# Japan's Ignored Anarchist: Andō Shōeki **URL:** **Published:** October 14, 2025 --- The Japanese philosopher who denounced feudal hierarchies, Confucian dogma, and the samurai class. This episode explores the thought of Andō Shōeki, a Japanese philosopher who denounced feudal hierarchies, Confucian dogma, and the samurai class. Shōeki’s vision of a natural, egalitarian society based on voluntary cooperation challenges the notion that anarchist or libertarian thought is uniquely Western. His work is an early critique of state power, anticipating later theories by figures like Franz Oppenheimer.