Reikichi Kita

Reikichi Kita
北 昤吉
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
20 February 1936 – 25 April 1958
ConstituencyNiigata 1st district
Policy Research Council Chairman,
Japan Liberal Party
Chairman of the House of Representatives Disciplinary Committee
In office
1955–1955
Personal details
Born(1885-07-21)July 21, 1885
Minato, Sado District, Niigata Prefecture, Empire of Japan
(present-day Sado City)
DiedAugust 5, 1961(1961-08-05) (aged 76)
Party
SpouseMatsue Kita (née Honma)
RelativesIkki Kita (elder brother)
EducationWaseda University
OccupationPhilosopher, educator, political commentator, politician
Reikichi Kita at Heidelberg Castle, Germany, 1921

Reikichi Kita (北 昤吉, Kita Reikichi, 21 July 1885 – 5 August 1961) was a Japanese philosopher, educator, political commentator, and politician. He served eight terms in the House of Representatives and was a founder of Tama Art University. He also served as Policy Research Council Chairman of the Japan Liberal Party. He was the younger brother of Ikki Kita, one of the main ideologues of the February 26 Incident.

Early life and education

Born in Minato Town (now part of Sado City), Niigata Prefecture, Kita was the second son of Keitaro Kita, the first mayor of Ryotsu Town and a sake and fertilizer merchant.[1][2]

He entered Waseda University’s Faculty of Political Economy but soon transferred to the Department of Philosophy. He graduated in 1908.[2] After graduation, he worked as a middle school teacher before becoming a lecturer at Waseda University in 1913.

Academic and intellectual career

Kita emerged as a prominent figure in the Taishō democracy movement. He debated with Yoshino Sakuzō on the theoretical foundations of minponshugi (people-centered constitutionalism). He also conducted research on hypnotism together with figures such as Yanagita Kunio.

In 1918, with support from politician Mitsuchi Chūzō, he studied abroad for four and a half years. After a year at Harvard University, he traveled through Europe and spent significant time in Germany (Berlin and Heidelberg), returning to Japan at the end of 1922.

Upon return, he taught at Daito Bunka Academy (now Daito Bunka University) and Taisho University, and worked as editorial supervisor for the Nihon newspaper. In 1928 he founded the review magazine Sokoku (祖国, Fatherland), which he edited.

In 1929, he became the founder and first principal of Teikoku Art School (present-day Musashino Art University). Following a student strike and split in 1935, he established Tama Imperial Art School, which later became Tama Art University, where he served as honorary principal.[3]

Political career

Kita was elected to the House of Representatives in the February 1936 general election as an independent from Niigata 1st district, shortly before the February 26 Incident. He later joined the Constitutional Democratic Party.

In 1939, Kita participated in a Japanese parliamentary delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union conference in Oslo, Norway (August 1939), traveling through the United States and Europe from June to October together with fellow Representative Inejirō Asanuma. The two left Tokyo Station by train on 30 June 1939; during the voyage Asanuma held frequent discussions with Kita and read extensively from the works of Kita's elder brother Ikki Kita.[4][5]

After Japan’s defeat in World War II, he played an important role in founding the Japan Liberal Party. After being subject to the postwar purge and later released, he continued his political career with the Japan Democratic Party and then the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as Chairman of the House of Representatives Disciplinary Committee in 1955 and as Policy Research Council Chairman of the Liberal Party.[3]

Personal life

Kita was a Buddhist. His hobbies included reading and fishing.[1][6]

His wife, Matsue (also called Yoshiko, born 1890), was the daughter of Niigata Prefectural Assembly member Honma Ichimatsu. The couple had five daughters. His elder brother was the nationalist thinker Ikki Kita.

Family and relatives

  • Wife: Matsue (born 1890, also known as Yoshiko. Daughter of Honma Ichimatsu, a Niigata prefectural assembly member; niece of Reikichi's mother Riku)[7][8][9]
  • Eldest daughter: Michi (born 1912, Fukushima Prefecture; wife of Imaizumi Tadashi[a])
  • Second daughter: Sachi (born 1915; wife of Shimizu Tarō)
  • Third daughter (born 1918)
  • Fourth daughter (born 1926)
  • Fifth daughter
  • Father: Keitarō Kita (1853–1903)[11] — First mayor of Ryōtsu Town. Born as the eldest son of Roku (daughter of a wealthy brewing family in Ryōtsu) and her husband Rokutarō.[12][13] Keitarō was known for seeing fireballs and ghosts; according to Reikichi, this strong spiritual sensitivity was inherited by his elder brother, Ikki Kita.[14] He was involved in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. During his time as mayor in 1890 he was caught up in the Aikawa Riot (a Rice riot), and in 1900 his family business failed (according to Reikichi, due to a relative's debt guarantee issue), leading to its closure.[15] After Keitarō's death, his maternal uncle Honma Ichimatsu acted as a surrogate father and provided financial support for the education of Ikki and Reikichi.[16]
  • Mother: Riku (1856–1939) — From Niibo Village. Maiden name Honma. In Sado there was an old custom that childbirth took place at the mother's family home, with the mother returning to her husband's home on the 33rd day; thus Reikichi and his siblings were born at their mother's family home.[16] Niibo Village was known as a devout area as the location of the Nichiren sect's Konpon-ji (Sado) temple.[16] Reikichi's wife Matsue (Yoshiko)'s biological father was Riku's younger brother. A distant relative (husband of the daughter of Riku's niece) is Tamba Tetsurō.[15]
  • Elder brother: Ikki Kita (political thinker) — Executed in connection with the February 26 Incident.

Major works (selected)

  • Time and Free Will: Introduction to Philosophy (1914)
  • From Philosophy to Politics (1918)
  • Light from the East (1918)
  • Philosophical Pilgrimage (1926)
  • Showa Restoration (1927)
  • Thought and Life (1937)
  • Philosophy of War (1943)

He translated works by Henri Bergson, Harald Høffding, and others, and wrote extensively on philosophy, politics, and international affairs.

Notes

  1. ↑ Composer Yasushi Akutagawa's maternal cousin[10]

References

  1. 1 2 人事興信録 第12版 上 [Jinji Kōshinroku, 12th edition, Vol. 1]. 人事興信所. 1940. p. キ79.
  2. 1 2 早稲田大学紳士録 昭和15年版 [Waseda University Directory, 1940 edition]. 早稲田大学紳士録刊行会. 1939. p. キ285.
  3. 1 2 "北 昤吉とは". Kotobank (in Japanese).
  4. ↑ "Inejiro Asanuma and Reikichi Kita". Densho Digital Repository. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  5. ↑ Matsumoto Hironobu (2021). "浅沼稲次郎「列国議会同盟派遣団 訪米・訪欧日記──1939年6月30日～10月2日──」翻刻と解題" [Inejirō Asanuma "Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939" — Transcription and Commentary] (PDF). Dōshisha Hōgaku (in Japanese). 73 (1): 83–145. Retrieved 21 February 2026.
  6. ↑ 人事興信録 第13版 上. 1941. p. キ64.
  7. ↑ 『人事興信録 第12版 上』キ79頁（国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション）。2018年11月2日閲覧。
  8. ↑ 『人事興信録 第13版 上』キ64頁（国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション）。2019年2月16日閲覧。
  9. ↑ 『人事興信録 第14版 上』キ63頁（国立国会図書館デジタルコレクション）。2019年2月16日閲覧。
  10. ↑ 「エール」 VS 本当の話―７　帝国音楽学校「喜多三」ブログ、2020年6月5日閲覧
  11. ↑ 私論 北一輝井上裕、専修大学社会科学研究所月報No. 523、2007. 1. 20
  12. ↑ 『代表的人物及事業』時事通信社, 1913、p15
  13. ↑ 『北一輝: 革命の使者』利根川裕, 人物往来社, 1967, p48
  14. ↑ 北一輝における信仰と社会思想の交渉松岡幹夫、東京大学大学院『相関社会科学』第12号、2003年3月
  15. 1 2 佐渡人名録 北一輝、北慶太郎、北昤吉
  16. 1 2 3 兄北一輝を語る北昤吉、『思想と生活』(日本書荘, 1937)

Further reading

  • 稲邊小二郎 『一輝と昤吉―北兄弟の相克―』 新潟日報事業社、2002年。ISBN 4-88862-912-9
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.