Leftists in Japan?

[Cult of Reason]

On this board we have posters from all over the first world, it seems, except for Japan, unless I haven't been paying attention. Why is this? Is there no Anarchist/Communist/Socialist movement or groups in the country? Is it even more obscure than Anarchism is in the UK? Or is there another reason?

If it is the case that there are virtually no Leftists in Japan (I am more interested in Anarchists, to be honest. I say Leftists to widen the search a little), then why do we suppose that would be the case? Is it the intense consumerism of the country? Is it because of Confucius' influence? Is it the rigid social heirarchy and the indoctrination from an early age of duty to your superiors (or is that just a stereotype?)?

[Marsella]

It's probably because this is a largely English speaking forum!

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Of course there are leftists in Japan, including the JCP which gets around 10% of the votes in elections and is largely influential in trade unions and JRCL (Chūkaku-ha) which has been known to lead open rebellions, serious student actions, strikes, etc.

[Kwisatz Haderach]

Martov is right. I have never seen a single Japanese person on any English-speaking forum, no matter the subject.

I am sure there must be some Japanese people posting on English-speaking forums, but it appears there are very few.

[Cult of Reason]

Martov: We have an international section, with forums for Arabs, Chinese, Dutch, etc., but not Japanese.

[Kwisatz Haderach]

Originally posted by [email protected] 09, 2007 07:08 am
Martov: We have an international section, with forums for Arabs, Chinese, Dutch, etc., but not Japanese.
I think people living in Western cultures (Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, possibly Latin America) are far more likely to post on English-speaking forums than anyone else.

After all, India and China contain about half the world's population, and they both have a large number of leftists, but how many Indian or Chinese comrades do you see posting here?

[Faux Real]

Originally posted by Edric [email protected] 08, 2007 10:11 pm
I think people living in Western cultures (Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand, possibly Latin America) are far more likely to post on English-speaking forums than anyone else.
Japan actually does have a significant "Western" culture, even surpassing most "Western" countries in terms of technology.

[Marsella]

Originally posted by [email protected] 09, 2007 02:38 pm
Martov: We have an international section, with forums for Arabs, Chinese, Dutch, etc., but not Japanese.
Well perhaps we should make a Japanese sub-forum too!

If we build it, they will come! :lol:

[Devrim]

Originally posted by Edric [email protected] 09, 2007 05:07 am
Martov is right. I have never seen a single Japanese person on any English-speaking forum, no matter the subject.

I am sure there must be some Japanese people posting on English-speaking forums, but it appears there are very few.
You occasionally see Japanese anarchists posting on Libcom.
Devrim

[MarxSchmarx]

I'm willing to bet there are a few Japanese living abroad, or who work in a primarily English environment posting or lurking here.


It's probably because this is a largely English speaking forum!

This is probably the reason. A large number of Western Europeans develop a reasonably good command for English. In many developing countries (e.g. Latin America, Philippines, India), the elite learning English in private school can speak it well.

Japan is rather like the U$A. Foreign language (almost invariably English), is taught in secondary schools, but hardly anybody learns it there. The public school system is strong in other areas so there is no need to send kids to English intensive public schools. Moreover, the Japanese diaspora generally integrated into their adopted country (e.g. U$ and Brazil) and don't really consider themselves to be "from Japan".

The odds are against a Japanese person living in Japan landing here. First, they have to be a revolutionary leftist in Japan with a disposition to post on this board. This is a tiny fraction of the aging population. Second, they have to surf the web in English or live in a primarily English environment (e.g. some universities, some foreign companies). Third, given that they almost certainly speak little English, they have to be willing to risk embarrassing themselves with poor English and come on this board. By the time you get here, you have a very, very small subgroup.

[RedAnarchist]

Originally posted by Martov+November 09, 2007 05:42 am--> (Martov @ November 09, 2007 05:42 am)
[email protected] 09, 2007 02:38 pm
Martov: We have an international section, with forums for Arabs, Chinese, Dutch, etc., but not Japanese.
Well perhaps we should make a Japanese sub-forum too!

If we build it, they will come! :lol: [/b]
I think we should do this. If theres a chance that we can attract more members by adding new language forums, then why not make one?

[Xiao Banfa]

There has been heaps of leftists in Japan historically. There used to be massive battles between left wing students and cops in the late 60's.

And the Japanese Red Army which was around for a couple of decades.

[Demogorgon]

Japan has a very strong leftist section Indeed COmmunism is almost considered mainstream there. Obviously it is kept shut safely out of power, but Communists are not nearly as marginalised as elsewhere.

The simply fact though is that that there isn't particularly high levels of fluency in English in Japan, I have only encountered one or two people from Japan on the internet as a result.

I have however seen Japanese Communist forums though. There are a fair few of those. Enough that I have been able to stumble across them while doing English language searches of the internet.

[RedAnarchist]

Maybe if anyone here speaks some Japanese, they could go to those forums and maybe tell them about RevLeft?

[Ultra-Violence]

thier are defintaly Japanses commrades i just know this for a fact becuase i listen to Battle of Disarm Thier Militant as fuck anarchist so we got homies over thier i guese its what lots of people said before just the language barrier maybe we should learn japanse and invade thier forums MUAHHAHAH! :D

[wefreepunk823]

well of course u know they have something to say about politics lol

[Angry Young Man]

Isn't/wasn't there a Japanese equivalent to Baader-Meinhof?

I knew a woman who studied Japanese. She told me that they are incredibly culturally oppressed.
Anyway, isn't the social security system in Japan supposed to be crap compared to other capitalist countries (even America!). I'da thought that any country that rich with such pathetic distribution would cause rebellion.