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Socialist thought in Imperial Japan appeared during theMeiji period (1868–1912) with the development of numerous relatively short-livedpolitical parties through the earlyShōwa period. Left-wing parties, whether advocatingcommunism orsocialism, provoked hostility from the mainstream political parties,oligarchs and military alike, and many were either banned or went underground soon after formation. Although occasionally winning a seat in thelower house of theDiet of Japan, left-socialist parties played little role in the government of theEmpire of Japan.
The ideology ofsocialism was introduced to Japan in the early Meiji period, largely viaChristianmissionaries with their concepts ofuniversal fraternity, but had little attraction until the increasedindustrialization of Japan had created a disaffected urban labor force which became more receptive to calls for a more equitabledistribution of wealth, increasedpublic services and at least somenationalization of the means of production.
The earlyFreedom and People's Rights Movement founded in 1873 is also regarded as a forerunner to Japanese socialist development for its attraction to thelabor movement andagrarian movement and increasedrepresentative democracy; however, it was more concerned withConstitutional development than social consciousness.
TheMeirokushathink tank, also founded in 1873 is also regarded as a forerunner to Japanese socialist development, due to the support of many of its members for social change. However, the political outlook of most of its members was more liberal than socialist.
Moderates who favoured mild reforms followed thinkers likeMinobe Tatsukichi andSakuzō Yoshino, both professors atTokyo Imperial University. Both felt that the Emperor system and other elements of Japan's traditionalkokutai were compatible with democracy and socialism.
Yoshino went on to found his own political party with a mix ofChristian socialism,Confucianpublic morality, andsyndicalism. Along withTokuzō Fukuda ofKeio University, Yoshino joined with others to establishReimeikai, which was a society "to propagate ideas of democracy among the people."[1] This group was formed in order to sponsor public lectures.[2] The movement initially attracted many students and worker leaders. The party collapsed in 1920.[3]
TheSociety for the Study of Socialism (社会主義研究会,Shakai Shugi Kenkyukai) was founded in October 1896, members includedIsoo Abe,Kōtoku Shūsui andSen Katayama. It was reorganized in 1901 into Japan’s first socialistpolitical party, theSocial Democratic Party (社会民主党,Shakai Minshu-tō). The government outlawed the new party two days after its formation.
TheJapan Socialist Party (日本社会党,Nihon Shakai-tō) was founded on 28 January 1906 as a coalition representing a wide spectrum of socialist beliefs. The radical element was led by Kōtoku Shūsui, ananarcho-syndicalist, who favoreddirect action and strikes, while the moderates were led bySen Katayama andTatsuji Tazoe, who favoured a mild program ofsocial reform. This coalition was unstable, and collapsed after only a year, on 22 February 1907. The various factions went on to create small, short-lived political parties, many of which came under police scrutiny and were suppressed under the increasingly restrictivePeace Preservation Laws. The execution of Kotoku Shusui in the aftermath of theHigh Treason Incident in 1911 was also a severe blow to the early socialist movement. The next few years were known as "the winter years" of socialism in Japan as political activity was next to none.
Other early socialist parties included:
TheJapanese Communist Party (日本共産党,Nippon Kyōsantō) (JCP) was founded on 15 July 1922, as anunderground branch ofComintern by a group of socialist activists, includingHitoshi Yamakawa,Kanson Arahata,Toshihiko Sakai,Kyuichi Tokuda andSanzō Nosaka. Outlawed at once under thePeace Preservation Law, the JCP was subjected to repression and persecution by themilitary andpolice.
The party was dominated by Hitoshi Yamakawa in its early years, but Yamakawa had the party formally dissolved in 1924, stating that the time was not right for a communist party in Japan. Also in 1924,Kazuo Fukumoto returned to Japan after studyingMarxism inGermany andFrance, and scathingly attacked Yamakawa's approach, citing a need for the formation of a vanguard party on theLeninist model. He presided over the re-establishment of the JCP in 1926. The difference between Yamakawa and Fukumoto was both theoretical and practical, as Yamakawa wanted to avoid discussing the Emperor system and whether it represented feudalism (as theComintern and Fukumoto thought) or if it was no different from the English Monarchy as Yamakawa maintained.
On 15 July 1927, the Comintern issued a thesis attacking both Yamakawa and Fukumoto and demanding that the party strive for an immediate two-stage revolution to overthrow the Japanese government, and especially theEmperor system andDiet of Japan,redistribution of wealth and favorable policy with theSoviet Union.
In theMarch 15 Incident of 1928 andApril 16 Incident of 1929, thousands of suspected communists were arrested nationwide. In a special open trial of theTokyo District Court in 108 sessions from 25 June 1931 to 2 July 1932, some 300 members of the JCP were sentenced. The trial was carefully orchestrated by theHome Ministry to expose the inner workings of the JCP and its strategy to undermine the existing political order. All defendants were found guilty and were given stiff sentences, but those who publicly recanted (tenkō) their communist ideology and who agreed to rehabilitation were given much reduced sentences.
In 1931, the underground JCP issued a new thesis calling for an immediate socialist revolution. This radical approach led to a fracturing of the JCP leadership, attacks from social democrats, and more repression from the government. Overseas aid from Comintern not being forthcoming (the JCP was suspected of being infected withTrotskyism by its Soviet counterparts), the Japanese communist movement virtually ceased to exist after 1935 with the arrest of its leadership and dissolution of supporting organizations. It would not be reestablished until after the war.
