Capitalist Political parties in Japan falling apart: Will Japan be "occupied"?

[阿部高和]

The evidence is mounting...:

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opi...291367199.html

Japan has have had the 5th prime minister in half a decade.

And then just recently the 2nd largest city elected a populist blowhard former gangster or gangster's son (don't remember which) to Osaka mayoralship:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15913870

38% of Japanese have no regular work, poverty rate is higher than the United States, welfare rolls skyrocket:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fd20111204bj.html


Is Change coming to Japan?

[Die Neue Zeit]

The left wing of the JCP should take serious note about the political magma that is the Japanese precariat.

[Grigori]

Japan will move to the right-not left- in the foreseeable future. Expect Yakuza, ultra nationalists and CIA fronts against the PRC to grow exponentially.

[A Marxist Historian]

Japan will move to the right-not left- in the foreseeable future. Expect Yakuza, ultra nationalists and CIA fronts against the PRC to grow exponentially.

That's what a lot of folk here on Revleft were saying about the Hew Hess Hay right before OWS. Don't be so sure.

The nuclear disaster did not, I think, persuade the people of Japan that capitalism is working very well.

-M.H.-

[OhYesIdid]

Are there any Japanese revlefters who can give us their general impression about the situation on the ground? Nothing specific, just general observations. How big is the JCP? I thought American occupation and Democratic Party rule had wiped out the Japanese left, of there ever was such a thing.

[citizen of industry]

The JCP has about half a million members, one of the largest communist parties of the world, but it is stalinist, hopelessly reformist and mired in parliamentary politics. The Japanese left used to be huge, the peak of the movement was immediately post war, look at 1946 - general strikes squashed by the occupation. But it was still quite potent up until the 1980's, when Sohyo, the trade union council, and the socialist party were dissolved. Privatization of JNR was a focal point of that struggle.

In it's place was formed Rengo, an ultra conservative, pro-capital, pro-government trade union federation that is the largest in Japan. Zenryoko and Zenroren (SDP and JCP affiliated union federations) are also quite large. In terms of militancy, Doro-Chiba is a militant union, and they have built a network of militant trade unions in Japan and internationally.

The left is growing post quake/Tepco disaster. 60,000 people rolled out on September 19th for the goodbye nuclear power plants rally and most of the left and unions have endorsed the anti-nuke movement. There have been heaps of anti-nuke protests.

The OP says "will Japan be occupied?" There is a small occupy Tokyo movement, a few hundred people. Mostly "occupy Kasumigaseki." But I haven't seen a whole lot from them since October. Most of the left is occupied with the anti-nuke movement, but tied in with that are calls to end casualization, stop privatization, etc.

The OP is accurate about the casualization of the workforce. 40% are temp or contract, and many of them are women. The economy is in the shitter. They are raising consumption tax to pay for the earthquake while giving bailout money to corporations. IMF is after them as well for loans and the huge deficit. The government is neo-liberal.

There is a lot going on with the left here and it is growing though. Exciting place to be.

[citizen of industry]

Also TPP (trans-pacific partership) is a big issue here right now. Basically a "free trade" agreement with the US like NAFTA that will hurt Asian agriculture. And there is huge opposition to US military presence in Okinawa. Check out "Free Hoshino."

Some websites: http://www.doro-chiba.org/english/english.htm

http://sayonara-nukes.org/

http://www.zenshin.org/index.htm

For the anarchists: http://tokyospring.blogspot.com/

[阿部高和]

Japan will move to the right-not left- in the foreseeable future. Expect Yakuza, ultra nationalists and CIA fronts against the PRC to grow exponentially.

This couldn't be farther from the truth. Japan's only real flirtation with strong nationalism was for a period of less than a hundred years (beginning of the Meiji Restoration to the end of the Empire Era); Thereafter, it has moved to a very moderate center, as many people do not want to go back to imperialistic expansionism or to a war mongering nation--we like our peaceful country.

As far as ultra-nationalism goes...Japan is the only nation on earth that by treaty is not allowed to have a military. Of course that was coerced, but to know the Japanese and to see how Japan has given up it's war apparatus, that is true humility.





The left is growing post quake/Tepco disaster. 60,000 people rolled out on September 19th for the goodbye nuclear power plants rally and most of the left and unions have endorsed the anti-nuke movement. There have been heaps of anti-nuke protests.


This is extremely unfortunate, as Nuclear Power is extremely cheap relatively speaking, is renewable, and is very clean--it's an ideal power source, and it's use shouldn't be discouraged by a faulty power plant in a bad location. it's extremely unfortunate what has happened, but what will happen when Japan starts turning back to non-renewable resources will be disastrous.

[阿部高和]

The JCP has about half a million members, one of the largest communist parties of the world, but it is stalinist

lol wut

[OhYesIdid]

lol wut

you don't think that's a problem?

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Japan has no military? I know this is off topic,and someone could PM me,but I thought I saw images of Japanese fighter jets somewhere.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

"Look at the huge amounts of money it takes to get elected president of the United States," remarks Tsutsumi, who describes the U.S. as a "capitalist dictatorship." "The only ones who can relied upon as a source of these funds are billionaires and investors from the financial sector ... creating a system by which the capitalists who make up the 1 percenters get to determine what becomes of the U.S. and the world."

Pretty wild to see that in Aera, which is a pretty mainstream newsweekly in Japan -- and has a lot of readers.

[阿部高和]

Japan has no military? I know this is off topic,and someone could PM me,but I thought I saw images of Japanese fighter jets somewhere.

There is the Japanese Self Defense Force (自衛隊), a result of probably one of the most unfair one-sided treaties in the history of conditions, that by law can only defend itself but may not wage war without the United State's approval.

The JSDF is by all means an active military, with the exception of that it cannot wage war.

[阿部高和]

you don't think that's a problem?

I do not think they are what you'd call "Stalinist", not in the very least. As a matter of fact, There isn't really anything else on earth like the JCP, (they even support monarchy in Japan), so I'd call them "Communism with Japanese characteristics".

[citizen of industry]

This is extremely unfortunate, as Nuclear Power is extremely cheap relatively speaking, is renewable, and is very clean--it's an ideal power source, and it's use shouldn't be discouraged by a faulty power plant in a bad location. it's extremely unfortunate what has happened, but what will happen when Japan starts turning back to non-renewable resources will be disastrous.

So when the whole left is marching by, me included, and getting arrested, you must be one of those guys standing next to the pigs and politicians, praising nuclear power to the heavens and telling us how wrong we are. Not to rehash the whole nuclear power debate, but don't believe everything you hear on the news or what Tepco or the government vomit at you. Renewable? It would be nice if that kind of energy was actually developed, instead of used as a corporate PR scam with miniscule resources. You must be a technocrat who wants to "release the (overabundant) forces of productivity" so we can make funky space-ships.

As to JCP, that is about as stalinist as they come. No ties to the international movement, reformist, makes me want to puke when I see their signs plastered all over the city with some shmucks smiling face right next to the LDP and DPJ posters. Christ, I'd support the SDP before I had anything to do with that pile of stalinist shit.

[OhYesIdid]

that pile of stalinist shit.

Capitalist parties in Japan are falling apart...and socialist ones won't be *left* behind!

[citizen of industry]

Japan has no military? I know this is off topic,and someone could PM me,but I thought I saw images of Japanese fighter jets somewhere.

Japan is number 6 on the list of military expenditures, behind Russia, the UK, France, China, and US at the top. It has a huge navy. It hides behind the "self-defense force" label, and their are some limitations regarding what kinds of weapons it has, how its forces can engage, etc. But a little amendment to article 9 of the constitution can change all of that in a second.

[A Marxist Historian]

So when the whole left is marching by, me included, and getting arrested, you must be one of those guys standing next to the pigs and politicians, praising nuclear power to the heavens and telling us how wrong we are. Not to rehash the whole nuclear power debate, but don't believe everything you hear on the news or what Tepco or the government vomit at you. Renewable? It would be nice if that kind of energy was actually developed, instead of used as a corporate PR scam with miniscule resources. You must be a technocrat who wants to "release the (overabundant) forces of productivity" so we can make funky space-ships.

As to JCP, that is about as stalinist as they come. No ties to the international movement, reformist, makes me want to puke when I see their signs plastered all over the city with some shmucks smiling face right next to the LDP and DPJ posters. Christ, I'd support the SDP before I had anything to do with that pile of stalinist shit.

I agree with you about the JCP, except for the part about supporting the SDP instead. Two different flavors of reformism.

But he's right about nuclear power, at least more right than the bulk of the Japanese left. Nuclear power is not better than other forms of energy, but neither is it worse. They all have their good and bad sides, and the bad side of wind and sun and such clean sources is that they just don't supply enough power to keep a big modern economy like Japan going.

And anyway Japan is stuck with nuclear power, like it or not. Too much of Japan is dependent on nuclear power for the place to function at all if the call of the left is answered and it's abolished.

In Japan, nuclear power could only be phased out gradually *after* the revolution, if that is what the Japanese people really want.

The Japanese left riding the bandwagon of the perfectly natural Japanese freakout over Fukushima on top of Hiroshima is clever opportunism but, in the long run, self defeating. A great way to get big marches, do a little recruiting, and maybe get some votes. But a huge obstacle to actually mobilizing the Japanese working class to overthrow the capitalists.

-M.H.-

[Kotze]

As to JCP, that is about as stalinist as they come
However, after Lenin's death, Stalin and other successive Soviet leaders discarded the principles of socialism. Internationally, it took the path of hegemonism through invasion and oppression of other nations and domestically imposed bureaucratism and despotism that deprived the people of freedom and democratic rights and repressed the working people. All the more because these were committed under the name of "socialism", these errors had particularly adverse effects on the movement for world peace and social progress.Above quote was from the Program of the JCP in English (http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/23rd_congress/program.html).
The violations of freedom and democracy including the right to national self-determination, perpetrated by the Soviet Union since Stalin, meant to throw away the principles of scientific socialism and overturn the course of the transitional period toward socialism laid out during Lenin's era; they decisively degenerated and degraded Soviet society into a system suppressing the people, which is totally alien to socialism.That was from their Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy (http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/sengen-e.html).

I guess one can say negative things about XYZ while still acting very much like an XYZist, but the impression I got from their texts with parliament this and UN that reminds me mostly of eurocommunism.

[Tim Finnegan]

I've no idea why people think that the collapse of "dignified" capitalism implies that progressive change is on the march. Have they never heard of Putin, Berlusconi or Lukashenko?

[cheguvera]

japanese are the best skill workers in the world.They have the best brains on this earth.when you give in to super rich, no one can stop economic down fall.They do not have money in their country as their wealth has been robbed by super-rich.USA has allowed multi-national super rich to rob it's people,and their politicians have wasted their wealth on bogus war.So they are fucked up.

[citizen of industry]

Above quote was from the Program of the JCP in English (http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/23rd_congress/program.html).That was from their Manifesto on Freedom and Democracy (http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/sengen-e.html).

I guess one can say negative things about XYZ while still acting very much like an XYZist, but the impression I got from their texts with parliament this and UN that reminds me mostly of eurocommunism.

How about this little gem, also from their program:



A change Japanese society needs at present is a democratic revolution instead of a socialist revolution. It is a revolution that puts an end to Japan's extraordinary subordination to the United States and the tyrannical rule of large corporations and business circles, a revolution that secures Japan's genuine independence and carries out democratic reforms in politics, the economy, and society. Although these are democratic reforms realizable within the framework of capitalism, their full-fledged achievement can be made possible through a transfer of state power to the forces that represent the fundamental interests of the Japanese people from those representing Japan's monopoly capitalism and subordinate to the United States. Success in achieving this democratic change will help solve problems that cause the people to suffer and pave the way for building an independent, democratic, and peaceful Japan that safeguards the fundamental interests of the majority of the people.

[citizen of industry]

I agree with you about the JCP, except for the part about supporting the SDP instead. Two different flavors of reformism.

But he's right about nuclear power, at least more right than the bulk of the Japanese left. Nuclear power is not better than other forms of energy, but neither is it worse. They all have their good and bad sides, and the bad side of wind and sun and such clean sources is that they just don't supply enough power to keep a big modern economy like Japan going.

And anyway Japan is stuck with nuclear power, like it or not. Too much of Japan is dependent on nuclear power for the place to function at all if the call of the left is answered and it's abolished.

In Japan, nuclear power could only be phased out gradually *after* the revolution, if that is what the Japanese people really want.

The Japanese left riding the bandwagon of the perfectly natural Japanese freakout over Fukushima on top of Hiroshima is clever opportunism but, in the long run, self defeating. A great way to get big marches, do a little recruiting, and maybe get some votes. But a huge obstacle to actually mobilizing the Japanese working class to overthrow the capitalists.

-M.H.-

I wouldn't call it clever opportunism. It has become very clear to a whole lot of people here that nuclear power cannot be safely managed in capitalist society, that much of the high energy usage that makes nuclear energy so tempting is due to the wastefulness, inefficiency and overproduction of capitalism, and that little is being done to develop or implement renewable energy, because capitalism doesn't give a damn about tomorrow, only profits today.

When socialists support a healthcare plan, or a wage increase in a capitalist society you wouldn't call it opportunism. But when they support a "no nukes!" campaign it suddenly becomes clever opportunism. At the November 6th labor rally nuclear power was one issue on a platform that included reform of the refugee act, an end to privatization and casualization of the workforce, reinstatement of dismissed workers, endorsement of OWS and others. And yet there were a handful of ultra-sectarian Trotsyists on the sideline refusing to join in the march because they disagreed with one point on the platform, that of nuclear power.

The anti-nuke movement has a lot more to it than a sterile debate over fission. The plant melted down and the government lied about it for a week, the reactor is not under control, the government raised the acceptable radiation limits after the disaster, just like they did at Chernobyl to get people out of the hospitals. Children are eating contaminated produce and being exposed to unsafe levels of radiation, and are showing signs of thyroid irregularities. Our drinking water was contaminated. It was discovered privatization and restructuring led to a lack of resources and personnel in the disaster area, and they are planning to lay off over 3,000,000 public workers. Our water was contaminated, the fishing and agricultural industries in the area are wrecked. Regressive taxes are being hoisted on the workers to pay for the disaster and deficit while corporations get subsidies. The media painted a pretty picture during and after the disaster that was not only slanted, but in fact completely unture. There were near nuclear disasters in other plants at the same time, there has been a history of nuclear mishap cover-ups over the past couple decades. Workers in the plant were poorly paid day laborers because Tepco didn't want to pay union wages to qualified personnel. Our electricity costs are going to be raised now. Bank funding for renewable energies was cut. I could go on and on and on.

You don't even understand how angry we are over this issue. If and when Japan decides it wants nuclear power it should be up to the people, not governments or corporations. I don't call it opportunism.

I was being sarcastic about the SDP - but at least they are honest and don't pretend to be communists.

[IndependentCitizen]

Japan has no military? I know this is off topic,and someone could PM me,but I thought I saw images of Japanese fighter jets somewhere.

They have a defence force, but that's arguably different to an army.

[A Marxist Historian]

I wouldn't call it clever opportunism. It has become very clear to a whole lot of people here that nuclear power cannot be safely managed in capitalist society, that much of the high energy usage that makes nuclear energy so tempting is due to the wastefulness, inefficiency and overproduction of capitalism, and that little is being done to develop or implement renewable energy, because capitalism doesn't give a damn about tomorrow, only profits today.

When socialists support a healthcare plan, or a wage increase in a capitalist society you wouldn't call it opportunism. But when they support a "no nukes!" campaign it suddenly becomes clever opportunism. At the November 6th labor rally nuclear power was one issue on a platform that included reform of the refugee act, an end to privatization and casualization of the workforce, reinstatement of dismissed workers, endorsement of OWS and others. And yet there were a handful of ultra-sectarian Trotsyists on the sideline refusing to join in the march because they disagreed with one point on the platform, that of nuclear power.

The anti-nuke movement has a lot more to it than a sterile debate over fission. The plant melted down and the government lied about it for a week, the reactor is not under control, the government raised the acceptable radiation limits after the disaster, just like they did at Chernobyl to get people out of the hospitals. Children are eating contaminated produce and being exposed to unsafe levels of radiation, and are showing signs of thyroid irregularities. Our drinking water was contaminated. It was discovered privatization and restructuring led to a lack of resources and personnel in the disaster area, and they are planning to lay off over 3,000,000 public workers. Our water was contaminated, the fishing and agricultural industries in the area are wrecked. Regressive taxes are being hoisted on the workers to pay for the disaster and deficit while corporations get subsidies. The media painted a pretty picture during and after the disaster that was not only slanted, but in fact completely unture. There were near nuclear disasters in other plants at the same time, there has been a history of nuclear mishap cover-ups over the past couple decades. Workers in the plant were poorly paid day laborers because Tepco didn't want to pay union wages to qualified personnel. Our electricity costs are going to be raised now. Bank funding for renewable energies was cut. I could go on and on and on.

You don't even understand how angry we are over this issue. If and when Japan decides it wants nuclear power it should be up to the people, not governments or corporations. I don't call it opportunism.

I was being sarcastic about the SDP - but at least they are honest and don't pretend to be communists.

Yes, it is absolutely true that nuclear power isn't safe in the hands of the capitalists. But neither is anything else either. If capitalism continues much longer we are all toast one way or another. It just doesn't work anymore.

Japan already has nuclear power, so the question is should there be an attempt made to get rid of it and replace it with something else. Well, if that is what the Japanese people want, that is their business. But I think this would be a mistake. The negative economic consequences would just be too heavy.

And when Japanese working people realize this, I think they would change their minds. Bad as all this is, nobody wants to be unemployed and broke, which is what abolishing nuclear power right away would mean for a very large proportion of the Japanese working class.

I shouldn't have said "opportunism," as that could be read as implying that the Japanese leftists who want to abolish nuclear power are insincere. I think they are sincere, and that just makes things worse.

-M.H.-

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

Uranium is mined from the earth in an incredibly destructive and exploitative manner ... the mines can cause all sorts of problems in the area for people and often the miners too. Especially in the third world ... the current model of uranium mining which exists includes many mines around the world with poor or nonexistent labor standards.

Nuclear power in Japan, with its high rate of earthquakes, is incredibly risky to begin with. Chernobyl also reveals the possibility that irresponsible decisions, human error or poorly planned exercises can cause a meltdown. Granted, a lot has been learned since Chernobyl, however it is clear that people have vastly underestimated the possible number of risks of nuclear power to begin with and its impossible to say how many other things can happen. Clearly, not enough people predicted the possibility of the Fukushima meltdown.

If the Japanese working class want to develop a form of energy which is safe and does not require the exploitation of people in other parts of the world, more power to them. Perhaps they will be hard-pressed to find an alternative in the short term, but there are all sorts of possibilities in Japan ... geothermal and tidal come to mind as renewable resources which would be particularly effective in Japan, and neither require either large-scale mines or possible risks to the surrounding community.

[chrishmartin]

There is the Japanese Self Defense Force (自卫队), probably due to one of the most unfair one-sided treaties in the history of the conditions, which by law can only defend, but can not wage war without approval from the United States.

The JSDF is by all means active military, except that no war.