Reflections on the Way to the Gallows

I read this short memoir after reading about it in Tale for the Time Being.

Reflections on the Way to the Gallows is a short journal that Kanno Sugako kept while she was awaiting execution. She was a turn-of-the-(20th)-century Japanese journalist, feminist, and anarchist. She was arrested of plotting to assassinate Emperor Meiji and was executed in 1911.

It’s an interesting blend of the personal, the ideological, and the political at every level. She talks a lot of her friends and the comfort she gets from them, the disappointment and pain when they reject her. It’s fascinating and touching to watch how much they care about each other and the strength they get from each other. I’m always fascinated by the intersection of the personal and public/political/professional.

A tangent: I found a copy of this book in the Anarchist Library.