[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

(In transcribing this text, characters and kana usage have been modernized, and furigana has been added where appropriate. Furthermore, while some passages may be considered inappropriate by today's standards of 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 massive earthquake that struck Tokyo and other parts of the Kanto region, combined with the subsequent large-scale fires, caused unprecedented catastrophic damage. In Tokyo, 407,992 houses were destroyed by fire, affecting a population of 1,505,029; moreover, it completely decimated the central districts of commerce and industry. Regarding the number of accidental deaths within Tokyo Prefecture, it is reported that 56,774 died from fire, 11,233 from drowning, and 3,608 from being crushed, 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. Furthermore, countless precious books and artworks, which are irreplaceable by money, were reduced to ashes. It is only natural that the entire nation was struck by extreme shock and grief.

Among the multifaceted damages, the fact that so many schools, from public and private universities down, which serve as the central institutions of culture, were destroyed by fire is something that we, as those involved in educational work, cannot help but feel particularly deep regret for. 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 is about to emerge in terms of culture. Emergency measures are already being taken, and things will gradually move toward recovery, 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 part of the Library, which is the lifeblood of the university, was safe, and most classrooms are generally usable without hindrance. The fact that professors and students alike can engage in research and study as usual must be celebrated as an unexpected stroke of luck.

Looking back to the fourth year of Keio (1868), the world was in chaos like tangled hemp, with the turmoil of war and public unrest. In those times when people had no leisure to attend to literary matters, the senior scholars of that day, centered around Yukichi Fukuzawa, rejoiced in the happiness of quietly continuing the pleasure of academic research within a separate world within Keio. On the day of the Bon festival, they held a banquet with home-cooked food and "celebrated that the fortunes of literature had not fallen to the ground." While the circumstances are of course greatly 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. Should it not be possible to predict earthquakes through the development of academic research and thereby take appropriate countermeasures in advance? Our hopes must first be directed toward this point. Next, even if the prediction of earthquakes is 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. To idly import construction methods from countries without earthquakes into our earthquake-prone country without conducting thorough, specialized research should be called the crime of academic negligence; it is truly a failure to do what human effort ought to do.

This is even more true regarding fires. Accidental fires may occur by chance, and it may be impossible to expect their total elimination, but it is within human power to prevent the spread of fire and minimize the disaster. According to experts, 95 percent of the disaster in the Imperial Capital this time was due to fire. That is to say, if fire prevention facilities had been perfect and the damage had been limited to the earthquake alone, the disaster should 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-fighting measures were all too makeshift, chaotic, and disorganized, the disaster of the earthquake was magnified twentyfold. Although there were buildings called fireproof, their fireproofing effectiveness could not be fully realized because preparations for the event of an earthquake were insufficient. There were also examples where buildings equipped with modern Western-style fire prevention facilities saw those efforts come to naught because they had not anticipated the water cutoff caused by 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 allegory of a so-called "heavenly 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 cause 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 amidst the great confusion of extreme shock and fear, the so-called "Korean riots" and the Amakasu Incident are truly deplorable. There are bad people among Koreans just as there are 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, even if it happened during a great turmoil, is truly an act of extreme violence. First of all, to have staged great disturbances in various places, misled by false rumors that hundreds or thousands of Koreans were coming to attack in groups, is 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 inflicting harm on innocent Koreans in the heat 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 provide a great shock and easily trigger unexpected and strange events. The situation at the time can be inferred from the fact that many Japanese were killed or injured due to slight misunderstandings. Moreover, it is a well-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 was staged, resulting in many Korean deaths.

This Korean riot, along with the incidents of Japanese being killed or injured by vigilante group members in various places, clearly demonstrates the defect of the Japanese people in lacking composure and easily losing their peace of mind. Above all, the point that it exposed without reserve 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 confusion with no room to consider the logic of the situation, if a spirit of honoring the law and valuing human life had existed fundamentally among the general public, such extreme outrages would not have been carried out. They do not actually 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.

Regarding the Amakasu Incident, I cannot help but feel even greater grief. While it may be somewhat pitiable when ignorant masses or vigilante members lose their judgment in the heat of agitation and come to break the law and kill people while the public mind is in a state of alarm, 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 quietly engaging in conversation. Furthermore, the person involved was an official responsible for the maintenance of law and order. The fact that the cruelly massacred included even an innocent small child makes one shudder all the more. Although the details of the facts cannot be known until the trial is concluded, this incident has, in any case, brought immense disgrace upon Japanese civilization. We are truly at a loss for words of criticism.

In addition to the issue of lynching, this incident also involves the issue of using violence against ideas. Both are most uncivilized and great misfortunes. If Osugi had committed illegal acts, he should have been dealt with through legal procedures and proper institutions. Inflicting lynching at one's own discretion based on one's own judgment can never be permitted. Furthermore, although 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 error. Moreover, this is not merely a problem of a single soldier; the narrow-minded and bigoted evil customs existing among many Japanese happened to manifest here. At the same time, the national defects 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 may 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 "for the sake of the state" is it that violates national law? Originally, the idea that as long as it is for the sake of the state, one need not question the means, 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 arisen from patriotic sincerity, the result has instead brought great disgrace to our civilization and has caused extraordinary damage to the state, both domestically and internationally. Any act that breaks the law, defies justice, and ignores humanity must be absolutely rejected under any circumstances.

Now, the entire attention of our nation, both in and out of government, is concentrated on the problem of the reconstruction of 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 as far as the eye can see, a New Tokyo is about to be born with redoubled 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.