53 Facts About Kanno Sugako

Kanno Sugako, known as Kanno Suga, was a Japanese anarcha-feminist journalist.

Kanno Sugako was the author of a series of articles about gender oppression, and a defender of freedom and equal rights for men and women.

Kanno Sugako was the first woman with the status of political prisoner to be executed in the history of modern Japan.

Kanno Sugako's mother died when she was ten years old, and her father remarried.

Kanno Sugako had a younger sister, named Hide, and a younger brother.

The essay motivated Kanno Sugako to read more of Sakai's writings, which then exposed her to other socialist thinkers.

In September 1899, at the age of seventeen, Kanno Sugako married Komiya Fukutaro, a member of a Tokyo merchant family.

Kanno Sugako felt no physical or emotional attraction towards her new husband, but it allowed her to escape the harassment of her stepmother.

Kanno Sugako managed to impress Udagawa enough that he began helping her with her writing.

Kanno Sugako wrote a series of short stories, articles, and essays.

In turn, Kanno Sugako expressed her appreciation of Udagawa in Isshukan.

In 1903, Kanno Sugako joined the Christian Yajima Kajiko's Fujin Kyofukai due to a personal attraction to a shared belief in charity and reform.

Kanno Sugako met with Shimada and attended another socialist meeting where Kinoshita Naoe, a Christian socialist, discussed geisha entertainment at Kanno's request.

Kanno Sugako began contributing to the Michi no Tomo and Kirisutokyo Sekai, both religious newspapers.

Kanno Sugako united with Christians and socialists in opposing the war, joining the Heminsha, led by Sakai and Kotoku.

Kanno Sugako was a reader of the Heimin Shinbun, an anti-war magazine headed by Sakai and Kotoku, though she never submitted a contribution to it herself.

Meanwhile, Mori met with Kanno Sugako and managed to get Kanno Sugako to contribute to the Muro Shimpo.

Mori was imprisoned on March 13,1906 and Kanno Sugako arrived on February 4 to become the head editor.

Kanno Sugako eventually returned to Kyoto at the end of May 1906, though she still wrote articles for the Muro Shinpo.

Around the same time, Kanno Sugako grew concerned about Hide's illness.

In June 1908, Kanno Sugako attended a rally held by Arahata, Sakai, and other socialist-anarchist leaders, which would be known as the Red Flag Incident, where they waved red flags and sang songs.

Kanno Sugako went to the police station to inquire about them, where she discovered they had been tortured by the police.

Kanno Sugako was fired from the Muro Shinpo, which led to Kanno taking up domestic work.

Kanno Sugako began a relationship with Kotoku, who was jailed for his writings in the Heimin Shimbun.

Kanno Sugako left for the US after he was released, returning 6 months later as a firm anarchist.

Kanno Sugako believed in equality for women, but still frequently visited brothels.

The affair disgusted their comrades, believing Kanno Sugako had betrayed the still-imprisoned Arahata.

Kanno Sugako stopped publishing for almost a year after the autumn of 1908, due to her newfound domestic duties and illness, as she had to recuperate for several weeks in February 1909.

In 1909, Kanno Sugako met Miyashita Daikichi, who claimed he had produced bombs to assassinate the emperor.

Kanno Sugako was enthused about the scheme, hoping to emulate Sophia Perovskaya, a participant in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II.

The plot was uncovered in May 1910, while Kanno Sugako was still in prison.

The government rounded up anybody who had connections with Kotoku, with a total of twenty-six individuals put on trial, Kanno Sugako being the only woman present.

Kanno Sugako was then ordered to sit upright on the floor.

Kanno Sugako criticized the kokutai system, which stated that the Japanese emperor himself was the embodiment of Japan.

Kanno Sugako argued that the emperor was not a divine figure nor an actual descendant of Amaterasu.

Kanno Sugako sought to overthrow the Japanese government, targeting politicians, prosecutors, police, etc.

Kanno Sugako specified other pivotal Japanese government figures, including Yamagata Aritomo and Emperor Meiji.

Kanno Sugako is a noble and great person, so it is regrettable but truly unavoidable.

Kanno Sugako believed that socialism would liberate men from the patriarchy.

Kanno Sugako initially had a negative view of prostitution and geisha, lambasting the system of public prostitution as "a defilement of the dignity of the exposition" and that it "dishonored the nation before the eyes of foreign visitors".

Kanno Sugako viewed the prostitutes as "fallen women," resembling the views of the Reform Society.

Kanno Sugako was a firm believer in gender equality, arguing in a Muro Shinpo piece:.

Kanno Sugako called for women to stop focusing on their appearance, dispensing with their obi, kimono sleeves, etc.

Kanno Sugako wrote another article detailing her views on men in a piece entitled A Perspective on Men:.

Kanno Sugako, prior to her imprisonment for the Red Flag Incident, was a pacifist.

Kanno Sugako had joined Christians and socialists in opposing the Russo-Japanese war, publishing the short story Zekko in October 1903.

Kanno Sugako goes further in attacking Christianity as a foreign religion, incompatible with the Japanese spirit.

Kanno Sugako believed that women could not meaningfully contribute to the war effort by just the Women's Patriotic Association.

Kanno Sugako believed that if women wanted to contribute, they would have to actively join the war effort, acting as nurses and workers.

Kanno Sugako linked her pseudo-nationalistic arguments with her belief in women's rights, mainly that of self-sacrifice, in urging men to stop visiting prostitutes and instead contribute money to the war effort.

Kanno Sugako's relationships confirmed by other sources are limited to Komiya Fukutaro, Arahata himself, and Kotoku Shusui.

Kanno Sugako worked very hard to construct her as a promiscuous enchantress and insulted her whenever he could.

Kanno Sugako's life inspired the play Kaiki Shoku, produced by the theater company Aono Jikken Ensemble and written by William Satake Blauvelt.