Tarui Tokichi

Tarui Tôkichi was an activist in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement (Jiyû minken undô), and later member of the National Diet.

He expressed his support for the ideals or goals of the Satsuma Rebellion, which took place in 1877; in the 1880s, he worked in association with Ôi Kentarô in activist efforts in Korea and Hong Kong, as well as in the 1885 Osaka Incident. Later on, he became involved with an education institute in Shanghai, and Mongolian independence movements.

Becoming a member of the National Diet in 1892, he and Ôi founded the East Asian Liberal Party, advocating a peaceable union or alliance between Japan and Korea, in order to better stand up against Western encroachments. Their attitudes, or approaches, were unpopular, however, receiving much opposition from those who advocated the need for a stronger military stance, and the need for Japan to acquire territory on the Asian mainland by force in order to ensure Japan's continued independence.

References

• Marius Jansen, China in the Tokugawa World, Harvard University Press (1992), 103-105.