Kita Ikki: General Outline of Measures for the Reorganization of Japan

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

General Outline of Measures for the Reorganization of Japan, which has been abridged, begins simply enough: In section 1, Kita calls for suspension of the Japanese constitution, dissolution of the Diet (the parliament), and the imposition of martial law. He goes on to discuss the significance of the nation's emperor, making reference to Jimmu, Japan's legendary first emperor, and to the Meiji Restoration, a mid-nineteenth-century revolution that restored direct imperial rule in Japan. Kita further calls for the abolition of the peerage system, which in his view “constitutes a barrier between the Emperor and the people.” Kita recommends popular elections (although women would not be allowed to vote), a “restoration of people's freedom,” a reorganization of the cabinet, and the establishment of a “national reorganization Diet” that would be powerless to debate imperial reorganization policies. Additionally, the emperor would donate to the people all of his lands and estates.

Section 2 advocates restrictions on private property, stating that no citizen can enjoy assets in excess of a million yen at a time when one yen was worth roughly fifty cents. Kita boldly demands that any wealth in excess of a million yen be turned over to the government without compensation. Section 3 advocates similar restrictions on land ownership, while Section 4 says that private industries can have no more than 10 million yen in assets; larger industries would be collectivized and placed under state control.

Kita then describes his vision of the industrial organization of the state, calling for ministries of banking, mines, agriculture, industries, commerce, and railways. Section 5 addresses the rights of workers, establishing wages, working hours, the distribution of profits to workers, and the right of workers to become shareholders in private industries. The agenda is Socialist, designed to ensure “adequate living conditions for the people.” Nevertheless, Kita's purpose was to create a wealthy state under imperial rule that could flex its muscles throughout Asia.