Introduction to JRCL 
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Introduction to JRCL
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JRCL is a revolutionary party, whose ultimate aim is to achieve a communist society through the Anti-Imperialist Anti-Stalinist World Revolution.
In the 1950s’, we broke with Stalinism and formed ourselves as an anti-Stalinist revolutionary communist movement aiming to reconstruct the international communist movement. We have grasped the so-called “communism” of the Communist Parties of the USSR and China as counter-revolutionary transformation of communism, Stalinist counter-revolution based on the false theory of “socialism in one country,” which betrays the basics of the Russian Revolution and Marxism, proletarian self-emancipation.
During
the period between the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, in the midst of
decisive class struggle, we established, to achieve Japanese proletarian revolution
as part of the anti-imperialist anti-Stalinist world revolution, our general
strategic line: “In solidarity with fighting Asian People, Convert Japanese
imperialist aggression against Asia into a civil war!” “Remove US
Military Bases; Recapture Okinawa! Smash the Japan-US Security Alliance; Overthrow
Japanese Imperialism!” We have been fighting with these slogans in the
forefront of the working class and people against Japanese imperialist neo-colonial
invasion into Asia, its military aggression, and domestic reactionary policies.
We are devoted ourselves to regeneration of class-conscious militant workers’ movement in order to construct a workers’ party taking place of Japan Social Democratic Party and Japan Communist Party (Stalinist). And at the same time, in face of Japanese imperialist suppression and fascist counter-revolutionary assaults launched by Kakumaru etc., we have forged illegal underground organizations, revolutionary military forces and armed self-defense.
We are convinced that through violent overthrow of the imperialist state powers by proletarian armed uprising and carrying out Japanese and world revolution, and through achievement of a society in which the working class and people become masters, we shall be able to abolish wars, exploitation and plundering and every discrimination and oppression, and give solution to contradictions and problems of today’s world.
We appeal to workers and people all over the world for joining us to confront the realities of the present world and to rise up for a resolute struggle for a revolution.
In 2000, we are fighting for three objectives: “Victory in the Diet Election” “Smashing of the Okinawa Summit” “Success of the Workers’ Rally in coming November” and achieving a great leap forward to become a veritable workers’ party in place of JSDP and JCP.
First, in the Diet election in June we have put up our candidate, HASEGAWA Hidenori, to defeat the Mori LDP/KOMEI administration and the governor of Tokyo, fascist ISHIHARA Shintaro, in the Eighth Constituency of Tokyo, where the governor’s son, ISHIHARA Nobuteru, also a fascist, is LDP’s candidate.
Second,
we are organizing in all part of Japan for the rally against the G8 Summit in
Okinawa, a war conference of the Japanese, US and European imperialists, who
are preparing aggressive war in Korea, China and all over Asia.
“Emergency Exercise” of the three Self-Defense Forces on Sep. 3, announced in Governor Ishihara’s demagogical chauvinist and discriminatory speech of Apr. 9, is a substantial part of reorganization of the country on a war footing. We are struggling to smash this exercise in solidarity with Asian residents in Japan and all Asian people.
Finally, summing up all of these struggles, we are organizing the workers’ rally of November and advancing a network of militant trade unions.
Through the victory in those three struggles, we will open a prospect of revolution in the 21st century.
In Oct. 1956, the Japanese anti-Stalinist revolutionary communist movement began with condemnation against the USSR Stalinist suppression of uprising workers of Hungary, the Hungarian Revolution.
Summer 1958 First split of JRCL
Aug. 1959 Second split of JRCL
The Starting point was marked for the revolutionary communist movement which struggles for revolutionary rebirth of Marxism through all-out confrontation with Stalinism and fights, under the basic strategy of the anti-Imperialist anti-Stalinist World Revolution, to the today’s world of imperialism and Stalinism, dominant system of today’s world.
1960
The Struggle against Revision of Japan-US Security Treaty (First Anpo Struggle)
We struggled against revision of the Japan-US Security Treaty (“Anpo”) together with the “Bund” (Communist League, new left organization with petit-bourgeois radical inclination, which had strong influence in the student movement, founded in Dec. 1958) in the forefront of the Zengakuren (All Japan Federation of Student Autonomies).
After this huge struggle, the Bund collapsed and its revolutionary members joined JRCL-NC.
Faced with enormous challenges arising after two decisive battles in 1960, namely the Anpo struggle and struggle against massive dismissal of coal miners in Miike, JRCL-NC declared to outgrow its initial infancy and remold itself into a revolutionary party which, overtaking established JSP/JCP leadership and promoting militant class struggle, undertakes full responsibility in workers movement and political struggles.
Kakumaru Faction, with KURODA Kannichi and MATSUZAKI Akira as its heads, was born as an opportunist dropout group, who recoiled in horror from the challenging revolutionary decision of the Third Plenum of JRCL.
The strategy of the anti-Imperialist anti-Stalinist world revolution and the basic line of “Smash the Japan-US Security Alliance; Overthrow Japanese imperialism!” was established.
We elaborated our definition of Stalinism:
Stalinism was born
- on the imperialist stage of historical development of capitalism;
- at the period in which the world revolution was opened up by the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the world history entered into the transitional period of the world revolution; and
- faced with a series of difficulties: the world revolution could not immediately be achieved as continuous overthrow of main imperialist state powers; the revolutionary Russia was isolated and encircled; and Russian proletariat bearing tremendous burdens of protracted interventions and civil war had to promote a construction of transitional society toward socialism on a material basis of very underdeveloped Russian imperialism.
Nevertheless, Stalinism could not be born automatically out of above-mentioned difficulties; birth of Stalinism can not be grasped as a historical necessity. A subjective element, the struggle between Stalinist faction and Trotskyist faction, was decisive.
Stalinism was born in regard to subjective side through
- negation and refusal by Stalinist faction to combat above-mentioned difficulties by bringing out proletarian revolutionary abilities, fighting for construct and defend the revolutionary Russia in order to achieve a proletarian world revolution;
- betrayal of the world revolution and the Russian revolution with the theory of “socialism in one country”, and enforced self-purposed “construction of socialism in one country” and anti-proletarian bureaucratic conversion, mobilizing bureaucrats who wished to conserve vested interests; and
- counter-revolutionary conversion of international communist movement.
We thoroughly studied in the meantime the theory of Lenin’s “Imperialism” and applied it for analysis of the actual imperialist world. Our grasp of the post-World War II imperialism and the neocolonial system and of the relationship between overthrowing imperialism and problems of the neocolonial system was also deepened theoretically as well as practically. Building on the experiences and the theoretical and practical review of the struggle against conclusion of the Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea of 1965, we analyzed the situation of the Vietnam War. From the analysis of impending defeat of US imperialism in Vietnam and aggravated dollar crisis, it became for us very evident that the post-WW II world system had already been fundamentally shaken and the explosion of their contradiction should lead to overall collapse of this system.
We also advanced in various arenas of theoretical struggles concerning retrieval of historical materialism from Stalinist distorion, critical absorption of the theory of Kozo Uno, a Marxist economist, and severe criticism of pseudo-philosophy of Kuroda.
Around 1970, the struggles against the Japan-US Security Alliance and for recapture of Okinawa (Second Anpo-Okinawa Struggle) were developed under this basic line.
Zengakuren defeated the riot police in the battle on Bentenbashi, a bridge to Haneda Airport; comrade Yamazaki, however, was murdered in this battle.
Stalinist JCP vehemently condemned the Battle of Haneda as “counter-revolutionary Trotskyist provocation which gives a pretext for suppression against the veritable revolutionary force” [ JCP’s paper “Akahata”, Oct. 10, 1967.] and launched thereafter numerous violent brutal assaults against us and later also against various militant mass movements.
1968~1969 Massive campus struggles all over Japan
Against striking militant students, JCP intensified counter-revolutionary assaults, slandering them “Trotskyists instigated and financed by American imperialism and Japanese extreme right.”
Facing the Stalinist assaults we resolutely waged counter-attacks and organized mass movement with self-defense ability, learning lessons of the class struggles in 1930s, especially the Spanish Civil War, in which the Stalinist counter-revolutionary assaults and assassinations defeated revolutionary workers and their vanguard.
On the eve of this struggle the Subversive Activities Prevention Law (SAPL) was applied; three leaders, including our General Secretary HONDA Nobuyoshi, were arrested for their speeches in which they appealed to workers and students to rise up against the governments’ Okinawa policy and the Vietnam War. This caused us to build up underground leadership in regular form.
Two waves of riotous struggles of the workers and students in fighting troops in Tokyo under the banner of “Recapture Okinawa! — Smash the Japan-US Security Alliance; Overthrow Japanese Imperialism!” “Convert Japanese imperialist aggression against Asia into a civil war!”
The mass rally against the Japan-US Security Alliance (Anpo) organized by the united front of the revolutionary left led by JRCL clearly outnumbered that of JSP and JCP. (In late 1960s, JRCL had already got an overwhelming majority among the revolutionary left-wing movement in Japan.)
On the occasion of the 33th Memorial Day of Japanese imperialist aggression to China, we are accused by militant Chinese youth concerning our attitude in combating discrimination and oppression against Korean and Chinese (and Asian) residents in Japan.
We accepted their accusation and criticized ourselves and developed and deepened our “solidarity strategy” (“July 7 line” of proletarian internationalism) which is embodied in our slogan: “In solidarity with fighting Asian People, Convert Japanese imperialist aggression against Asia into a civil war!”
Mass riot struggle against so-called “Okinawa Reversion Agreement”, whose aim was, contrary to its name, maintaining the US military bases, including nuclear arsenal, in Okinawa and discriminatory oppressive ruling system over people of Okinawa.
Again, the Subversive Activities Prevention Law (SAPL) was applied; a leader of JRCL was arrested under for instigating riot and more than a thousand activists were taken into custody for other charges. Moreover, most of mass rallies organized by JRCL or by allegedly related bodies were banned.
—Start of Dual-Confrontation war against Kakumaru and the State Power
Immediately after the Second November Struggle, Kakumaru launched armed assaults upon us. They assassinated three comrades in Dec. 1971 (two leaders of student organization in Osaka and a local committee leader of Mie Prefecture), in deliberate collaboration with the imperialist police force, which were suppressing our organizations with SAPL and massive arrests of activists.
Kakumaru shamelessly justified these assaults under police protection on its paper:
“We (Kakumaru) must crush JRCL which advocates violent revolution, as was exhibited in two riotous incidents in 1969 and 1971 disturbing Japan’s society to a certain degree.” “It is necessary to wage a determined struggle, by means of violence, consciously aimed at disrupting JRCL, an organization engaged in fighting against the state authority.” “While the state authority is seizing JRCL by the neck (i.e., application of the SAPL) it is for us (Kakumaru) the most favorable opportunity to kick JRCL in the crotch (sic).” [Kakumaru’s paper “Kaiho”, No. 219, Jan. 15, 1972.]
At the very historical moment of the Second Anpo Struggle when the broad mass of working class and people led by JRCL were breaking through reactionary oppressions of Japanese imperialism and Stalinist counter-revolutionary attacks, Kakumaru, originally a opportunist dropout group, transformed themselves into a veritable neo-Nazi party with its full characteristics of fascism as follows:
- Counter-revolutionary militia units whose task is ferocious assaults against revolutionary and militant movements and trade unions — assassinations, severe injuries, destruction of mass rally, wiretapping, forgery of other parties’ papers, intimidation by repeated telephone, etc.;
- Demagogical propaganda with seemingly militant anti-capitalist anti-labor aristocracy anti-Stalinist phraseology and counter-revolutionary and discriminatory contents, which is aimed to organize certain elements of non-ruling classes;
- Vehement agitation of chauvinism and stirring up hatred against foreigners, burakumins, handicapped and other oppressed people — with pseudo-scientific pseudo-biological terminology; and
- “Conspiracy of Anglo-Saxons and Jews” theory.
Faced with these civil-war-like double attacks of the police and Kakumaru, JRCL made a grave historical decision to rise up for a war, a dual-confrontation war — battle against Kakumaru and the State power.
We were gradually overcoming our initial inferior position, which had been brought upon us by strategic surprise attack of Kakumaru in close collaboration with the political police.
Faced with such counter-revolutionary assault, we relearned lessons of the vehement class struggles of the 1930s and developed a strategy of “forestalling civil war.”
Waging thus protracted, tough and concentrated energetic battles, we have changed the power relationship with Kakumaru.
In 1981, Japanese imperialism launched renewed counter-revolutionary attacks, namely the second phase construction of the Narita Airport and division and privatization of the National Railways. JRCL decided to shift into Phase II of the strategy of forestalling civil war, giving the first priority to the guerrilla warfare against imperialist state power, the second to the double-confrontation war against Kakumaru, and the third to the mass movement together with construction of the revolutionary workers’ party. [In Phase I of the strategy of forestalling civil war (1971~80), we were forced by the power relationship with the imperialist state power and Kakumaru to give the first priority to the double-confrontation war against Kakumaru, for very survival of the proletarian vanguard by combating white terrorism was an absolute necessity.]
1980s saw numerous revolutionary guerrilla operations, mainly against the second phase construction of the Narita (Sanrizuka) Airport, including long-range flame-thrower attack of Sep., 1984, against the headquarters of the LDP, the government party, promoter of the airport construction.
JR Soren (General Federation of the Japan Railways Unions) shamelessly helped union busting and dismissal of hundreds of thousands workers by promoting the division and privatization of the National Railways (1987) and are still brutally attacking the National Railway Workers’ Union and Chiba National Railway Motive Power Union for their militancy. On the eve of the inauguration of JR (“private company” Japan Railways) , MATSUZAKI, the vice-Chair of Kakumaru and the dictatorial leader of JR Soren, gave an interview and declared in a paper of the “Federation for the Victory over Communism”, the political organization built by Moon Sun Myung of the Unification Church:
“I break with socialism also in theoretical level,” and “approve nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants.” “I view my mission in life as dissuading workers from strike.” (Unification Church’s paper “SEKAI NIPPO”, Feb. 24, 1987)
Guerrilla operations and militant mass demonstrations against Japanese imperialist attempt of re-establishing Bonapartist regime with Emperor as its head taking opportunity of the process from the death of emperor Hirohito to the enthronement of his son Akihito were successfully carried out.
We succeeded in struggles against the Emperor offensive as materialization of the strategy Phase II. As for the situation surrounding us, we were faced with a new international and domestic political circumstances; “Persian Gulf War”, US aggressive war on Iraq, and the collapse of USSR Stalinism marked a historical turning point in intensifying inter-imperialist rivalries. These all resulted in reactionary changeover of Japanese political scene. [The first overseas dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces since the end of World War II, the reactionary split of the government party and the collapse of JSP, the largest opposition party.]
Summing up our experiences of the struggles of 1970s and 1980s, we decided to shift the pivot of organizational activities as a political party, to promoting revolutionary mass movements and building up organizational cell as essential component of workers’ party, while at the same time maintaining and enhancing the illegal underground activities and dual confrontation war with Kakumaru and the state power as a indispensable moment of our organizational tasks. This is the main point of the “May Thesis Line.”
The main agenda and decisions of the 19th Plenum were:
- summing up of the struggles under Phase I and Phase II of the strategy of forestalling civil war and May Thesis Line;
- total analysis of the today’s world after the collapse of USSR Stalinism and the situation in general;
- reinforcement of the Program recapture of Okinawa and the theory on the Third Anpo-Okinawa Struggle and on the Struggle against attempt of deleting the Article 9 (Peace Clause) of the Constitution; and
- realization of the “July 7 Line.”
Struggles of the preceding two years were summed up and the situation analysis and our tasks were decided. The leadership of JRCL, consisted of the Chair SHIMIZU Takeo and the General Secretary AMADA Mikio, was established and publicly announced.
Struggles against legislation of the laws relating to the New Guidelines of the Japan-US Security Cooperation
Struggles against legislation of the Organizational Crimes Prevention Laws (A package of the Organizational Crimes Law, the Wiretapping Law and an Amendment of the Criminal Procedure Code) and against “National Flag and National Anthem Law”
The successful November Workers’ Rally, under the banner of “Found a new stream of militant workers’ movement!”
Asian crisis of 1997 triggered an international process toward a great depression far more serious than that of 1929. The imperialist (capitalist) system has already reached deadlock. Each imperialist country is aiming at war, involving ex-Stalinist countries and remnant Stalinist states as China. In these circumstances, World War III is imminent.
In this historical period, it has become impossible for the workers and people of the world to survive without fighting against imperialism and Stalinism. It is high time for us to open our own future by our own struggle. Class struggles in Japanese and in the world have been remarkably raising morale and turning to offensive since 1998 or 1999.
For the Japanese ruling class, JRCL and fighting people are the nucleus of resistance against its main policies, namely the New Guidelines of Japan-US Security Co-operation, Okinawa, the National Railways, Sanrizuka (Narita Airport), military bases, Kitafuji maneuvering ground, Airports, Sayama affair, Emperor system, and and so on.
Workers and people of all countries,
rise up together with us under the banner of the Anti-Imperialist Anti-Stalinist World Revolution!
to Revised RULES OF JAPAN REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNIST LEAGUE
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