[Special Feature: New Theory of Reading] Shinzo Koizumi as a "Taisho Intellectual" / Shutaro Muto

2020/05/11

Shinzo Koizumi's "Theory of Reading" (1950) continues to be reprinted more than half a century after its publication and has gained many readers. Looking through the 27 volumes of the "Complete Works of Shinzo Koizumi," one finds that in addition to "Theory of Reading," Koizumi left behind numerous works and essays related to reading, such as "Notes on Reading" (1948) and "My Talk on Literature" (1966). The authors featured in these works cover a wide range, including not only economists like Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, and Marx—who belong to Koizumi's original field of expertise—but also domestic and international literary figures and philosophers such as Goethe, Schopenhauer, Kant, Tolstoy, Natsume Soseki, Mori Ogai, and Nagai Kafu. Koizumi belongs to the generation of so-called "Taisho Culturism," which developed the self while accepting diverse cultural values through reading. "Theory of Reading" can be described as a work in which Koizumi's scholarship was fully demonstrated.

Koizumi was a rare master of prose among successive Japanese social scientists. In particular, "Navy Paymaster Lieutenant Nobukichi Koizumi" (1965), which describes his feelings for his son Nobukichi Koizumi who died in the war, still strongly appeals to the hearts of readers with its elegant style. David Ricardo, the British economist whom Koizumi originally studied professionally, is known for his poor writing. I remember reading Koizumi's "Study of Ricardo" (1929) and feeling that even Ricardo's work could become so easy to understand in Koizumi's hands.

Koizumi also possessed a sharp insight into literary criticism that rivaled that of experts. To give one example, regarding the relationship between the younger brother and the sister-in-law depicted in Natsume Soseki's "The Wayfarer" (Kojin), Koizumi inferred that it was based on Soseki's "observational experience" (*1). When Soseki's actual sister-in-law died young, he sent a letter to his close friend Masaoka Shiki containing more than ten haiku mourning her death. Koizumi's theory was that in "The Wayfarer," written more than 20 years later, Soseki might have been reminiscing about his sister-in-law, who was the same age as him. Koizumi presented this theory to Toyotaka Komiya, a disciple of Soseki, but it is said that Komiya did not take him seriously at all.

Regarding the relationship between Soseki and his sister-in-law, the most generally known analysis is a series of studies by Jun Eto. Based on letters to Masaoka Shiki as well as English and Chinese poems composed by Soseki, Eto argued that Soseki was secretly in love with his sister-in-law (*2). Even Eto, who proposed this novel theory, admitted that Koizumi was the first to focus on Soseki's sister-in-law.

According to Koizumi, it was the presence of his university mentor, Tokuzo Fukuda, that awakened his interest in scholarship after he had spent his days immersed in tennis. Fukuda, known for his strict guidance, highly evaluated Koizumi's abilities and took special care of him, such as having him submit a paper to the "Mita Gakkai Zasshi" while he was still a student. Upon graduating from the department of political economy of the college in March 1910 on Fukuda's recommendation, Koizumi was immediately hired as a faculty member of the same college.

"One event for my reading was that in 1910, just when I graduated from the department of political economy of the college, a reform took place in the Faculty of Letters at Keio University, and Nagai Kafu was appointed as a professor under the guardianship of Mori Ogai, and 'Mita Bungaku' was launched under his editorship." — Koizumi says this in Chapter 10 of "Theory of Reading." "Mita Bungaku," with Nagai Kafu as editor-in-chief, was founded in May 1910, shortly after Koizumi became a faculty member. He stated that the founding of this literary magazine within Keio became a "major event" in his reading life.

During his university days, Koizumi formed a circle with his friends Shozo Abe (Takitaro Minakami), Shiyokichi Sawaki, Yasushi Matsumoto, and Shiro Kawamura to talk about literature night after night. Looking at Koizumi's diary, it is clear that when he first became a faculty member, the proportion of his reading related to literature was high, and he frequently visited Kafu to interact with him. He also secretly read Kafu's "Tales of France," which was banned immediately after its publication in March 1909, after obtaining it from a junior. It is no wonder that Koizumi, who was so passionate about literature and devoted to Kafu, was excited about the founding of "Mita Bungaku."

In addition, "Mita Bungaku" held great significance for Koizumi because it stimulated his interest in the High Treason Incident that occurred shortly after the magazine's founding, and by extension, in social issues. In Chapter 6 of "Theory of Reading," Koizumi states that it is important not to simply seek knowledge through reading, but to cultivate the power of "observational thinking"—thinking for oneself. The incident in which a large number of socialists were arrested and executed for allegedly plotting to assassinate Emperor Meiji gave the young Koizumi a great shock. "Mita Bungaku" became a great help in his "observational thinking" regarding this High Treason Incident.

In fact, in "Mita Bungaku," members such as Kafu, Mori Ogai, Tekkan Yosano, Haruo Sato, and Shozo Abe expressed their sense of unease regarding the High Treason Incident through novels and poetry, utilizing ironical expressions. Furthermore, on February 4, 1911, the Mita Bungaku-kai, the publisher of "Mita Bungaku," invited Osamu Hiraide, who served as the defense attorney for the defendants of the High Treason Incident, to a lecture. Koizumi, who attended this lecture, heard various new facts and noted in his diary that he "learned that the trial against Kotoku and others was quite reckless." In this way, "Mita Bungaku" was one of the few media outlets that confronted the High Treason Incident amidst strict censorship.

Three days after hearing Hiraide's lecture, Koizumi saw an advertisement for Shusui Kotoku's posthumous work "On the Eradication of Christianity," which he had written in prison, and immediately inquired at a bookstore. Although it was sold out that day, he obtained it the next day. Furthermore, looking at his diary entry for February 18, ten days later, it can be confirmed that Koizumi borrowed and devoured books that had all been banned, from Shiro Kawamura, who had just debuted in "Mita Bungaku": Sen Katayama and Kojiro Nishikawa's "The Labor Movement in Japan" (1901), Shusui Kotoku's "The Essence of Socialism" (1903) and "Commonerism" (1907), Toshihiko Sakai's "The Woman Question" (1907), Sakai and Umpei Morichika's "Outline of Socialism" (1907), Terujiro Kita (Ikki Kita)'s "The Philosophy of Pure Socialism" (1906), and Sojinkan Sugimura's "Seven Flowers and Eight Rips" (1908). (*3)

In his later years, Koizumi recalled his interactions with the members of "Mita Bungaku" as follows:

"My indulgence in literary books and my association with the 'Mita Bungaku' group were done simply because I liked it, and there was no utilitarian motive, but I think it was not a bad thing for me. Later, I would be in charge of lectures on the history of social thought at Keio University, and I think that my interest in reading not only narrow books on economics and sociology but also modern literature in general was of some use." (*4)

In the post-war period, Koizumi has a strong image as an anti-communist, partly because "Common Sense in the Critique of Communism" (1949) became a bestseller. However, he was interested in socialist thought, including the Fabian Society, and explored its feasibility. "Mita Bungaku" played a role in building such academic foundations for Koizumi.

Acquiring a rich education through broad reading without being confined to a narrow professional shell, Koizumi was truly a child of Taisho Culturism. This also applies to Sei'ichiro Takahashi, who, along with Koizumi, was active as one of the two leading figures of the Faculty of Economics (department of political economy) at Keio. Takahashi was also a man of culture who was well-versed not only in economics but also in literature and arts, including Ukiyo-e.

In my book "A Spiritual History of Taisho Democrats: The Birth of 'Intellectuals' in East Asia" (Keio University Press), published in February this year, I focus on Taisho Democrats such as Koizumi and Takahashi and re-examine the social roles they played as "intellectuals." As mentioned earlier, those involved with "Mita Bungaku" reacted in various ways to the seemingly absurd High Treason Incident. However, they did not openly protest against the government and lead public opinion toward a retrial, as Emile Zola did in the Dreyfus Affair in France.

When, then, was collective action by "intellectuals" comparable to the Dreyfus Affair seen in Japan? In my book, I find its beginning in an organization called Reimeikai, formed in December 1918. Reimeikai was an association that brought together teachers from higher education institutions to engage in an ideological movement, centered on Sakuzo Yoshino and Tokuzo Fukuda of Tokyo Imperial University, following the Hakko Incident in which Ryuhei Murayama, the president of the Asahi Shimbun, was attacked in broad daylight. From Keio University, members including Shinzo Koizumi, Sei'ichiro Takahashi, Kiichi Horie, Kanzo Sanbe, Hyotaro Urabe, Teiichi Kawai, and Suiichiro Tanaka joined.

Reimeikai appealed to society through lectures and publishing activities regarding the injustice of the abolition of Article 17 of the Public Order and Police Law, which denied so-called three labor rights, and the Morito Incident, in which Tatsuo Morito was expelled from Tokyo Imperial University for the crime of disturbing the constitutional order under the Newspaper Law for writing a paper on the anarchist Kropotkin. They also responded actively to the March 1st Independence Movement in Korea and the May 4th Movement in China, which occurred shortly after the group's formation, and worked toward ethnic harmony. The "intellectuals" of Reimeikai, including Koizumi, actively engaged in social participation (engagement) in an attempt to bridge the gap between universal ideals backed by scholarship and reality.

Familiarizing oneself with books from all times and places, while at the same time cultivating one's own "observational thinking" and becoming subjectively involved in real society—the knowledge and guidance Koizumi showed in "Theory of Reading" were truly backed by his own experience.