Nakae Chōmin

Nakae Chōmin(Trung giang triệu dân,December 8, 1847 – December 13, 1901)was the pen-name of a journalist, political theorist and statesman inMeiji-periodJapan.His real name wasNakae Tokusuke(Trung giang đốc trợ).His major contribution was the popularization of theegalitariandoctrines of theFrench philosopherJean-Jacques Rousseauin Japan. As a result, Nakae is thought to have been a major force in the development ofliberalismin early Japanese politics.

Nakae Chōmin
Likeness from theMeiji Jinbutsu Shokan
Born	(1847-12-08)December 8, 1847 Kōchi Prefecture,Japan
Died	December 13, 1901(1901-12-13)(aged 54) Osaka, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation(s)	Journalist, Politician
Known for	development of liberalism

In thisJapanese name,thesurnameisNakae.

Biography

Nakae was born inKōchi,Tosa Domain(present dayKōchi Prefecture). His father was anashigaru,or lower ranking foot soldier in the service of theYamauchi clanof Tosa. Having displayed an early aptitude forWestern learning,after studies at the domain academy, Nakae was selected to studyFrenchandDutchatNagasakiandEdo.Later, he worked as a translator for the French minister to Japan,Léon Roches.

After theMeiji Restoration,he was selected as a member of theIwakura Missionand travelled abroad (under the patronage of theJustice Ministry) to study philosophy, history, andFrench literaturein France, where he lived from 1871 until 1874. While in France, Nakae translated some of the works ofJean-Jacques Rousseauinto Japanese (most importantly, Rousseau’s"Du contrat social") andEugène Véron'sL'esthétique.He joinedSaionji KinmochiatEmile Acollas' Law School for foreign students inParis.

Upon his return to Japan, Nakae served as a lower-ranked secretary of theGenrōin.However, he soon became disenchanted by corruption and factionalism in Japanese government, and resigned to devote himself to other literary and educational activities.

In 1874, he established his own French language school. In 1881, he helped to start the daily newspaper, “Oriental Free Press”(Đông Dương tự do tin tức,Tōyō Jiyū Shinbun),through which he propagated Westerndemocraticideas. The newspaper was soon suppressed by the authorities for propagation ofrepublicanismandlese majesty.The newspaper reemerged as the milder “Free Press”(Tự do tin tức,Jiyū Shinbun)the following year with Nakae as its chief editor. The newspaper continued to attack factionalism and corruption in government, and to agitate for revision of theunequal treatiesand the rapid implementation of an electednational assembly.In 1887, Nakae was sentenced to exile from Tokyo under thePeace Preservation Ordinancefor publishing critical articles about theMeiji oligarchy.He spent the next few years inOsaka,where he started the "Newspaper of the Dawn"(Đông vân tin tức,Shinonome Shinbun).Nakae was pardoned after the promulgation of theMeiji Constitutionin 1889, and he and his family moved back to Tokyo in October of that year.

During the1890 General Election,Nakae successfully ran for a seat in thelower houseof theDiet of Japanfrom the Osaka 4th District. He allied withItagaki’sJiyūtopolitical party, and its successor, theRikken Jiyūtō,establishing a newspaper,Rikken Jiyūtō Shinbun,as the party’s official mouthpiece. However, Nakae soon became disenchanted with the domination of theJiyūtōby members of the former Tosa clan, and its blind opposition to policies of theChōshū-dominated government. He left government for health reasons and foralcoholism,and retired toHokkaidō,where he again established a newspaper. He ran for office again in the1892 General Election,and after re-election was a strong supporter of railroad development.

Nakae continued to write, despite poverty and illness, until his death ofesophageal cancerin 1901. His grave is atAoyama Cemetery,Tokyo.

Works

• A Discourse by Three Drunkards on Government

See also

• Fukuzawa Yukichi
• Natsume Sōseki
• Susumu Nishibe
• Tsuneari Fukuda
• Yamamoto Tsunetomo

References

• Eddy Dufourmont, “Rousseau in Modern Japan (1868-1889): Nakae Chōmin and the source of East Asian democracy” dans Neal Harris, Denis C. Bosseau, Ployjai Pintobtang, and Owen Brown ed.,Rousseau’s Philosophy: Interdisciplinary Essays,Palgrave Macmillan Cham, 2023, pp.239-260.ISBN978-3-031-29242-2.
• Eddy Dufourmont,Rousseau et la première philosophie de la liberté en Asie (1874-1890): Nakae Chômin,Le Bord de l'eau, 2021.
• Hane, Mikiso.Modern Japan: A Historical Survey.Westview Press (2001).ISBN0-8133-3756-9
• Hotta Eri.Pan-Asianism and Japan’s War of 1931-1945. Pan-Asianism and Japan's War 1931-1945.Palgrave Macmillan (2007).ISBN0-230-60103-0
• Jansen, Marius B.(2000).The Making of Modern Japan.Cambridge: Harvard University Press.ISBN9780674003347;OCLC 44090600
• Najita, Tetsuo.Japan: The Intellectual Foundations of Modern Japanese Politics.University of Chicago Press (1998).ISBN0-226-56803-2

Further reading

• De Lange, William (2023).A History of Japanese Journalism: State of Affairs and Affairs of State.Toyo Press.ISBN978-94-92722-393.

External links

• National Diet Library Bio