[Special Feature: The Great Kanto Earthquake and Keio University] Impressions of the Great Earthquake (From the November 1923 issue of Mita-hyoron (official monthly journal published by Keio University Press))

2023/08/21

(For this transcription, characters and kana usage have been modernized, and furigana has been added where appropriate. Additionally, while some passages may be considered inappropriate in light of modern human rights awareness, they have been left as originally written in consideration of the historical context. [Editorial Department])

At two minutes before noon on September 1, the great earthquake that struck Tokyo and other parts of the Kanto region, combined with the massive fires that followed, caused unprecedented catastrophic damage. In Tokyo, 407,992 houses were destroyed by fire, affecting a population of 1,505,029; furthermore, it completely annihilated the central commercial and industrial districts. Regarding the number of fatalities within Tokyo Prefecture, it is reported that 56,774 died in fires, 11,233 drowned, and 3,608 were crushed to death, totaling 71,615, with an additional 31,672 injured. Outside of Tokyo, Yokohama suffered truly total destruction with countless deaths, and other areas such as the Shonan region and the Boso coast were affected over a vast area, presenting unspeakable scenes of tragedy everywhere. When estimating the damage in monetary terms, some say it is approximately 10 billion yen for Tokyo alone; while this is naturally an inaccurate figure, it is sufficient to imagine the general scale. Moreover, countless priceless books and artworks, which cannot be replaced by money, were reduced to ashes. It is only natural that the entire nation was struck by extreme shock and grief.

Among the many areas of damage, as someone involved in education, I cannot help but feel particular regret that so many schools, from public and private universities—the central institutions of culture—downward, were destroyed by fire. Tens of thousands of students and hundreds of thousands of children suddenly lost their places of research and study, and even if only temporary, a kind of dark age for culture is about to emerge. Emergency measures are already being taken, and things will likely move toward recovery gradually, but it goes without saying that this is a major blow to education. Fortunately, Keio University escaped the fires, yet it still suffered damage of approximately 300,000 yen due to structural destruction, which is a significant blow for the Juku. However, the essential parts of the Library, which is the lifeblood of the university, are safe, and most classrooms are generally usable without issue. The fact that professors and students can engage in research and study as usual is an unexpected stroke of good fortune that we must celebrate greatly.

Looking back to the fourth year of Keio (1868), the world was in chaos, filled with the turmoil of war and public unrest. In the midst of a time when no one had the leisure to look toward literary matters, the senior members of that time, centered around Yukichi Fukuzawa, rejoiced in the happiness of continuing the joy of academic research in a separate world within Keio. On the day of the Chugen festival, they held a banquet with home-cooked food and "celebrated that the light of learning had not fallen to the ground." While the circumstances are of course very different, I cannot help but feel a somewhat similar sentiment in today's situation. At the same time, I cannot help but think that the mission of the Juku is extremely heavy, and its responsibility in contributing to culture is particularly great.

This great disaster is calling our attention to various issues and prompting earnest reflection and investigation. First, the fact that human power is extremely weak in the face of natural disasters is something we can only pity ourselves for; however, conquering nature is the mission of civilization. Through the development of academic research, can we not predict earthquakes and thus take appropriate countermeasures in advance? Our hopes must first be directed toward this point. Next, even if predicting earthquakes remains impossible for the time being, it should be possible, even with today's science, to perfect earthquake-resistant designs and extremely reduce the damage from earthquakes. Importing the construction methods of non-earthquake countries into our earthquake-prone country without thorough special investigation should be called the sin of academic negligence; it is a failure to do what human effort ought to do.

This is even more true regarding fires. Accidental fires may occur, and it is impossible to expect their total elimination, but preventing the spread of fire and keeping the damage to a minimum is something that can be achieved through human effort. According to experts, 95 percent of the disaster in the Imperial Capital this time was due to fire. That is, if fire prevention facilities had been perfect and the damage had been limited to the earthquake alone, the disaster could have been reduced to a mere 5 percent. In short, because the zoning of urban districts, the provision of roads and parks, the regulation of construction, and preparations for water supply and other fire prevention measures were all too makeshift, disorganized, and untidy, the disaster of the earthquake was magnified twentyfold. Although there were buildings called fireproof, they could not fully demonstrate their fireproof effectiveness because preparations for the event of an earthquake were insufficient. There were also examples where buildings with modern Western-style fire prevention equipment saw those efforts go to waste because they did not anticipate the water supply being cut off due to the earthquake. These are not natural disasters, but rather should be called man-made disasters. Even with our current primitive civilization, if we fully utilize what science teaches us, there must still be great room to protect human happiness. If this disaster indeed carries the implication of so-called "divine punishment," it should be interpreted first as a reprimand against the overly unscientific nature of the Japanese people's social organization.

An earthquake can unexpectedly cause spiritual springs to gush from underground or muddy water to seep out of the soil. Similarly, the shock of a suddenly occurring great disaster has exposed the beauty and ugliness, the strengths and weaknesses, of our national character in their naked form. Setting aside for a moment the many beautiful stories and anecdotes left behind in the midst of the great chaos struck by extreme shock and fear, the so-called "Korean riots" and the Amakasu Incident are truly deplorable. The existence of bad people among Koreans is no different from the existence of bad people among Japanese. Even if there were some Koreans who committed misdeeds by taking advantage of the confusion of the earthquake, the attempt to inflict indiscriminate persecution on all Koreans was, even if it happened during great chaos, a truly outrageous act. First of all, being misled by false rumors that thousands or hundreds of Koreans were coming to attack in groups, and performing great commotions in various places in the city and countryside, was a shameful display of panic born of ignorance, and can only be described as utterly disgraceful. Furthermore, the fact that many victims were produced by harming innocent Koreans in the excess of panic and agitation is certainly a major unfortunate event of recent times.

Of course, at that time, the nerves of the public had reached the peak of excitement, and it was a situation where even laughable rumors could immediately give a great shock and easily cause unexpected incidents. The situation at the time can be inferred from the fact that many Japanese were killed or injured due to minor misunderstandings. Moreover, it is a publicly known fact that many Koreans escaped danger through the protection of individuals or the authorities. Therefore, while it is clear that this incident was not motivated by any kind of ethnic prejudice, it is nonetheless deeply regrettable that such a great commotion occurred and resulted in many Korean fatalities.

This Korean riot, along with the incidents of vigilante groups killing and injuring Japanese in various places, clearly shows that the Japanese people lack composure and have the flaw of easily losing their calm judgment. Above all, the point that it exposed without reservation the evil custom of not respecting the law and disregarding human life is most worthy of attention. No matter how much it was a time of great chaos with no room to consider reason, if a spirit of respecting the law and valuing human life had existed fundamentally among the general public, such extreme acts of violence would not have been carried out. They truly do not understand the dignity of the law, nor do they know that human life should be valued. In other words, the two greatest flaws that should be most shameful for a civilized people under constitutional rule were unexpectedly exposed here. I believe our nation needs to reflect deeply on this.

Regarding the Amakasu Incident, I cannot help but feel even greater grief. While there is something somewhat pitiable about ignorant masses or vigilante members losing their judgment in the excess of agitation and coming to break the law and kill people during a time of public anxiety, the Amakasu Incident was not like that at all; it was carried out on September 16, when public sentiment had somewhat calmed down, and moreover, while calmly engaging in conversation. Furthermore, the person involved was an official responsible for the maintenance of law and order. The fact that the victims cruelly slaughtered included even an innocent child makes me shudder all the more. Although the details of the facts cannot be known until the trial is over, in any case, Japanese civilization suffered a massive stain because of this incident. I truly find myself at a loss for words of criticism.

In addition to the issue of lynching, this incident also includes the issue of using violence against ideas. Both are most uncivilized and major unfortunate events. If Sakae Osugi committed any illegal acts, he should have been dealt with through legal procedures and proper institutions. Taking the law into one's own hands and performing a lynching based on one's own judgment can never be permitted. Also, while the anarchism espoused by Osugi is a so-called dangerous thought and harmful to the peace of the state, the attempt to suppress this thought through violence is a grave mistake. Moreover, this is not merely a problem of a single soldier; the narrow-minded and bigoted evil customs existing among many Japanese people happened to manifest here. At the same time, the national flaws mentioned in the previous section have again been exposed in their naked form. It goes without saying that both lynching and violence are the results of a lack of respect for the law.

No matter how much the motive might be considered sympathetic, what is gained by replacing anarchism with lawlessness? Even if it is said to be for the sake of the state, what kind of service to the state is it to violate national laws? Originally, the idea that any means are acceptable as long as it is for the sake of the state is an extremely dangerous and evil thought. This evil thought is quite widely spread among our people. And it frequently leads to the commission of great illegalities in the name of patriotism. While the Amakasu Incident is reported to have come from patriotic fervor, the result has instead brought a great stain to our civilization and caused extraordinary damage to the state, both domestically and internationally. Any act that breaks the law, goes against justice, and ignores humanity must be absolutely rejected under any circumstances.

Now, the full attention of both the government and the people of our country is concentrated on the problem of reconstructing the Imperial Capital. It goes without saying that reconstruction is the urgent task of the moment. However, while our people strive in this reconstruction work, we must also aim to sweep away the various evil customs described above. From the midst of the desolate scorched earth, a new Tokyo is about to be born with doubled vitality. If the many unfortunate events that occurred during this disaster serve as a stimulus to break down evil customs and prompt a new spirit of civilization, then the disaster will not have been without meaning.