, , was a Japanese feminist activist. She was educated at a young age and pursued socialist and feminist goals for most of her adult life. She was a participant in the Osaka Incident of 1885, where approximately 130 liberal activists were arrested on their way to attempt to incite revolution and liberate Korea. The group had planned to provide guns, bombs, and manpower to support reformist movements in Korea before the police intercepted them. After being freed, Fukuda continued to pursue social and gender reforms in Japan, playing an active role in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement which pushed for democratic changes to the government. She eventually established the magazine Sekai Fujin (Women of the World), which aimed at empowering women in Japan and getting them involved in international affairs. Throughout her life, Fukuda was involved in Japanese reform movements as they transitioned from aiming on increasing citizen's political rights to the more socialist-focused waves which attempted to exact nationwide social and economic revisions.
Early life
Fukuda Hideko, born Kageyama Hideko, was the child of samurai Kageyama Katashi and his wife Umeko. Her mother was a teacher and often brought Fukuda along with her to school. Like some other prominent women in the reform movement, Fukuda's family found her resistant to conforming to "proper" feminine behavior. Fukuda even described herself as a tomboy during her childhood. By fifteen, the bright Fukuda was exposed to Japanese, Chinese, and Western thought. Fukuda first began her political activities after encouragement from her friend and future fiancé Kobayashi Kusuo. The People's Rights Movement was a group quickly garnering support that pushed for democracy and more egalitarian laws in the country. One year later, Fukuda and her mother founded an all-girls private school, at which they both taught. The school was founded on the ideals of the popular rights movement, and aimed at teaching children of working mothers. However, the school was shut down in 1884 on order of the government, which was worried about the spreading popularity of the People's Rights Movement and the growing political ambitions of women. Angry and wishing to provide more significant support, Fukuda moved to Tokyo.
The Osaka Incident
Incident
Soon after arriving in Tokyo she met Oi Kentaro, the leader of a radical wing of the Liberal Party. The group was an offshoot of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement that was sweeping across the nation. Fukuda joined the group in attempting to transport weapons and money to Korea. Their goal was to create a disturbance large enough to undo the Sino-Japanese accord signed in 1885. Fukuda helped raise funds for the Korean Revolutionary Movement, but she was frustrated by the lack of discipline and habit of many of the male members to go visit brothels, which delayed the group's acquisition of supplies. However, eventually they succeeded in raising enough money and gathering weaponry, including guns and bombs. The party then traveled to Nagasaki on November 20, 1885, from where they planned to depart for Korea. However, the police had already been investigating the large number of robberies in the Osaka area caused by the group, and before the party could travel to Seoul, on November 23, 1885, the roughly 130 members were arrested and charged with the illegal possession of weapons and encouraging riots. Fukuda, the only female included in the trial, was given a sentence of eighteen months, but was released after ten months.
Aftermath
Although Fukuda wrote that she regretted her involvement in the incident, her trial was widely publicized and served to bring her national attention. The media popularized her as "Japan's Joan of Arc", and she was met with enthusiasm after her release. She was introduced to socialism via her neighbor, Sakai Toshihiko. This was at the same time as Japan's first socialist party-the Social Democratic party- was being created. Sakai was anti-war and promoted equal rights between men and women. In 1903 he and a group of collaborators called the Heiminsha started the Heimin Shimbun, a newspaper dedicated to spreading the socialist message. With the introduction of socialist thought, Fukuda's views on reform began to solidify. She disagreed with Japan's imperialist policies and the excesses of the upper class, but also found issue with the Liberal Party's "insincerity" and disreputable behavior, which had led her to break off with the group responsible for the Osaka incident. Established by Fukuda, who was also its chief editor, and Ishikawa Sanshiro, the newspaper focused on women and reform interests. Fukuda declared the intention of the newspaper to be to “find women’s talent and vocation and to inspire women to join a reform movement based on their natural talent." Aside from extended discussion of socialist figures such as Karl Marx and Peter Kropotkin, Sekai Fujin also published translations of foreign fiction, such as Maxim Gorky's Chelkash (as ) and Guy de Maupassant's Le Diable (as ). Fukuda hoped the newspaper would advance the cause of women's emancipation. Two major campaigns supported by the newspaper were the repeal of a law banning women from being a part of political meetings and the Yanaka Village Relief Campaign. The law, Article Five of the Police Security Regulations, specifically forbade women from joining political parties or taking a public role in policy or debates. Fukuda organized petitions to the Senate and helped the bill reach the House of Representatives, where it passed, but it repeatedly failed in the House of Peers.
Yanaka Village
Yanaka village was a small town near Tokyo that was the proposed site of a reservoir for the Watarase River. When some families refused to leave their homes, government officials began a series of attempts to force them off the land. Sekai Fujin backed the efforts of local villagers who refused to move out. Fukuda and her supporters provided funds and aid after the government officials destroyed the villagers houses and left the dike protecting the village from flood unrepaired.
See also
- Socialist thought in Imperial Japan
- Feminism in Japan
- Japanese literature
- List of Japanese authors