Before Kaneko's departure, she was formally registered as her mother's sister—a common practice at the time for children born out of wedlock.

[6] Shortly after her arrival in Korea, Kaneko discovered that she would not be adopted or receive the higher standard of living she had anticipated.

While they may have initially intended to adopt her, Kaneko believed they quickly decided she was unsuitable due to her perceived lack of refinement and upbringing.

Despite their relative wealth, she was given minimal clothing and living provisions and was frequently punished with beatings or food deprivation for perceived misbehavior.

She resumed living with her maternal grandparents and began forming a close relationship with her Uncle Motoei, who was officially registered as her brother due to her registration status.

[12] When Kaneko arrived in Tokyo in 1920, she initially lived with her great uncle and soon secured a job as a newspaper girl.

She requested an advance on her wages to cover enrollment fees for two co-educational schools and began attending classes in mathematics and English.

Through her job, Kaneko encountered various groups, including The Salvation Army and members of anarchist, nihilist, and socialist movements who promoted their revolutionary ideas on the street.

Her connection to the group ended when her Christian friend distanced himself, fearing that his feelings for her conflicted with his religious convictions.

Hoping to escape the perceived hypocrisy of the Salvation Army, she joined the socialist movement but became disillusioned when she observed similar contradictions among its members.

After abandoning the socialist movement, Kaneko began working closely with Pak to pursue her vision of activism and revolution.

[16] Kaneko and Pak published two magazines that addressed the challenges faced by Koreans under Japanese imperial rule.

Between 1922 and 1923, they also founded a group called Futei-sha (Society of Malcontents), which Kaneko described as advocating for direct action against the government.

Following the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake, widespread public anxiety led to fears that Koreans, many of whom were agitating for independence, might use the chaos to stage a rebellion.

[18] After lengthy judicial proceedings, Kaneko and Pak were convicted of high treason for allegedly attempting to obtain bombs to assassinate Emperor Taishō or Hirohito.

While Pak survived his imprisonment and was later released, Kaneko reportedly died by suicide in her prison cell in 1926.

She rejected "the concepts of loyalty to the emperor and love of nation" as "simply rhetorical notions that are being manipulated by the tiny group of privileged classes to fulfill their own greed and interests".

She believed that while curing societal evils was not possible, individuals could find personal meaning through actions that aligned with their existence, regardless of the outcomes, stating, "It does not matter whether our activities produce meaningful results or not… this would enable us to bring our lives immediately into harmony with our existence".

Kaneko specifically challenged the double standard that placed responsibility for relationships on women while excusing men from accountability.