On the same day that Japan's advance team of 30 Ground Self Defense Force personnel arrived in Kuwait, as a prelude to the history—making deployment of 1000 GSDF troops to Iraq, the Japan Communist Party made it clear that a new era has dawned in Japan. Rejecting both rhetoric and policy positions which have endured for decades, the JCP, in the words of the Mainichi Daily News, 'decided to take steps to counter the impression that it is out of touch with the real world.'

Meeting in the faded seaside hot spring resort town of Atami, the 23rd convention of the party adopted changes to a number of its longstanding positions. Henceforth, Japanese commies are dropping their absolute opposition to the Emperor System and the existence of any Japanese armed forces. Moreover, they no longer consider themselves the 'national vanguard party.'

Because Communists were the only political party which persisted in resisting Japan's militarists before and during World War II, the reconstituted Japan Communist Party, founded by those survivors of wartime imprisonment, gained immediate prestige in the American—occupied Japan of 1945. However, a series of run—ins with the Occupation authorities over labor unrest, culminating in a widespread 'Red Purge' in 1950, eliminating communists and their sympathizers from responsible positions in government and industry, devastated the party's strong position. Later, the party rebounded, as the 'friendly Communist Party,' promising a peaceful struggle to establish socialism in Japan.

By the late 1960s, and throughout the 1970s, the JCP was able to draw over 10% of the vote in national elections, and established a variety of parallel organizations, including the newspaper Akahata ('Red Flag') to provide employment and an organizational base. The party was known for tight organization and discipline.

However, in more recent years, the JCP has been in a steep decline. The fall of Communism, the rise of an aggressive North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile threat, and the obvious need of Japan for a solid geo—strategic military alliance with the United States, have all spurred the changes evident today.

Posted by Thomas  01 17 04