In Revolution Goes East, Tatiana Linkhoeva traces the impact of the Russian Revolution on imperial Japan across multiple spheres of influence, power networks, and political coalitions, such as Japan's own socialist Left, and presents a much more nuanced history of Soviet-Japanese relations. Focusing on both domestic and foreign policies during the interwar period, Linkhoeva demonstrates how the debates about the meaning of the Russian Revolution, its geopolitical repercussions, and its ideological implications played an important role in shaping the social and political trajectory of imperial Japan.
The first part of the book contains four chapters and documents the impact of the Russian Revolution on Japan's internal and external policies. Linkhoeva begins with an overview of Russo-Japanese relations before 1917 and argues that various trends in Japan's attitude toward the early Soviet regime, such as anxiety over Russia's expansionism and division of power into “spheres of influence,” prove “a remarkable continuity” in Japan's perception of both prerevolutionary and revolutionary Russia (p. 38). Moreover, focusing on the complexities and controversies surrounding Japan's Siberian Intervention (1918–22), Linkhoeva posits that it was the geopolitical considerations, namely, “the spread of communism and Soviet influence in Korea and China,” that pushed Japan to take a military action against the Red Army (p. 65).
Chapters 3 and 4 focus on Japan's formal recognition of the Soviet Union in 1925 and its political repercussions at home. First, Linkhoeva draws attention to the joint efforts of pan-Asianists such as Mitsukawa Kametarō (1888–1936) and politicians such as Gotō Shinpei (1857–1929) whose idea of building “a political and economic bloc between Soviet Russia, China and Japan” signaled a new phase in Soviet-Japanese relations (p. 96). According to Linkhoeva, their pro-Soviet approach, which emphasized common interest in standing against the Western hegemonic order, proves that “communist ideology was not a decisive factor in Japan's foreign policy,” and consequently, it did not prevent Japan from seeking cooperation with Soviet Russia (p. 99). Focusing on the reactions of domestic policy makers, Linkhoeva then investigates the impact of the pro-Soviet approach on Japan's internal policies. She argues that Japan's rapprochement with the Soviet Union raised anticommunist sentiments and exacerbated existing tensions: in their efforts to curtail the “subversive thought,” both liberals and conservative bureaucracy called for drastic measures (p. 111). This resulted in the implementation of radical thought-control mechanisms, such as the Peace Preservation Law of 1925.
As shown in these chapters, there was no consensus among policy makers, military elites, or government officials about the political implications of the Russian Revolution. While the army and the Foreign Ministry saw Soviet communism as a geopolitical threat that could undermine Japan's presence in colonial Korea and China, domestic policymakers viewed Soviet communism as an ideological force that could jeopardize the integrity of the nation.
Conflicting views and disagreements about the meaning of the Russian Revolution also occurred within Japan's socialist Left. In the second part of the book, Linkhoeva examines the intellectual impact of the Russian Revolution on Japan's radical leftist groups, such as anarchists, communists, and national socialists, and offers a fresh perspective on the reasons behind their failure to build a lasting reformist movement. One of the main reasons was the division within: each group followed its own agenda and offered a different take on the future of the movement. Taishō anarchists such as Ōsugi Sakae (1885–1923) and Takao Heibē (1895–1923) welcomed the internationalist, anti-imperialist and militant nature of the Russian Revolution, but their firm belief in radical individualism and decentralized forms of organization put them at odds with communists who agreed with the Russian model of “highly centralized proletarian movement” (p. 141). Unified under the Japanese Communist Party, early supporters of communism such as Yamakawa Hitoshi (1880–1958) were inspired by the Marxist doctrines of Russian revolutionaries, but their nationalist/orientalist views, according to which Japan was superior to Russia and the rest of East Asia, led them to reject both the “supranational vision” of the Russian Revolution and the Comintern's revolutionary strategy for Japan. Finally, national socialists such as Takabatake Motoyuki (1886–1928) agreed with the main principles of Leninism, such as leadership of the vanguard party, “centralized production, state ownership, and nationalization of industries,” but their belief in “radical patriotism” turned them against Soviet communists, whose expansionist activities in Asia they came to see as imperialism in disguise (p. 191).
In this sense, the revolutionary events in Russia deeply resonated with Japan's leftist movement reviving the oppositional thinking and causing what Linkhoeva calls an “ideological earthquake” (p. 4). With its unprecedented scale the Russian Revolution symbolized the birth of mass politics and provided a successful model for enacting social change and raising political consciousness. At the same time however, guided by the belief that Japan was “advanced” and “exceptional,” the Japanese Left dismissed the universality of the Russian Revolution and refused to accept the authority of Soviet communists. In fact, driven by nationalism and national self-interest, the Japanese Left sought to define its mission and priorities by distancing itself from the internationalist-communist movement. As Linkhoeva concludes, this isolationist position was what ultimately led to the Left's failure “to withstand the pressure of the militarized state in the 1930s” (p. 219).
Linkhoeva's painstakingly researched and elegantly written account of the impact of the Russian Revolution on imperial Japan is a major contribution to the field of East Asian studies. By locating Japan's socialist movement within a larger global process marked by proletarian internationalism, Linkhoeva sheds new light on the critical period of the Japanese Empire. This book should be read by anyone interested in the history of Russo-Japanese relations and the intellectual history of modern Japan.
