MakePolicy.com

With its shrinking economy, a very depressed stock market and a rising gap between the haves and the have-nots widening, Japan’s politicians are facing a backlash. And with this rising discontent, the Communist Party (JCP) has had a sudden upswing in popularity. Membership has surged and many of these members are young people who are interested in focusing on welfare and job creation.

With the end to the boom years in Japan’s economy, there has been increasing discontent with the ruling liberal LDP regime. At the latest count the membership had risen to 415,000 and the JCP newspaper, Aka Hata (Red Flag), has 1.6 million subscribers. There is also a dedicated channel on YouTube featuring video of Chair of the Executive Committee Kazuo Shii addressing the Diet and other developments.

Thanks to this technology, Japan’s communist message – like other political messages – has been transmitted with greater ease and distribution than ever before. But incredibly this communist revival has been spurred on by the pop media with the publication of a cartoon best seller of year The Kanikosen – The Crab Ship which is a Marxist inspired account of rebellion. It sold over half a million copies last year.

Whilst the membership numbers are still relatively small in comparison with the ruling parties hold, the increased interest in communism and marxist thought in Japan, is notable. Currently, the JCP has 16 of the 722 seats in the Diet. But the leaders of the JCP believe that the time is right for a stronger representation.

Is Japan suited towards greater representation from the JCP?
What would be the global implications of such a move?

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