Shinkigen

Shinkigen (新紀元, Shinjiken, "New Era") was a socialist monthly magazine, published in Japan between November 1905 and November 1906.[1][2][3] Shinkigen emerged after the October 1905 split in the Heiminsha.[1][4] The first issue was published on November 10, 1905.[5] Shinkigen was the organ of the reformist socialist group, dominated by Christian social democrats. Shinkigen was edited by personalities such as Abe Isoo, Sen Katayama, Sanshiro Ishikawa, and Naoe Kinoshita.[1][4][6] Shinkigen argued in favour of universal suffrage and social reform (through parliamentary means).[1] The first issue of the magazine included an article by Uchimura Kanzō, which stated "Though I am not a socialist, I cannot refrain from the greatest sympathy for this gentemanly work."[5]

Shinkigen was characterized by a humanistic worldview.[1] Its conception of socialism was spirtualistic and highly individualistic. The magazine frequently featured (Christian) religious motifs, with imagery such having an angel or a shining cross depicted on the cover page or with article titles such as 'The Revolutionary Thought of Mother Mary'. The magazine did however also feature criticisms of Christianity.[7]

In February 1906 Shinkigen and the other faction that emerged from Heiminsha, the materialists, founded a political party together, the Japan Socialist Party.[4]

Like other leftwing and liberal media, Shinkigen was targeted by government repression.[8] All in all, thirteen issues of Shinkigen were published.[9] The Japan Socialist Party survived until February 1907, when it was banned by police following its first party congress.[4][10]

In 1961, a volume containing the editions of Shinkigen were reprinted by Meiji Bunken Shiryo Kankokai.[3]

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