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"My Socialism: Labor Day Notes on Jodo Shinshu Martyr Takagi Kenmyo"
Takagi Kenmyo's Pure Land conscience was activated when he became Josenji's head monk in 1899, coming into contact with the social and economic suffering of the many burakumin (outcastes) in his congregation.
Takagi Kenmyo's Pure Land conscience was activated when he became Josenji's head monk in 1899, coming into contact with the social and economic suffering of the many burakumin (outcastes) in his congregation.
He campaigned against the oppression of burakumin, women, and the poor, and advocated pacifism rather than the rising imperialist militarism of Japan. In 1910 he was jailed on trumped-up charges and sentenced to death (commuted to life imprisonment). He died in jail in 1914.
The Higashi Otanji branch of Jodo Shinshu, which had experienced over four decades of intense government pressure, abandoned him, but some of his work was preserved and in the post-war period he became an important figure. The denomination restored his status in 1996.
