アジト

1933 is an important printed point for アジト: Shogakukan's Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten cites Kobayashi Takiji's Toseikatsusha with アヂト. The source note is not fully uniform. Shogakukan gives English agitating point, while etymology references also connect it with Russian агитпункт, romanized agitpunkt, a short form used for an agitation or canvassing centre. The borrowing belongs to Japanese left-wing vocabulary of the 1920s and 1930s, when アジテーション was shortened to アジ and the verb アジる was used for political agitation. From a place for propaganda and direction in labor disputes or underground activity, アジト widened to a closed meeting place and then to a hideout for illegal groups. Related words include アジテーション, アジビラ, and アジる. In present Japanese, アジト is stronger than the plain English hideout because it often suggests an organized group, a police search, or a planned illegal activity. It can also appear in games and manga for a secret base, but the political color remains easy to hear. Example: 警察がアジトを捜索した. English hideout can be a single person's shelter; アジト usually sounds more collective.