Proletarian parties in Japan, 1925–1932

Last updated

The proletarian parties were a group of left-wing political parties in Japan. Several proletarian parties were launched after enactment of the Universal Manhood Suffrage Law in 1925. [1] [2]

Contents

Early history (1925-27)


Three major parties

Three major proletarian parties emerged during 1926, all closely linked to trade unions active in Japan. The tension and divisions between individual trade unions were largely replicated in divisions between the three major proletarian parties.

Other early proletarian parties

All three of these parties were constructed on the notion of a worker–peasant class alliance. [4] In addition to these parties, there was also a party called the Japan Farmers Party that differentiated themselves by declaring themselves a party 'by farmers, for farmers', rather than presenting themselves as an urban worker-rural peasant alliance. [4] [5] Additionally, there were also some local proletarian parties. [6]

Additionally, a party called the "Farmer-Labour Party" (not to be confused with the similarly-named Labour-Farmer Party or Japan Labour-Farmer Party) was founded in December 1925, but banned after only two hours of existence after being accused of being a communist outfit. [7] [4]

Electoral performance (1927-28)


1927 preferectural elections

The proletarian parties took part in the 1927 prefectural assembly elections, and their participation was closely watched. Together they had launched 216 candidates, out of whom 28 were elected (representing 1.9% of the elected assembly members).

The Labour-Farmer Party garnered most of its vote from rural areas, whilst the Social Democratic Party and the regional proletarian parties got most of their votes from urban areas. [8] The Labour-Farmer Party won 13 seats, the Japan Farmers Party four seats, the Social Democratic Party three seats, the Japan Labour-Farmers Party three seats and different local proletarian parties five seats. [6]

1928 national election

In the 1928 national Diet election, roughly half of the urban votes for proletarian parties went to the Social Democratic Party whilst roughly half of the rural votes for the proletarian parties went to the Labour-Farmer Party. [9] The proletarian parties managed to win eight seats in the Diet. Overall, the election result was disappointing for the proletarian parties. Many of their prominent leaders failed to get elected. [6]

There are different possible explanations to the limited success of proletarian parties in 1928. They lacked the lavish electoral campaign budgets of the established parties. Nor were their leaders, with a few notable exceptions, very well known. Moreover, socialist ideas and movements were treated with a great deal of suspicion by many Japanese voters, limited the appeal of the proletarian parties. [6]

Furthermore, the electoral campaigns of the proletarian parties suffered from direct sabotage by state authorities. Police wound disperse electoral meetings, or arrest campaign workers arbitrarily. [10]

Considering the fact that each constituency elected 3 to 5 parliamentarians, the fierce competition between the different proletarian parties often resulted in none of them getting elected. Noticing the lack of coordination as an inherent weakness of the proletarian parties, the Social Democratic Party took the initiative to form a joint parliamentary committee. [10]

Creation of new parties and setbacks (1928-35)

In July 1928, the Proletarian Masses Party was formed, by one former Labour-Farmer Party faction. [11] In December 1928 the Japan Labour-Farmer Party, the Proletarian Masses Party, the Japan Farmers Party and four regional political parties merged, forming the Japan Masses Party. [12] [13]

Oyama Ikuo and the Labour-Farmer Masses Party

In 1929, Labour-Farmer Party leader Oyama Ikuo faced criticism from a former associate, Mizutani Chozaburo, for being too open towards a merger with the centrist sectors of the socialist movement. Mizutani founded the Labour-Farmer Masses Party in January 1929 and saw its appeal largely confined to Kyoto. [14] In response, Oyama and his followers founded the New Labour-Farmer Party in November 1929. [7] [4] [15]

Mizutani's new party helped form an alliance of left-wing parties called the United Proletarian Party Front in 1929. [16] The party then merged with the Tokyo Proletarian Party, forming the National Conference for a United Proletarian Party which in turn merged with other parties on July 20, 1930, founding the Zenkoku Taishūtō. [14] [16]

1930 national election and decline

The 1930 Diet election was a further set-back for the proletarian parties, only winning five seats; two from the Japan Masses Party (Asahara Kenzo and Matsutani Yojiro), two from the Social Democratic Party (Nishio and Katayama) and Oyama Ikuo from the New Labour-Farmer Party. [17]

The Social Democratic Party later merged with the National Labour-Farmer Masses Party in July 1932, forming the Shakai Taishūtō. [2]

Approach to imperialism

The proletarian parties mostly condemned the 1931 Mukden Incident and the resulting Japanese invasion. However, they did so in varying degrees. The Social Democratic Party was more candid in its condemnations of the Incident. Notably, the main backer of the Social Democratic Party, Sodomei, did not oppose the Incident. [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japanese Communist Party</span> Political party in Japan

The Japanese Communist Party is a communist party in Japan. Founded in 1922, it is the oldest political party in the country. It has 250,000 members as of 2024, making it one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party is chaired by Tomoko Tamura, who replaced longtime leader Kazuo Shii in January 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan Socialist Party</span> Political party active in Japan from 1945 to 1996

The Japan Socialist Party was a socialist and progressive political party in Japan that existed from 1945 to 1996. The party was founded as the Social Democratic Party of Japan by members of several proletarian parties that existed before World War II, including the Social Mass Party, the Labour-Farmer Party, and the Japan Labour-Farmer Party. The party represented the Japanese left after the war, and was a major opponent of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mosaburō Suzuki</span> Japanese politician (1893–1970)

Mosaburō Suzuki was a Japanese journalist, essayist, and socialist leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist thought in Imperial Japan</span>

Socialist thought in Imperial Japan appeared during the Meiji period (1868–1912) with the development of numerous relatively short-lived political parties through the early Shōwa period. Left-wing parties, whether advocating communism or socialism, 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 the lower house of the Diet of Japan, left-socialist parties played little role in the government of the Empire of Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shakai Taishūtō</span> Political party in Japan

The Shakai Taishūtō was a moderate leftist political party in early Shōwa period Empire of Japan.

The Japan Socialist Party was a major Japanese political party that existed from 1945 to 1996.

The Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party (Broad Socialists) (Bulgarian: Българска работническа социалдемократическа партия (широки социалисти), Balgarska rabotnicheska sotsialdemokraticheska partiya (shiroki sotsialisti)) was a reformist socialist political party in Bulgaria. The party emerged from a division at the Tenth Party Congress of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers Party held in 1903 (the other faction forming the Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (Narrow Socialists)). The 'Broad Socialist' faction had appeared inside the pre-split party around 1900, when Yanko Sakazov had started the magazine Obshto delo ('Common Action'). The Broad Socialists, analogous to the Mensheviks in the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, argued in favour a broad social base of the party and broad class alliances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan Labour-Farmer Party</span> Political party in Japan

The Japan Labour-Farmer Party was a socialist political party in Japan between December 1926 and December 1928. During its existence, it occupied a centrist position in the divided socialist movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan Labour Union League</span> Trade union centre in Japan

The Japan Labour Union League was a trade union centre in Japan. It was founded in December 1926, following the split in the Social Democratic Party as the leaders of the dissident Japan Labour-Farmer Party were expelled from the social-democratic Japan Federation of Labour (Sodomei) trade union centre. The Japan Labour Union League functioned as the trade union wing of the Japan Labour-Farmer Party, and had around 5,000-6,000 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labour-Farmer Party</span> Political party in Japan

The Labour-Farmer Party was a political party in the Empire of Japan. It represented the left-wing sector of the legal proletarian movement at the time. Oyama Ikuo was the chairman of the party. At the time the party was banned by the government in 1928, it was estimated to have around 90,000 members in 131 local organizations. The party was supported by the Hyōgikai trade union federation and the Japan Peasant Union.

The Proletarian Masses Party was a short-lived political party in Japan. It was founded on July 22, 1928 by the Rōnō faction. Suzuki Mosaburō became the general secretary of the party. Yamakawa and Sakai Toshihiko functioned as 'elder' advisors in the party. Other prominent founders of the party were Kuroda, Inamura Junzo and Okada.

The Japan Farmers Party was a political party in Japan between 1926 and 1928. It represented a rightist tendency amongst the proletarian parties in the country at the time. The party had a nationalist orientation.

The Social Democratic Party was a political party in Japan between 1926 and 1932. Amongst the three main proletarian parties in Japan at the time, the Social Democratic Party occupied a rightist position.

The Labour-Farmer Masses Party was a political party in Japan. It was founded in January 1929 by Mizutani Chozaburo, a former associate of the Labour-Farmer Party leader Oyama Ikuo. Mizutani criticized Oyama Ikuo for being too open towards a merger with the centrist sectors of the socialist movement. The Labour-Farmer Masses Party was largely confined to Kyoto. The party was one of the founders of the United Proletarian Party Front in 1929.

Nihon Rōdō Kumiai Hyōgikai was a trade union centre in Japan which has been operational since 1920.

The Farmer-Labour Party was a short-lived socialist political party in Japan. The party was the first of the proletarian parties that emerged in the country after the enactment of the Universal Manhood Suffrage Law in 1925, which gave the vote to all males 25 years or older. The party was banned by the Japanese government just a few hours after its foundation.

Proletarian internationalism, sometimes referred to as international socialism, is the perception of all proletarian revolutions as being part of a single global class struggle rather than separate localized events. It is based on the theory that capitalism is a world-system and therefore the working classes of all nations must act in concert if they are to replace it with communism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Japan Masses Party</span> Political party in Japan

The Japan Masses Party was a proletarian political party in Japan.

Kakushin seitō(革新政党), meaning reformist political parties or progressive political parties, is an umbrella term used in Japan to refer to a variety of left-leaning political parties generally viewed as "anti-conservative." In the postwar period, it has generally been applied to democratic socialist, social democratic and socially progressive parties that seek to uphold Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. Japan's "progressive parties" are basically opposed to constitutional amendments led by right-wing conservatives, so they are partly in solidarity with moderate liberal parties. "Kakushin" parties have been considered progressive or radical-liberal forces.

References

  1. ↑ Mackie, Vera. Feminism in Modern Japan . Contemporary Japanese society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. p. 60
  2. 1 2 3 Mackie, Vera C. Creating Socialist Women in Japan: Gender, Labour and Activism, 1900–1937 . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. p. 132
  3. ↑ Beckmann, George M., and Genji Okubo. The Japanese Communist Party 1922–1945 . Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1969. p. 103
  4. 1 2 3 4 International Labour Office. Industrial Labour in Japan . Japanese economic history, 1930–1960, v. 5. New York: Routledge, 2000. pp. 113–114
  5. ↑ University of Chicago. Economic Development and Cultural Change . [Chicago]: University of Chicago Press, 1952. p. 197
  6. 1 2 3 4 Large, Stephen S. Organized Workers and Socialist Politics in Interwar Japan . Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press, 1981. p. 124
  7. 1 2 Duus, Peter, John Whitney Hall, and Donald H. Shively. The Cambridge History of Japan 6 The Twentieth Century . Cambridge u.a: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1988. p. 58
  8. ↑ Banno, Junji. The Political Economy of Japanese Society . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. p. 239
  9. ↑ Banno, Junji. The Political Economy of Japanese Society . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997. 242
  10. 1 2 Large, Stephen S. Organized Workers and Socialist Politics in Interwar Japan . Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press, 1981. p. 125
  11. ↑ Scalapino, Robert A. The Japanese Communist Movement, 1920–1966 . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967. p. 35
  12. ↑ Beckmann, George M., and Genji Okubo. The Japanese Communist Party 1922–1945 . Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1969. p. 173
  13. ↑ International Labour Office. Industrial Labour in Japan . Japanese economic history, 1930–1960, v. 5. New York: Routledge, 2000. p. 114
  14. 1 2 Large, Stephen S. Organized Workers and Socialist Politics in Interwar Japan . Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press, 1981. p. 108
  15. ↑ Barshay, Andrew E. State and Intellectual in Imperial Japan: The Public Man in Crisis . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. pp. 187–188
  16. 1 2 Fukui, Haruhiro. Political Parties of Asia and the Pacific . The Greenwood historical encyclopedia of the world's political parties. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1985. p. 1243
  17. ↑ Large, Stephen S. Organized Workers and Socialist Politics in Interwar Japan . Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press, 1981. p. 145
  18. ↑ Large, Stephen S. Organized Workers and Socialist Politics in Interwar Japan . Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press, 1981. pp. 154–155
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.