Life As A Political Radical
Shimaki entered Tohoku Imperial University in Sendai in 1925, but due to extreme poverty was barely able to support himself, and he contracted tuberculosis. It was during this time that he was attracted to the radical labor movement. He left the university and joined a leftist agrarian movement in Shikoku. In 1927, this flirtation with socialism turned more radical when he signed on as active member of the Japan Communist Party.
When the communist movement was outlawed and forced underground, Shimaki was arrested in a nationwide round-up of communists (the March 15 incident of 1928), and was forced to renounce his communist beliefs in order to be released from prison. However, it appears that his political renunciation was not sincere, since he was again arrested in 1929, this time under the auspices of the Peace Preservation Law. Shimaki remained imprisoned until 1932, when his tuberculosis worsened, and he was released for health reasons. He stayed for a while in Tokyo with his brother (who ran a used bookstore) and he attempted to study the English language.
Read more about this topic: Shimaki Kensaku
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