War of Ideals, Kita Ikki’s theory on revolutions

A common theme when studying Japanese intellectuals and thinkers is the problem of placing them within a western ideological spectrum. None may be as difficult to understand as Kita Ikki as he blended both western and eastern philosophy into one world view. Its therefore fascinating to look at his theory on revolution.

Kita Ikki wrote down his observations on the revolutions after his experiences in China between 1911-1913. In his writings in 1916 he identified five points that all revolutions had in common.1

    1. Revolution itself does not consist of sudden or violent change. It is a war of ideas that makes a revolution something more than just violent unrest.
    2. Revolution results in the transformation of social values. It must replace the old, not just reform it.
    3. Modern revolutions have the effect of liberating all elements of society. Both in the political and economical sense.
    4. The agents of revolution are not a class, but a self-conscious elite that use the revolutionary ideals with combined political and military power. The current ruling class are never the agents of a revolution.
    5. Revolution is only an internal affair.

Not that these ideas are a completed analysis like the Marxist theory. Even Kita Ikki did not advocate them as a complete guide. He used the Lotus Sutra definition of revolution as a blurred line between being a traitor and loyal subject to show the uncertainty.2 The ideas above can nonetheless be used as a basic blueprint to predict the course of future revolutions. I want to give special attention to point 5.

The ideas that influenced revolutions usually originated abroad. The French and Japanese revolution (referring to Meiji Ishin) owed a heritage to ideas from Britain and China respectively, but when ideas encountered a new society they would transform into their own unique blend. This is what made the revolution an internal matter. No idea nor ideology was perfect for every country and had to be implemented through a filter of national ideas. Kita Ikki loudly voiced his rejection of the dogmatic socialists within Japan as he himself rejected Marx’s fixation on the need for class revolution.3 Foreign intervention in an attempt to shape the revolution would only create chaos and unrest. The reason was simple; how could the British understand the French or the Japanese lecture the Chinese on being Chinese?

Revolution therefore had to be something each nation went through on their own. The reasons of a revolution had to be to change the internal political and economic nature of a country. It is for this reason Kita Ikki’s view on revolution is unique. Most Japanese liberals and socialist supported a Japanese copy of western society, but Kita Ikki argues instead that only Japan and other Asian countries have the understanding to create their own revolution. It had to be a fight to reform the nation from within. A singular revolution was often not enough as it often would be betrayed by reactionaries. Neither Japan nor France had attained a proper sovereign nor ended oligarchic rule as Kita Ikki put it.4 Kita Ikki did not include struggles like the American war of independence as a revolution since its objective had only been to expel the British.

What is not as clear is the definition on how far a nation’s borders extended. While criticizing Japanese and British attempts to get involved in the affairs of China or India, Kita Ikki did not attempt to advocate for the same rights to Ireland or Korea, both currently being ruled as colonies. Was this an unintentional paradox or practical concession to prevent internal disunity? Kita Ikki’s argued for the need to reconcile with China to avoid fighting a two-front war against their Asian brothers and the Western powers. George M. Wilson argues that this is a continuation of the Japanese tradition Naiyu Gaikan (Trouble from within and without). He argues that Kita Ikki believed that Japan faced the same situation as during the Meiji Ishin5. In light of this perspective its reasonable to believe that Kita Ikki could have accepted that Japan’s interior needed to include Korea as the threat of the west was greater than the Koreans right to national independence.

Kita Ikki’s theory of revolution can thus be seen as a response to western imperialism as it sought to create the political justification for Japan and other Asian nations to consolidate their internal revolutions without interference. This revolution would as Kita Ikki saw it lead to economic and political unity within the East Asian societies giving them the power to resist the Western powers. I will address Kita Ikki’s design for Japanese society in a later blog post.

 

  1. George M. Wilson p.90-91 [↩]
  2. George M. Wilson p. 92 [↩]
  3. George M. Wilson p. 96 [↩]
  4. George M. Wilson p.92 [↩]
  5. George M. Wilson p.98 [↩]