COMMUNISM on the Rise in Recession-hit Japan

[LBJDemocrat]

The protesters gathered in a park in the shadow of corporate headquarter skyscrapers, a short walk from Ginza, Tokyo's most upscale shopping district.

Hundreds strong, they included workers already laid off as the global downturn battered Japan's economy, and those who feared they might be next.

The demonstrators set off on a march towards Japan's Diet building - or parliament - carrying red flags.

"I support the Communist Party because it's the one that thinks about workers first," said one man.

"We're demonstrating to get better rights for the temporary workers," said another.

"The Communist Party is the only party that gets really serious about problems like this."

Communist ideology has been spread in Japan in unusual ways.

There was a book, Kanikosen - The Crab Factory Ship, which raced back up the bestsellers' lists.

A classic tale of proletarian fishermen uniting to rise up against their bosses, it had been almost forgotten since it was written in 1929.

Publishers have also produced a manga, or comic, version of Das Kapital, Karl Marx's treatise on how capitalism would collapse under the weight of its own contradictions.

One new Communist Party member we met in a restaurant found out about Marxism on the internet.

"I got interested in Karl Marx a few years ago," she said.

"In capitalism now we are controlled by the capitalists, or capital. But I think in communism society we can think about whole of the society and decide our economic activities in democratic way."

The woman, 34, did not want to be identified for fear her employers, whom she claimed disapproved of the Communists, would find out.

But she had told her family.

"My parents were very surprised that I joined the party," she said. "They are not supporters of the Communist Party. They don't understand correctly, I think."

The woman said she was a member of a "lost generation" - people who came into the employment market during Japan's long stagnation in the 1990s and could not find proper jobs.

...see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8027397.stm for the rest.

[iamthebandfanman]

1. well

so long as they keep their democracy intact, i say they can do whatever they want to do economically....

lets just hope the goal isnt the so called 'communism' that china lives by.

[iamthebandfanman]

2. Dupe-er-rific

[L0oniX]

3. So ...uhm ...Walmart is setting up shop in Japan?

:sarcasm:

[DBoon]

4. A manga version of Marx?

You mean like this?



Back in the days before my light reading consisted of "Active Directory for Dummies"

[Ken Burch]

7. Actually, an anime version would be better. I can think of some titles:

"Commie Bebop!"

"Dialectic Express, Banker Danger!"

"Scrapped Markets!"

"New World In The Shell-Smash System!"

"Beard Man Teacher Highgate Zombie Dance Groove!"

[citizen snips]

5. Communism has never existed.

Japan's economic problem is due to its large debt from a decade of bailouts.

August 1992: 10.7 trillion yen ($85 billion). Japan passed its largest-ever stimulus package to that time, with 8.6 trillion yen earmarked for public works, 1.2 trillion to expand loan quotas for small- and medium-sized businesses and 900 billion for the Japan Development Bank. The package passed in December, but investment kept falling and unemployment rose. By the end of the year, Japan's debt-to-GDP ratio was 68.6%.

April 1993: 13.2 trillion yen. At exchange rates of the day, this was a whopping $117 billion giveaway, again mostly for public works and small businesses. Tokyo erupted into domestic politicking over election practices, the economy went sideways, and the government fell. New Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa floated tax cuts, deregulation and decentralization to spur growth. But as the economy worsened -- inflation-adjusted GNP shrank 0.5% in the April to June quarter -- the political drumbeat for handouts increased.

September 1993: 6.2 trillion yen. Mr. Hosokawa announced a compromise "smaller" stimulus of $59 billion, along with minor deregulation. He dropped plans for an income-tax cut. The stimulus included 2.9 trillion yen in low-interest home financing, one trillion yen for "social infrastructure," and another trillion for business. The economy didn't respond. By the end of the year, Japan's debt-to-GDP reached 74.7%.

February 1994: 15.3 trillion yen. This stimulus included 5.8 trillion in income-tax cuts, 7.2 trillion in public investment, 1.5 trillion for small business and employment-support, 500 billion for land purchases and 230 billion for agricultural modernization. The income tax cut was temporary, effective only for 1994. The economy stagnated and Prime Minister Hosokawa resigned amid a corruption scandal. By the end of the year, debt-to-GDP was 80.2%.

September 1995: 14.2 trillion yen. The Socialist government of Tomiichi Murayama, with a wobbly coalition, rolled out a $137 billion whopper, with 4.6 trillion in public works, 3.2 trillion for government land purchases, 1.3 trillion in business loans, and more. Mr. Murayama resigned in early 1996, and in June Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto agreed to raise consumption taxes to 5% from 3%, starting in April 1997, to reduce the fiscal deficit.

April 1998: 16.7 trillion yen. When growth starting slowing again, the re-elected LDP turned to old medicine: 7.7 trillion yen for public works. The $128 billion grab-bag also included 2.3 trillion for the disposal of bad loans. The government announced four trillion yen in (again) temporary income-tax cuts, spread over two years. Mr. Hashimoto resigned in July after voters registered their discontent at the polls.

more...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122938932478509075.html

[Ken Burch]

8. ok, it never has. So, could it start existing now?

Most of us never thought what Stalin or Mao did was actually "communist".

[David__77]

6. The Japan Communist Party is a moderate socialist party.

They certainly represent the best in the country in terms of parliamentary parties, upholding the anti-militarist constitutional nature of the state, and want to protect workers' interests.