Suehiro Tetchō

Suehiro Tetchō (末廣鐡腸 , March 15, 1849 – February 5, 1896), born as Suehiro Yūjirō (末廣雄次郎) was a Japanese politician and journalist best known for his involvement in the Freedom and People's Rights Movement and his numerous political novels.

Biography

Born in Ehime Prefecture on March 15, 1849. Suehiro was born just short four years before Japan ended their Sakoku policy. He witnessed Japan's reopening to the western world and the new currents of thoughts which entered the country through western influence.

He was merely 19 when at the time of the Meiji Restoration and was appointed to teach at a clan school. However, his behavior was considered to be divergent from the Neo-Confucian beliefs which the Date clan held, he secretly read the works of Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming which directly questions and challenges Neo-Confucian beliefs. Because of this rebellious nature, Suehiro would be punished and stopped teaching in the clan school he was appointed in.

His rebellious nature became his most defining trait. In 1875 he would join the Freedom and People's Right's Movement. During this time he would also become the editor-in-chief of the Akebono Shimbun (曙新聞), the party's newspaper. But, quickly he decided to work for the Chōya Shimbun (朝野新聞) feeling that the Akebono Shimbun is starting to drift towards agreeing with the Meiji Oligarchy. Suehiro's involvement with the newspapers made him famous but it also brought upon ire towards him. He would be charged and arrested twice for protesting existing press laws. It's also said that during his time in prison he would start to learn the English language.

He would then join Jiyūtō, a Liberal party which pursued the virtues of a democratic Japan, in 1883. However he would take a year off in 1885 from his journalistic work and return in 1886 with a novel which brought him greater fame than ever before, "A Political Novel: Plum Blossoms in Snow" as well as "A Political Novel: A Nightingale Among Blossoms". The former would launch him into great fame, the novels selling approximately 300 thousand copies. Both works expressed his intentions clearly, Suehiro believes that every person should have their own rights and wished for a more democratic Japan.

José Rizal

Thanks to the popularity of both of his political novels, Suehiro would earn enough money in order to travel to Europe and the United States in 1888. During his travels he would encounter José Rizal, a Filipino nationalist who helped become his interpreter during his travels as Suehiro was not completely fluent in English.

Suehiro would write his thoughts about Rizal in the introduction to his novel, Great Wave in the Southern Seas:

「I met a gentleman from Manila ... he had been working for Philippine independence ... but he was arrested as a political offender and he escaped abroad. He talked to me about the policy of the Spanish government and the restless condition in the Islands. One day, I saw a picture of a beautiful woman and he told me that she was his sweetheart but because she was separated from him, she entered a convent. I was deeply moved by their affair so that I decided to write a political novel by expanding his story ... some of the incidents are fictitious ... and I have disclosed in writing what I have long been dissatisfied with ...」

Suehiro Tetchō, Great Wave in the Southern Seas (1891)

In 1890 Suehiro would win a seat in the Japanese House of Representatives but would later lose the seat twice in 1892 and 1894. Though in 1895 he would return to the House of Representatives after going through some surgeries. This would not last long however as Suehiro would pass away on February 5, 1896. He is buried in Daichō-ji Temple, Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture.

On his death, Tokyo Asahi Shimbun would report "There are now so many things to be planned for the future of our country, and we are in need of more and more ambitious men, but we have lost a hard-boned man. The loss of this hard-boned man is too much to be regretted."

Literary Work

A Political Novel: Plum Blossoms in Snow

A Political Novel: Plum Blossoms in Snow (政治小説: 雪中梅, Seijishōsetsu: Setchūbai) the namesake of his ability in the Bungō Stray Dogs series is arguably his most famous work to date next to Great Wave in the Southern Seas (南洋之大波瀾, Nan'yō no Daiharan).

The book was first published in Hakubundō (博文堂) in 1886 with the most recent print being done by Iwanami Bunkō (岩波文庫) in 1997.

A proto-science fiction novel written far before the works of Unno Jūza. The story is set in 2040 and is written more as a vehicle for Suehiro's convictions and beliefs in the Meiji political climate. The story describes three figures named Kunino Motoi, Tominaga Haru and Kawagishi Hyōsui along with their involvement in Meiji-era politics.

Original publication cover from 1886

In Popular Culture

Bungō Stray Dogs

"There is evil that goes unpunished and good that goes unrewarded. Without my blade, how could anything in this mortal world ever hope for balance!?"

Suehiro Tetchō, Chapter 61

Art by Harukawa35

In Bungō Stray Dogs, Suehiro is re-imagined as a stern figure who fights for the justice of many. Deeply believing in his ideals and very rarely lashing out in violent ways.

His character in the series very much mirrors the real-life Suehiro as a man who fights for the rights of the people and as a strong proponent of justice. Though there is an ironic twist to the character of Suehiro in the series.

Suehiro in the series is a member of the Hunting Dogs, an elite group of ability users sent out on special missions to capture other dangerous ability users. Ironically, some of his teammates in the Hunting Dogs supported the beliefs opposite to that of the real-life Suehiro.

Fukuchi Ōchi and Jōno Saigiku were both reporters of the Nichi Nichi Shimbun, a right-wing newspaper supporting the Meiji Oligarchy. Jōno was the founder of the paper and Fukuchi was a reporter for the group. Fukuchi himself also created the Rikken Teisetō, a right-wing party which also supported the Meiji Oligarchs.

As of this writing, the latest chapter for the series is Chapter 95 (The Port in the Sky, Part 5) and I look forward to see if his relationship would mirror closer to his real-life counterpart.

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