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@article{ART001991872},
author={KYOUNGHWA LIM},
title={Reception of Tolstoy by the Japanese Revolutionaries before and after the Russo-Japanese War},
journal={Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University},
issn={1598-3021},
year={2015},
volume={72},
number={2},
pages={89-122},
doi={10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.89}

TY - JOUR
AU - KYOUNGHWA LIM
TI - Reception of Tolstoy by the Japanese Revolutionaries before and after the Russo-Japanese War
JO - Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University
PY - 2015
VL - 72
IS - 2
PB - Institute of Humanities, Seoul National University
SP - 89
EP - 122
SN - 1598-3021
AB - In this article, I will shed light on the reception of Tolstoy by Japan’s early socialists while having in my mind the chronologically overlapping criticisms against Tolstoy made by Lenin. At the early stage of the development of the socialist movement in Japan, Tolstoy’s seemingly pro-socialist stance based on absolute pacifism was instrumental in making the image of a socialist party striving to obtain the opportunities for legal activity. The socialist anti-war position was also seen as “Tolstoyist”. However, as soon as Tolstoy’s criticisms of the Russo-Japanese War became known in Japan, the local socialists could not help sensing serious limitations in the possibilities for the realization of basic societal reforms and social justice inside the Tolstoyist framework of society’s rebuilding based on the revival of personal religiosity. The same skeptical attitude can be seen in Lenin’s criticism of Tolstoy. Following the course of Russia’s 1905-07 revolution, Tolstoy’s “non-resistance” became a target of criticisms as well. Concomitantly, Kōtoku’s group evolved into anarchists following the Russian revolutionary events, and embraced anarchic communism and the method of direct actions. Lenin, at the same historical moment, found a reason for the 1905-07 Revolution’s defeat in the peasant “non-resistance” articulated by Tolstoy. However, Lenin also found that “Tolstoyism”, together with negative features typical for peasant dissenters, exhibited such a positive quality as willingness to build a socialist society free from exploitation. The latter was to be considered to be Tolstoy’s historical contribution. In Japan, however, as revolutionaries were cruelly suppressed during and after the “High Treason” trials of 1911, Tolstoy’s radicalism was now to be hidden away from the public’s eyes.
KW - Tolstoy;Russo-Japanese War;The 1905 Russian Revolution;Kōtoku Shūsui;Lenin;antiwar argument;non-resistance
DO - 10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.89
ER -

KYOUNGHWA LIM. (2015). Reception of Tolstoy by the Japanese Revolutionaries before and after the Russo-Japanese War. Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University, 72(2), 89-122.

KYOUNGHWA LIM. 2015, "Reception of Tolstoy by the Japanese Revolutionaries before and after the Russo-Japanese War", Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University, vol.72, no.2 pp.89-122. Available from: doi:10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.89

KYOUNGHWA LIM "Reception of Tolstoy by the Japanese Revolutionaries before and after the Russo-Japanese War" Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University 72.2 pp.89-122 (2015) : 89.

KYOUNGHWA LIM. Reception of Tolstoy by the Japanese Revolutionaries before and after the Russo-Japanese War. 2015; 72(2), 89-122. Available from: doi:10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.89

KYOUNGHWA LIM. "Reception of Tolstoy by the Japanese Revolutionaries before and after the Russo-Japanese War" Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University 72, no.2 (2015) : 89-122.doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.89

KYOUNGHWA LIM. Reception of Tolstoy by the Japanese Revolutionaries before and after the Russo-Japanese War. Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University, 72(2), 89-122. doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.89

KYOUNGHWA LIM. Reception of Tolstoy by the Japanese Revolutionaries before and after the Russo-Japanese War. Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University. 2015; 72(2) 89-122. doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.89

KYOUNGHWA LIM. Reception of Tolstoy by the Japanese Revolutionaries before and after the Russo-Japanese War. 2015; 72(2), 89-122. Available from: doi:10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.89

KYOUNGHWA LIM. "Reception of Tolstoy by the Japanese Revolutionaries before and after the Russo-Japanese War" Journal of Humanities, Seoul National University 72, no.2 (2015) : 89-122.doi: 10.17326/jhsnu.72.2.201505.89