Communists Rise in Japan

Young Japanese see red over lack of workers' rights
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 5, 2009 3:57 AM CDT
Communists Rise in Japan
A supporter of Japan's Communist Party looks skyward to check weather during an election campaign.   (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)

The recession has reversed a long slide in the fortunes of the Japanese Communist Party, the BBC reports. The party had been shrinking for decades, but membership is now growing at the rate of a thousand people a month. Young people—introduced to Communist ideology through efforts like a manga version of Das Kapital—say the party is the only one taking their concerns about the economy seriously.

Officials of the party—which polled 5 million votes even at its low ebb—acknowledges they are unlikely to take power soon, but expect to make big gains in this year's elections. "Many people are beginning to think: 'Is Japanese capitalism OK as it is?'" said a Communist member of the Japan's House of Representatives. "Living standards are going down. The gap between rich and poor is growing." (More Japan stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X