Fumiko Kaneko

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Fumiko Kaneko (金子文子, January 25, 1903, Yokohama - July 23, 1926, Utsunomiya) was a Japanese anarchist who was arrested and convicted for conspiring against the Showa Emperor of Japan.

[edit] Early life

Kaneko was born to a former policeman and a laborer, and spent the first nine years of her life as an unregistered child. This status impeded Kaneko from receiving formal education and recognition in society. Still, Kaneko was able to attend classes thanks to the pleas of her mother.

After Kaneko's mother failed to sell her daughter to a brothel, Kaneko was sent to her paternal grandmother's in Korea when she turned nine. A wealthy woman, Kaneko's grandmother registered Fumiko Kaneko as her own daughter and promised her a proper education. Kaneko was a cunning child interested in pursuing an education comparable--both in depth and breadth--to that of her male classmates. But Kaneko's grandmother disapproved of her granddaughter's attitude and promptly began abusing her. Kaneko's maternal family learned of this mistreatment and sent her back to Japan.