ABSTRACT
AlinkbetweenearlysocialismandlaterMarxismofthe extremeformoftheKotokutype,describedinthesecondchapter,isOsugiSakaea(1885-1923).Hewastheonlyonestillto advocatedirectaction,inthesenseofSorel'ssyndicalism,even afterthetragicdeathoftheKotokugroup,whichputanend tomostactivemembersofsocialactioninJapan.Osugi,too, metatragicend,beingstrangledtodeathbyapolice-captain duringthedisorderfollowingthegreatearthquakeofHf23. Osugiwasatheoreticianofasort,hisinspirationcomingfrom BergsonandNietzsche.AtthetimeofhisdeathOsugiwasa communist,andtheCommunistPartywastobeamainfactor inthespreadingofMarxistphilosophyinJapan.InJuly1922, undertheleadershipofSakaiToshihikob,YamakawaHitoshic andArahataKansonct,thenewpartybeganundergreatdifficulty,andwastroubledwithfactionaldivisionsfromthevery beginning.Nevertheless,therealspreadofMarxisminJapan isdue,notsomuchtothecommunistleaders,astoKawakami Hajime(1879-1946).Kawakami'spositionasprofessorof economicsatKyotoUniversity,andhisfrequentwritingsfor leadingnewspapersandhisscientificpublicationsdrewMarxism totheattentionofallJapanesethinkers.
