Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

In October of 1898 a small group of Japanese intellectuals held the first meeting of the Shakaishugi Kenkyukai (Association for the Study of Socialism) in Tokyo. A variety of western socialist ideas was presented, among them the philosophies of Charles Fourier , Louis Blanc , Ferdinand Lassalle, and Karl Marx . The dominant force in the socialist leanings was marked by pacifism and a Christian humanism entrenched in the early years of the Japanese socialist faction holds historical sway over the current philosophical and political efforts of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) in contemporary Japan. The first meeting of the Association for the Study of Socialism marks the initial historical movement of what would ultimately become the JCP. The history leading to the emergence of the contemporary JCP was marked by internal disarray, philosophical differences, government prosecutions and imprisonments of its leaders and radicalized elements, US occupation after World War II, and the influence of Soviet and Chinese communist forces. In the 1920s four proletarian parties emerged, creating divisions within the Japanese socialist movement. The parties that emerged represented various interests and emphases; specifically, the conservative wing was represented by the Shakai Minshūtō (Social Mass Party), and rural alliance interests by the Nihon Nōmintō (Japan Farmers' Party), the Nihon ... log in or subscribe to read full text