The society and the information 44: news media has fought 1

社会と情報　４４：　戦った報道　１

＜　1.  this journalist played an active part in newspapers since the Meiji period　＞

＜　１．明治初期から新聞で活躍した言論人　＞

So far, we have looked at the problem of Japanese newspaper.

But, if you look at a little the past, you will find many journalists devoted themselves life to news report and changed the society.

We chase up the behavior of their fight from now on.

今まで、日本の新聞の問題点を見てきました。

しかし、過去に目を移せば、報道に体を張り、社会を変えた人々がいた。

これから彼らの戦いの様を追っていきます。

＜　2.  the eve of the Meiji Restoration, and the five persons that played a huge role in the Restoration.　＞

＜　２．明治維新前夜と維新の元勲達　＞

Preface

Japanese newspapers began to take an important role since the Meiji Restoration.

The period that I focus on is 1910s and 1920s, and in this period, the politics and society changed suddenly and became confused.

This almost overlaps with the Taisho period (1912 -1926).

In Japan at the period, there were an increase of national power, an elevation of consciousness of people, and a change of the international situation.

Many journalists aimed at the reformation of society, and ran through this period at full power.

Their action let popular rights spread, and it can be said to be a victory of news media, but was swallowed into a big flow at the end.

After this, military authorities pulled Japan, and people and news media together progressed to a path of military superpower.

The thing that I want everyone to know is a truth that many Japanese newspapers fought taking people’s side, and were defeated at last.

What kind of role did newspapers at the period play?

How did the people behave?

As the result, how did the society change?

After that, what happened to the newspapers?

We will be able to know these through this serialization.

Before that, we shall see the summary of this period.

はじめに

日本の報道、特に新聞は明治維新と共に重要な役割を担い始めました。

私が注目する時代は１９１０～２０年代で、政治と社会が激変し、また混乱した時代でした。

これは大正時代（１９１２～１９２６年）とほぼ重なります。

そこには日本の国力増大と国民の意識高揚、国際情勢の変化とがありました。

新聞や雑誌の人々が社会変革を目指し、全力で駆け抜けた。

彼らの行動は国民の権利を拡大させ、報道の勝利と言えましたが、最後には大きな流れに飲み込まれてしまった。

この後、日本は軍部に牽引され国民と報道も一体となって軍事大国の道を歩むことになった。

皆さんに知って頂きたいことは、かつて新聞が国民の側に立ち戦ったこと、そして破れたことです。

当時の新聞がどのような役割を果たしたのか？

民衆はどのように振舞ったのか？

その結果、社会はどのように変わったのか？　

その後、新聞に何が起きたのか？

この連載で、これらが見えて来るはずです。

その前に、この時代の概要を見ておきます。

＜　3. the Freedom and People's Rights Movement and the oppression　＞

＜　３．　自由民権運動と弾圧　＞

The passage from the Meiji Restoration to 1910

Japan accomplished the Meiji Restoration in 1869, steered to the capitalist society from the feudal society, and promoted the wealth and military strength and the encouragement of new industry.

Japanese government was grasped by samurai groups that played a huge role in the Meiji Restoration.

The government was far from people because there was the friction of the social reformation, too.

The Freedom and People's Rights Movement happened in order to defeat this system, and became big movement, due partly to the activity of newspapers and journalists.

As this result, the government that had been unwilling to open the Imperial Diet promulgated the Constitution of the Empire of Japan in 1889, and opened it the next year at last.

On the other hand, the government has begun to suppress people's social movement by various laws (the libel and the newspaper regulations).

At a major depression, this people's social movement intensified to armed uprisings, and the government oppressed it by military power.

明治維新から１９１０年までの流れ

日本は明治維新を１８６９年に成し遂げ、封建社会から資本主義社会へと舵を取り、富国強兵と殖産興業を推し進めた。

政府は武士団の薩長閥に握られ、大変革の軋轢もあり、国民から遠い存在であった。

この体制打破を目指して自由民権運動が起こり、新聞と言論人の活躍もあって大きな力となった。

この結果、渋る政府は１８８９年大日本帝国憲法発布、翌年の帝国議会開催を行った。

一方、政府は各種の法規制（名誉毀損罪の原形、新聞紙条例等）により国民運動を抑圧し始めた。

大不況時、この国民運動が一部の武装蜂起へと激化し、政府は武力でこれを弾圧した。

＜　4. the Imperial Diet　＞

＜　４．　帝国議会　＞

＜　5. a scene of Japanese-Russo War and an irony of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance ＞

＜　５．　日露戦争の戦闘場面と日英同盟の風刺　＞

In those days, while major nations had scrambled for colonies everywhere in the world, each European countries and Russia repeated alliance, and were antagonistic with splitting in two big groups.

By this, Japan concluded the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902, and repeated to conclude a treaty between major nations after that.

Japan won the Japanese-Sino and Japanese-Russo Wars in 1905, performed Annexation of Korea in 1910, and enlarged the colony in the East Asia.

On the other hand, a new trend of thought was spreading in Japan.

It was a labor movement and democracy.

This had advanced in Western countries, and the storm of the revolution would rage before long in Eurasia.

This continues next time.

当時、大国は世界各地で植民地を奪い合い、欧州各国とロシアは同盟を繰り返し二大陣営に分かれ反目していた。

この流れで、１９０２年に日本は日英同盟を締結し、以後、大国との同盟を繰り返すことになる。

日本は日清・日露戦争（１９０５年）で勝利し、韓国併合（１９１０年）を行い、東アジアに植民地を拡大していった。

一方で日本に新しい思潮が浸透しつつあった。

それは労働運動と民主主義でした。

一言で言えば、それは国民の権利が保障される社会へと国民が民主的に改革することでした。

これは欧米各国において進んでおり、やがてユーラシアで革命の嵐が吹き荒れることになる。

次回に続きます。