Full Description
This book provides an historical overview of the Japanese Communist Party from its foundation to the present. It outlines the development of the party, explores its stance on key issues and discusses how the party has set a high moral tone, avoiding compromising coalitions with other parties, being intolerant of corruption within its own ranks, and frequently and consistently opposing the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The book also considers the internal nature of the party, which continues to have a mass membership, and which in recent years has softened its former somewhat rigid approach. The book emphasizes the importance for Japan of this moral approach as the conscience of the nation, especially as the present Abe government moves Japan to the right, even though the Japanese Communist Party has never gained power and is never likely to.
Contents
Publisher's Note, Foreword - Professor Arthur Stockwin, Foreword - Sam Atherton, Dedication and Acknowledgements - Sam Atherton, Preface - Peter Berton, Acknowledgements - Peter Berton, Explanatory Notes, Part I: History and Organization, Chapter 1: Brief History, Chapter 2: The Party, Part II: Ideology and Politics, Chapter 3: Ideological Adaptation, Chapter 4: Electoral Record, Part III: International Relations, Chapter 5: Relations with Moscow through the Summit of 1979, Chapter 6: Relations with Moscow after the Summit of 1979, Chapter 7: Relations with Beijing, Chapter 8: Relations with other Communist Parties and Diplomatic Activity, Chapter 9: Conclusions, Prognosis, and Evaluations, Index.
