Kanson Arahata

Kanson Arahata (荒畑 寒村, Arahata Kanson) a.k.a. Arahata Katsuzō (荒畑 勝三, Arahata Katsuzō, August 14, 1887–March 6, 1981) was a 20th-century Japanese labor leader, politician and writer, participating in many of the left-wing movements of the era. He started as a socialist, then became an anarcho-syndicalist, and then a communist, eventually serving in the Diet as a representative of the postwar Japan Socialist Party.

Born in Yokohama, he joined the socialist association Heiminsha (平民社) in 1904 and was among those arrested during the Red Flag Incident (赤旗事件 Akahata Jiken) of 1908. Arahata published Kindai Shisō (近代思想; lit, "Modern Thought") with Sakae Osugi. He was member of the first Central Committee of the Japan Communist Party and belonged to the Rōnō Faction. After the war he was on the Central Executive Committee of the Japan Socialist Party from 1946 to 1948 and served in the Diet from 1946 to 1949 and spent his time after that writing.

References

1. Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, Kodansha, 1993, v. 1, p. 45.

This article incorporates text from OpenHistory.