7 The Kanto Tragedy (7)

The layout of the "Matsuzuru-maru" tavern wasn't much different from other eateries in Tokyo, Japan. Under the signboard above the door hung a dark blue fabric curtain that only covered the top half of the entrance. The curtain was divided into three panels, each with a white kanji character written on it, combining to form the shop's name.

Simply opening a tavern in the common areas of Tokyo would likely only lose money; "Matsuzuru-maru" was a mixed business of tavern and restaurant. Upon entering, there was a long counter on the left. In the sink at the far end of the counter, hot water was kept ready to warm wine at any time. Japanese laborers, after finishing work at noon or in the evening, would often spend one or two copper coins to buy a porcelain pot of sake. They would sit on the stools outside the counter, drink it hot, and rest. If they were willing to spend two more coins, they could buy a dish of oden or boiled fava beans as snacks. If they shelled out more than a dozen coins, they could buy a fish. But those were prices from over a decade ago. Since 1918, prices had already risen four or five times over.

Whenever it was mealtime, the inside of "Matsuzuru-maru" would become lively. Kita Ikki lifted the curtain and walked into the "Matsuzuru-maru" shop right at this time.

At this moment, half the seats in the shop were already occupied by customers. Almost everyone had wine in front of them. Compared to other taverns, no matter how much water the boss of "Matsuzuru-maru" mixed into the sake, at least he maintained a basic low price for alcoholic beverages, which was exceptionally good at soliciting customers.

Those with poor alcohol tolerance would become tipsy after a few mouthfuls, resting their heads on their forearms at the counter to doze off. Those with good tolerance sat at the tables, holding bowls of smuggled high-proof Chinese liquor bought by the shopkeeper, offering toasts to everyone before drinking slowly. After a sip, they would smack their lips and loudly exhale alcohol fumes.

The few fellows who were strictly eating held bowls of bean rice mixed with rice, shoveling it into their mouths in large mouthfuls. Because they ate urgently, a mouthful wouldn't go down, making their necks thick and red. They hurriedly asked the boss for a cup of water to wash the bean rice down their throats.

Returning from China, especially having stayed in the People's Party base area for so long, Kita Ikki discovered that the drinking habits of Japanese and Chinese people were not quite the same. The majority of Japanese drank for the sake of drinking; there weren't many dishes, and what they pursued was that drunken feeling. Chinese people also drank, but at least half the time they treated wine as a flavoring agent, first eating some rice and dishes ferociously, then drinking a sip of wine to moisten things. In the Chinese colloquialism, this was "eating fragrant and drinking spicy."

Once this wine went down the hatch, the atmosphere became lively. Almost everyone was talking, either about the weather or recent news. Of course, there was no lack of complaints. The one exhaling fumes while drinking was a rickshaw puller. Because his exhaling was too loud, it attracted the attention of others. Seeing everyone's gaze fall upon him, that man kept a straight face and complained to everyone about how he hadn't stopped his feet under the big sun from early morning until now, and his body had gone from wet to dry, and dry to wet, he didn't know how many times!

Most of the others were chatting idly with each other. Hearing these two sentences, they all immediately went quiet for a moment, and then, like birds whose nest had exploded, they all remembered the grievances of the day and wanted to tell everyone. Even those eating the bean rice mixed with rice cleared a space in their mouths to move their tongues, speaking while swallowing, the veins on their heads popping out: "Is pulling a monthly rental easy?! I haven't had a drop of water or grain between my teeth from two o'clock until now! Talking about Ginza to Sakuradamon—*hic!*—I've already done three round trips! My asshole is practically tired enough to explode, just constantly farting!" He looked around at everyone in a circle, nodded, and stuffed another mouthful of bean rice into his mouth.

Kita Ikki just listened quietly, but did not participate in these discussions. Even in Wuhan, where China's economy was most developed, such scenes were also not rare. Every laborer worked rather hard. In order to gather all strength to develop heavy industry, the People's Party's extraction of labor power in economic fields that the state could directly control could be described as "ferocious." Including Chen Ke, no one had any capital dividends other than wages; everyone was laboring, laboring, laboring. When the student investigation group led by Kita Ikki analyzed the Japanese economy, the latest consensus was that in the last ten years in Japan, investment had greatly squeezed consumption. Compared to Japan, the People's Party's investment intensity was not inferior in the slightest, and perhaps even surpassed it.

Thinking of the research group he led, Kita Ikki felt a burst of pride and gratification. To carry out a social revolution, one must first know what the status of society is. University students from relatively high backgrounds naturally had various kinds of youthful naivety and immaturity, but they had other advantages; their horizons were obviously much broader than the general public.

To possess insight, without considering personal aptitude, one can only rely on wealth and the social environment inherited from birth. Takushoku University was a "new school"; when it was founded in 1900, it didn't even have its own school buildings and simply borrowed the buildings of Tokyo Politics and Law University. Many of the students at the school were guys who hadn't gotten into Tokyo University, Waseda, or Keio University. Young people naturally connected everywhere during the summer vacation, and gradually, students from these famous schools appeared in the social investigation team led by Kita Ikki.

The ruling class of every country generally possessed a level of insight and ability exceeding that of ordinary people. When the ability and organizational power of the ruling class were weaker than the private sector, that regime had reached its dead end. In 1923, students who could have their own leisure time during the summer vacation did not come from low backgrounds. Poor students were all working hard to help their families at this time; there was simply no possibility for them to engage in social investigations that didn't make money and even required paying out of pocket.

The People's Party cadre school curriculum was originally content for the management stratum of the ruling class to study. Students from the middle and upper classes felt an affinity as soon as they heard it. The experience accumulated by the People's Party's government affairs opened the eyes of the students who lacked practical operation.

When Kita Ikki was young, he relied on doing shady business to accumulate revolutionary funds. Now he simply required the students to pay a participation fee for the activities in addition to bearing their own food costs. Of course, every group could share the printed copies of the manuscripts that were summarized. Among the students, there were some whose families ran printing plants, and they negotiated business at a preferential price, with professional typesetting workers responsible for mass printing work. This fee was not cheap for ordinary Japanese families, yet all the students participating in the social investigation took the money out very easily.

With the Chinese revolution as a model, Kita Ikki's development so far could be considered quite smooth. At least the students understood the difference between capital and money, although Kita Ikki was still not satisfied enough with the students' performance.

This couldn't be blamed on the students either. Chen Ke dared to mock foreign countries; for example, the cadre school had quoted Chen Ke mocking foreign countries for "only having economics, and no political economy." This kind of mockery indeed found clear proof in Japan. Students might have a little concept of economics, but they were utterly ignorant of political economy. Even university students from business schools, their professional knowledge was nothing more than how to serve business departments. Comparing Japanese university courses with the political courses of the People's Party School and schools at various levels, Kita Ikki clearly felt that Japanese universities were nurturing high-level laborers, rather than the People's Party's line of thinking of using education to nurture the future ruling class.

Kita Ikki could only rely on the political economy courses of the Party School he recorded himself, as well as his own half-baked understanding of "historical materialism," to lecture the students. Even so, the university students still felt that Kita Ikki's learning was unfathomable.

Looking at these ordinary Japanese laborers before his eyes who only thought about how to solve tomorrow's livelihood issues, Kita Ikki felt a sense of superiority in his heart that was hard to suppress, as well as a sense of anxiety. Just wait a few more months, just a few months will do. At that time, Kita Ikki would have a certain amount of manpower to promote revolutionary propaganda among the people.

Learning from the People's Party's experience, Kita Ikki was very clear that directly propagandizing *Das Kapital* and the socialist system to the people would not work at all. To lead the Japanese people to rise up in revolution, there must be a revolutionary method suitable for Japan. To put it more bluntly, there had to be a grassroots foundation. And this grassroots foundation was neither those university students nor this group of laborers before his eyes. To obtain control of the grassroots in Japan, one definitely had to obtain the cooperation of a portion of people. This "Matsuzuru-maru" tavern was one of the "anti-government salons" recommended to Kita Ikki by Haneda Sei. The true grassroots personnel appeared and disappeared in here.

After the liveliest mealtime period passed, the laborers went home to rest one after another. The subsequent customers were those purely drinking. These people were mainly soldiers and skilled workers. Their voices were far from as loud as the laborers, and their expressions were much more solemn or intense. What was more obvious was that on the tables of these people, there was mostly a fish and a few dishes of vegetables, and the content of their discussion was also a bit more "advanced" like their meals.

These people, without exception, all cursed the government. Among them, some believed that as long as XX, XXXX, and XXX were eliminated from the government, the Japanese government would be able to embark on a more correct path. Or they believed that certain institutions of the Japanese government were the root cause of the calamity to the country and the people. Those with a higher level could even discuss certain policies, believing that these policies were damaging Japan's interests in such and such ways.

In the eyes of the current Japanese ruling class, these people were undoubtedly "anti-government." If it were before, Kita Ikki would also hold this view, but now he no longer thought so.

Cursing the government and being anti-government were not the same thing at all. According to the clear classification standards in the People's Party School and cadre school, anti-government was anti-system. Cursing the government was because they felt the government could do better, and cursed loudly out of disappointment. Judging by the People's Party's standards, these people were actually staunch supporters of the Japanese government.

For example, several soldiers who came today fiercely cursed the deterioration of the economic situation, cursed the incompetence of the government and the corruption of party politics, and also occasionally attacked the current weakness of the Army Ministry. However, their subsequent words completely revealed their attitude.

"Every powerful country either has vast colonies or has vast territory. Japan has a small territory and lacks resources. So what we need is a more effective method. First, we must kill off all the Koreans and Taiwanese, and let the Japanese populace obtain the land and local mineral development rights. Only in this way can everyone have rice to eat."

"Indeed! The Garrison Army not only costs money but also has to maintain local order. The resistance in the Korean region is extremely intense. Rather than using military force and military expenditure for defense, it's better to use it to exterminate the Koreans. There is no need whatsoever to keep the Koreans!"

"Unemployment in Japan itself is already so severe now, yet there are still so many Koreans coming to Japan to work. The government is selling out the country! Drive the Koreans back to Korea; there is absolutely no need to give them job opportunities."

These soldiers were filled with righteous indignation one by one. While fiercely attacking the government, they didn't forget to offer advice and suggestions.

Regarding these "strategies," Kita Ikki did not think there was any profound value worth learning from. Oppression internally, plunder externally, solving domestic contradictions externally—this attitude was nothing but the essence of imperialism. What had to be admitted was that these young officers felt the oppression of the Japanese government and felt the pain of being oppressed. However, they remained staunch supporters of the Japanese government. Even if these young soldiers might have the courage to overthrow the current government, what they wanted to establish was merely a new government that "more effectively executed the imperialist essence of the current government." What they opposed was being oppressed themselves, not oppression itself.

In the *Communist Manifesto*, Marx said that the bourgeoisie compels all nations, on pain of extinction, to adopt the bourgeois mode of production; it compels them to introduce what it calls civilization into their midst, i.e., to become bourgeois themselves. In one word, it creates a world after its own image.

Japan was undoubtedly already a true capitalist system country. The cognition of this country was already completely the train of thought created by the capitalist system. That is to say, one must become a bourgeois! This cognition of Japan's status quo could not help but make Kita Ikki feel a kind of disappointment.

Kita Ikki couldn't help but recall the words in *A Madman's Diary*.

*Wanting to eat men, at the same time afraid of being eaten themselves, they all look at each other with the deepest suspicion...*

*...If you could just get rid of that frame of mind, then you could go to work, walk, eat and sleep at ease. That would be so comfortable. This is just a threshold, a pass. But they are fathers and sons, brothers, husbands and wives, friends, teachers and students, enemies and strangers, and they have all joined forces to encourage each other, to hold each other back, and for the life of them they won't cross it.*