Japan and Communism. How likely?
 

One thing I noticed when I first started living in Japan was all the rules that were spelt out.

"You should do this"

"You should do that"

"You shouldn't do this, only when it's that" etc."

Train guards ordering passengers stop emailing on their mobile phones...

My immediate thought's were that it did feel like communism with a large touch of democracy.

How possible is it do you think that Japan will one day fall into the arms of communism?

We now have stories like this:
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Communism on rise in recession-hit Japan

Barely, Japan is a capitalist society plain and simple. Of course they have rules and laws it's what keeps everything order (I hope)
But Japan wouldn't be able the thrive on communism because they wouldn't grow far as a country. They would actually be setting themselves backwards for a country like Japan.

I doubt Japan will become communist.

While there is an emphasis on group harmony in Japan... Japanese is traditionally a culture which emphasises status and "knowing your place".

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again sorta not
 

BY ERIC TALMADGE • ASSOCIATED PRESS • April 19, 2009

TOKYO — Under a big red flag, the headquarters of the Communist Party of Japan are the center of the most vibrant grassroots movement in the country. The party's ranks are swelling, it has 24,000 branch offices and more than 1 million people read its newspaper. Only one party — the one that runs the country — beats it at fund-raising.

While the Communist Party — which is the fourth-largest party in parliament but has only 16 of the total 722 seats — is not likely to take over anytime soon, it is making . end.

Prior to Japans entry into WW2 the JCP (Japanese Communist Party) founded in 1922 was the only political party to oppose the ruling partys march to war.
Note JCP during WW2 waged a very bloody counter insurgency through a clandestine intelligence operation that penetrated the highest circles of Japanese Elite excerpt- From Richard Sorge probably the greatest spy intelligence operation in history-Sorge arrived in Japan in September 1933. He was warned by his spymaster not to have contact with the underground Japanese Communist Party or with the Soviet Embassy in Tokyo. His spy network in Japan include Max Klausen, Ozaki Hotsumi, and two other Comintern agents, Branko Vukelic, a journalist working for the French magazine, Vu and a Japanese journalist, Miyagi Yotoku, who was employed by the English-language newspaper, the Japan Advertiser.

Haha sounds like you guys are all going to get killed come the revolution :p

This is a great example of jamming a round peg into a square hole. Japan's society is not a caste system. The fact that an individual can rise through the ranks proves that.

"know your place" implies that you cannot change rank, which isn't true. Japanese people are more aware of their place in society and in the community (and in the office). That doesn't make it a caste system, it means they are more aware. A Japanese person might wonder why a Westerner was so blind to their surroundings and only focuses on the personal rather than the community.

There is a communist political party in Japan but its very minor in comparison to the DPJ or LDPJ.
I was reading about them and they're NOT like the Soviet communist party. They're actually pretty interesting.

Many people seem to automatically associate communism with dictatorship, brutality and injustice when it wasn't suppose to be that way. It was the corrupt politicians and unstable government that made it that way.

The current Japanese Communist Party is no longer a Marxist-Leninist party. It has already become well Japanized to suit the unique political climate.

Same as in South Korea and China in different ways.

"My immediate thought's were that it did feel like Confucian social values with a large touch of modern authoritarianism in the disguise of democracy."

There, corrected it for you.

Not likely.

Nearly impossible.
People read way to deep into things these days...

It's all very interesting and definitely gaining ground as recent reports are showing.

Haha.. The old comparing thing again;)

Break out ya..

Whether a country is Communist or not, the 3 countries in East Asia are always founded upon Confucian values.

You're seeing Confucian examples, not Communist examples.

My explanation of Japanese rules were of a "communism" style, which by the way, I liked.

The information coming through on news sites is in relation to communism increasing in Japan, not me referring to confucian.

I do get your Asian point though, but I think Japan feels a little different yah..

Different courses of history, different ways to express ideas in the respected society.

Yep.. Six years In Japan, two in China, eight in Thailand, Two In Kong Kong, one in Singapore and one in Malaysia;)

And still not a single picture...

I can't imagine Japan becoming communist. They're too efficient.

AGAIN:eek:

Yes, yes. And there would be no point. It'd be like Australia becoming a communistic country.

It's just...not going to happen.

Yes, Ozkai, again. ^^
But I can understand if you didn't take a single picture in over 20+ years away from your homeland, it's totally believable. :vsign:

Stay on topic, Alan.

The Green Party in the US has massive support. Millions of dollars in funding and maybe millions of supporters. Probably number three or four in terms of ranking, and there is a snowball's chance in Rio that the US is going to crossover to a Green Party rule.

Courses of history as in... a society experiencing events. Not one's personal experience.

For example: South Korea is already a borderline conservative Protestant Christian country because of historical reason.

By looking at the history, Japanese can never be Communist.

I'm just not getting why you are thinking "my photos", or indeed how on earth it is related to communism increasing in Japan:confused:

It seems that the communist party of Japan has attended the North Korea/Soviet Union school of hype. "1 million people read it's newspaper...", yeah right, one million papers are printed and handed out on street corners or stuffed into mail boxes, most of them are used to line bird cages or wrap vegetable peelings for the convenience of carrying them to the trash more easily. Few people go to the trouble to read them.

"Only one party beats the JCP at fund raising" would be significant if that difference in funding weren't as lopsided as comparing the size of the land in my back yard to the size of the continental US.

I like the quote "The JCP was the only political party to oppose the ruling party's march to war". It was fundamental that the JCP should oppose everything every action of the ruling party. One of the reasons that the ruling party was able to grow and maintain it's power was because of the distaste most Japanese had for communism. Were it otherwise, the communists would have been the ruling party, is that not so?

Japan is as likely to become communist as the moon is likely to fall out of the sky tonight.

I don't think japan will become communist like others said its just to different. I think where I am we could use more restrictions, maybe a mix of the two is better then again maybe not.

again sorta not
 

Maybe the ruling party that marched Japan into WW2 might have been a 'rightwing totalitarian fascist police state' Sangetsu? The JCP was the only Japanese political party that opposed and waged a armed struggle throughout WW2 against Japans ruling party and government hundreds of it's members were executed. If you would like to argue otherwise then please enlighten us of the benefits of Japans WW2 'rightwing totalitarian police state' versus whatever leftwing commie menace state ?
Last time I checked the Associated Press was and American owned business?

Yes proper communism would be nice but I don't think it's going to happen as humans are inherently selfish and evil(I don't have much faith in humanity:p ).

Simply put not likely.

European style social capitalism is the closest thing to Communism for Japan.

The japanese polls can't be wrong about communism:confused:

ok guys，I come from China~~mainland。

God told us:
1.You shall have no other gods before [a] me.

2."You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

3."You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

4."Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

5. "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

6."You shall not murder.

7."You shall not commit adultery.

8."You shall not steal.

9. "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

10."You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
=====================================
Wow~! so many rules! so God is a COMMUNIST,isn't it?

Well，I don‘t understand why you related your experience with communism。I dont know the detail rules of the japanese train,but don't you think you should at least follow the rules as a passager?When you on the plane,they will also ask you to turn off your cellphone, IS THIS COMUNISM?


you are really a funny guy,friend.

That's funny LOL:mtongue:

yeah，very funny. could you please tell me what Communism is?From your post,I found I am so stupid that I live in a socialism country for many years but still don't realise it means”turn off the cellphone on the train".could you please tell me ？ha?

The Japanese are too aware of democracy and freedom of the press to gain serious popularity with the Japan Communist Party. Communists try to brainwash people by making them think that capitalists are responsible for causing the recession when there is little freedom in communist countries compared to capitalist ones.

Sounds the polls are wrong.. I wonder why the BBC is reporting such tripe!

I wonder if the Japanese Communist Party will stay silent on todays nuclear tests from our friends across the "Korean Sea"

I like the JCP anti-corruption platform, and article 9 defense, but the rest, hmmmmmmmm. Think they need a name change! How about Green Social Party? Any others?

The BBC report suggested that the (relative) rise in popularity among the Communist party is a reaction to the recession.

I too think that Japan will never ACTUALLY become communist.

It's a bunch of uneducated people that are attracted to communism's utopian and fair promise (a promise far removed from the realities of the present) during hard times. Not a serious indicator of Japan's future.