Kanba's original articles

- RESUME: JAPAN'S CLASS STRUGGLE


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RESUME: JAPAN'S CLASS STRUGGLE
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(1) OUTLINE
* 1945 JAPAN IMPERIALISM'S DEFEAT TO U.S. IMPERIALISM AND TO ASIAN PEOPLE
* POST-WAR REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD, ITS DEFEAT AND KOREAN WAR.
* START OF "YEAR 1955 FRAMEWORK"
* 1960 ANTI-ANPO AND MINERS STRUGGLE
* 1970 ANTI-ANPO & RECAPTURING OKINAWA STRUGGLE
* RAILWAY PRIVATIZATION AND RIGHT WING UNIFICATION OF TRADE UNION
* PRESENT PHASE
(2) AS A WHOLE

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....(1) OUTLINE OF JAPAN'S CLASS STRUGGLE
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Let me start with brief outline of Japan's class struggle after WWII.

....* 1945 JAPAN IMPERIALISM'S DEFEAT TO U.S. IMPERIALISM AND TO ASIAN PEOPLE

"Defeat to US imperialism and to Asian people" - This recognition is crucial. Because:

[1] it was not the war between Liberalism vs. Totalitarianism, but the war between imperialism vs. another imperialism to decide which one rob Asian countries. And thus, it made no peace but series of war starting from Korean War even after the end of the World War.

[2] Japan was not just defeated by US imperialism, but was defeated by Asian people at first. Many historians and even some of the left ignore this fact, but from class viewpoint, this is crucial. I mean, it was up to Japan's class movement. Communist Party of Japan have described the war era as just "dark period", but it was not.

(In the future battle, international solidarity between revolutionary movement in oppressing countries and self-emancipation movement in oppressed countries will be the key to overthrow the rule of capitalism.)

....* POST-WAR REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD, ITS DEFEAT AND KOREAN WAR.

Under the US General Head Quarter, Japan was "democratized" first, then "refortified" as an anti-USSR bulwark later. Many unions were formed and became quite radicalized. There was a potential to defeat US occupation and to defeat already weakened Japan imperialism, but mainly because of misleading by Stalinist CPJ, it ended up to fail. As USSR entered the WWII as a troop of one imperialism camp, CPJ understood US camp and US army as friend and liberator.

One of the CPJ leader gave an appeal just after he was released from prison and said US was liberator and we should welcome them. When US GHQ demanded the stop of planned general strike in 1947, it was CPJ who organized trade unions to cancel the strike. They even submitted the list of 300,000 party members to authority when Organization Restriction Legislation was enacted, and the list was used soon later to expel the CP members from office and major work places.

....* START OF "YEAR 1955 FRAMEWORK"

After radical national trade union centre was disbanded by GHQ, SOHYO, another national centre, Japan's TUC was set up. Although it was built backed by GHQ, soon it shifted to the left. Japan got independent again in 1952 except Okinawa, its southern island, and went through the economic boom because of Korean War.

Japan's what's called "economic miracle" was totally derived from victimization on Asian countries and Asian people. Liberal Party and Democratic Party merged and made a single ruling class to represent Japan's capitalists, when left wing and right wing of Socialist Party merged in 1955.

After this, LDP dominated majority in the Diet, but not many enough to change the Constitution. This balance continued up until recent years and was called as "year 1955 framework".

....* 1960 ANTI-ANPO AND MINERS STRUGGLE

When ANPO, US-Japan Security Treaty was about to renewed, students and workers surrounded the Diet and waged a huge opposition. This movement was led by Communist League which started to realize the problem of Stalinism after USSR's aggression on Hungarian Revolution and USSR's possession of Atomic bomb.

As ANPO was "automatically extended", the CL was disbanded because of its loose organization and majority of them joined in the Revolutionary Communist League which demanded to overthrow both imperialism and Stalinism and had the idea of Leninist Party.

Under the influence of CPJ and SPJ, trade union and workers, especially, minors, teachers, steel, postal and railway workers made several waves of industrial actions. But after the defeat of intensified but isolated battle of miners, some of unions like steel and cars shifted to right.

....* 1970 ANTI-ANPO & RECAPTURING OKINAWA STRUGGLE

When ANPO was renewed, again, huge anti-ANPO movement surged, this time under the influence of new leftists, especially RCL (after its 3 times splits, the main part of it called themselves as RCL-National Committee or Chukaku faction, which means Cadre faction).

And it was Zengakuren, nationwide league of student autonomies, and Anti-War Youth Committee which was the youth section of each trade union but under influence of radical lefts, that led this 2nd anti-ANPO struggle. As Vietnam War was intensified, and as Okinawa was functioned as main base to launch B52 bombers to Vietnam, and as this situation was based on the US occupation of Okinawa, anti-US occupation movement erupted.

With reflection of ignorance to this situation in Okinawa at the time of first anti-ANPO struggle, the 2nd one was fought as combined battle. But after KAKUMARU, one of the "left" started to attack others from the back (not just rhetorically, but actually attacked with clubs, crowbars, and axes) the movement started to be confused and faced great difficulty.

....* RAILWAY PRIVATIZATION AND RIGHT WING UNIFICATION OF TRADE UNION

In 1980's, the government strengthened the pressure to "exterminate" the left movement and trade unionism. What they did was focusing their attack on KOKURO, a major railway trade union which was at the core of SOHYO (which was the backbone of Socialist Party).

With a help of DORO, a railway union which has been under the hegemony of KAKUMARU, the government successfully privatized states run railway and downsized the workers from 400,000 (early 1980's) to 300,000 (1984) and 200,000 (1987, the year of Privatization). KOKURO members were threatened to leave either union or job by both the government and "fellow" DORO union members.

More than 200 workers killed themselves during this heavy attack. As a result, KOKURO, the major railway trade union was half destroyed and reduced from 100,000 to 30,000. And just as ruling class wanted, SOHYO was disbanded in 1989, and RENGO, new right wing national trade union centre was set up.

After USSR's collapse, and after the minor split of LDP, Japan had the first non LDP government since Year 55 Framework was made. This was a coalition government including Socialist Party. SP disbanded them and formed Social Democratic Party in 1996.

....* PRESENT PHASE

After destroying the major leftist trade union centre and workers party, Japan's capitalist is trying to reform themselves as "ordinary state" which can wage war just like other imperialist states. They enacted National Emergency Law on June and Iraq Dispatch Law on July this year. This is the first time, since its defeat of the war, that Japan can officially wage war. At the same time, not a few people feel desperate with the major parties and started to vote for naked fascist Shintaro Ishihara [*1].

But workers started to rebel. Kokuro union's rank and file members did not stop fighting against railway privatization. Twenty Unions, including transportations and longshore unions which are meant to be mobilized to war, started to organize anti-war movement despite of negligence by CPJ and rejection by RENGO. Not a few people want real genuine left party and movement, different from SDPJ and CPJ.

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....(2) AS A WHOLE
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Despite of the many difference, I have found many communal points between the class struggle in the UK and Japan. It is the period of imperialism, and its crisis, that has driven each imperialism to war anyway.

As capitalisms have developed unevenly, and as overcapacity has strengthened the pressure of great depression and economic collapse, the ruling class of capitalism are driven to new imperial type war, colonial type occupation and Starling Block type colonial block. This is the fundamental reason of Iraq war and occupation, Neo-Con in the US, New Labour in the UK, 90% Diet members approval to the war legislation in Japan, and French & German disapproval to US camp.

Only the solution is overturning the capitalism through world wokers' revolution in solidarity with the fight in oppressed countries. What we need is workers party with revolutionary charter and revolutionary organization.

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