Osugi, Sakae (1885–1923)

Japanese anarchist political activist. Despite several spells of imprisonment, Osugi remained faithful to anarchism during the years of repression (known as the ‘winter period’) following the High Treason Incident of 1910. After the October Revolution, Osugi remained an anarchist, unlike many of his former comrades who joined the Communist Party.

Coming from a military family, Osugi was attracted to the socialist movement while a student in Tokyo and, under Shusui Kotoku's influence, became an anarchist in 1906. He was murdered by the military police in 1923 during the chaos following the Great Kanto Earthquake.