a significant branch within the broader socialist movements, especially flourishing during the Taisho era. The early socialist movements during the Meiji period in Japan began by simultaneously embracing a diverse array of thoughts—not only Marxism, British and American social reformism, but also anarchist ideologies from Russia and France, as well as state socialism—thus differing considerably from the Western contexts. This characteristic of simultaneously incorporating various influences reflects a historical pattern seen in Japan’s reception of Buddhism and Confucianism, which were also effectively “remixed” upon introduction, quickly transformed into uniquely Japanese thoughts, beliefs, and doctrines.