Ujaku Akita

Who was Ujaku Akita?

Ujaku Akita was the pseudonym of Tokuzō Akita, a Japanese author and Esperantist. He is best known for his plays, books, and short stories for children.

Born in Kuroishi, Aomori Prefecture, he studied English literature at Waseda University and became interested in socialism. In 1913 he learnt Esperanto from Vasili Eroshenko, as a result of a chance meeting, and soon became a leader of the proletarian Esperanto movement, and a member of the "La Semanto" group in 1921. He visited the USSR in 1927 for the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of the revolution. In January 1931 he helped found the national organization, Japana Prolet-Esperantista Unio, with about 150 members, and with Akita as president. He translated Eroshenko's writings into Japanese, and wrote a textbook on Esperanto.

The rise of militarism in Japan led to difficulties for Akita; in the autumn of 1933 he was detained for several weeks, and forced to write a long statement about his activities. Nevertheless he continued to work, founding a magazine the next year, Teatoro, which still exists. He joined the New Cooperative Theatre but its activities were limited because it was no longer safe to stage plays with political themes. The JPEU was shut down by the police.