Anarchism in Japan began to emerge in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as Western anarchist literature began to be translated into Japanese. It existed throughout the 20th century in various forms, despite repression by the state that became particularly harsh during the two world wars, and it reached its height in the 1920s with organisations such as Kokuren and Zenkoku Jiren.
A photograph of the Heimin-sha (Commoners' Society), who published the Heimin Shinbun
A photograph of the leading anarchist, Kōtoku Shūsui
Pak Yol, a Korean anarchist who became involved in anarchist groups in Tokyo
Kōtoku Denjirō , better known by the pen name Kōtoku Shūsui , was a Japanese socialist and anarchist who played a leading role in introducing anarchism to Japan in the early 20th century. Historian John Crump described him as "the most famous socialist in Japan".
Kōtoku Shūsui
A photograph of the Heimin-sha (Commoners' Society), who published the Heimin Shinbun newspaper
"Les martyrs japonais" (1911). French postcard with the pictures of Denjirō Kōtoku, Toshihiko Sakai, Sanshirō Ishikawa and Kōjiro Nishikawa.