In the wake of Yashiro’s remarks, we ask lawmakers: “Why doesn’t the Communist Party change its name?

“You know you’re losing money, but…”

In the September 10 episode of “Hiruobi! (broadcast on September 10 on TBS), lawyer Eiki Yashiro commented that the Communist Party had not yet abolished violent revolution as a key element of the party’s platform.

There is no such phrase in the JCP’s platform (Mr. Yashiro mistakenly said “outline”). Since this was a clear misrepresentation of the facts, there were many calls for Mr. Yashiro to be removed from the program.

However, this issue may have made some people think , “If the name ‘Communist Party’ is misleading, why not just change the name of the party? Some of you may be thinking, “If the name “Communist Party” is so misleading, why not just change the name?

In fact, the Communist Party of Japan is the only party that has not changed its name in 99 years. However, don’t you ever feel that you are losing money with the party name? When I interviewed Tomoko Tamura, a member of the House of Councillors and Chair of the Policy Committee of the Japan Communist Party (JCP), she gave me this answer at the outset.

“We can’t change the name of the JCP because we are honest. It is because we have a vision of overcoming capitalism in the future that we are able to fight without wavering in the current era. If we change the name of the party here, it would mean that we have changed our vision for the future. Socialism and communism do not refer to countries like the Chinese Communist Party or the former Soviet Union. When we look 30, 40, 50, or even 100 years into the future, I think the most important way to gain the trust of the people is to honestly tell them that we are aiming to create a society that overcomes capitalism as the way the economy should be.

Global warming, widening inequality, and the problem of declining population: …… The impasse of capitalism is now felt by many people. I’m sure you can understand the “history” of it, but I still think the name of the party is a detriment. ……

“In the beginning, I myself had a so-called anti-communist consciousness. The word “communist” or “revolutionary” had a somewhat frightening image to me, so I can understand why people had that image.

But at the same time, as I was able to convince myself, I trust the reason and intelligence of the people, so even though I am aware that I am losing money, I am confident that if I communicate properly, people will understand.

It was the Abe administration that laid the groundwork for the fake statement!

In addition to his opening comment, Mr. Yashiro also commented on the program, “Personally, I feel that it’s quite natural that you would want to work with such a party (which, according to Mr. Yashiro’s misidentification, “has not abolished violent revolution as a key element of the party”).

“It’s impossible, isn’t it? I’m surprised that he would say such a fake thing so openly. Where does violence appear in our platform?

However, I think this is a sign that there are people who feel threatened by the opposition parties’ joint struggle this time. They don’t want to make any progress in the struggle, so the easiest party to attack in order to destroy it is the Communist Party.

It was the Abe administration that laid the groundwork for this attack. It was triggered by the Abe Cabinet’s decision (March 22, 2016) in its written response to the Cabinet decision that ‘at present, the group is still subject to investigation under the Subversive Activities Prevention Law (Anti-Subversive Activities Law)’ and ‘we are aware that there is no change in the policy of violent revolution.

It is true that the Public Security Bureau is investigating on its own. But since it is a lie to call it a “violent revolution,” they were too embarrassed to say it out in the open until now. So the public security organs have been hiding in the shadows and trying to monitor the situation, but of course nothing that would lead to violence has come out. Because it is not true.

In the first place, the Abe cabinet decisions and ‘perceptions’ are full of problems, and there are many things that they won’t admit even if you point out that they are not true.

Thanks to Mr. Yashiro’s comments?

Mr. Yashiro’s comments may have made some people read the JCP’s platform for the first time. However, there must be many people who still wonder if the party is really aiming for communism. What does the JCP mean by “communism”?

“Of course, we are not aiming for a shift to socialism right now. The main root of a socialist or communist economy is to eliminate exploitation. Everyone should work together, produce value together, and enjoy it together, which is what “communism” means.

Rather than jumping from one place to another, I believe that we should solve the problems that are actually occurring under capitalism one by one, which will lead to the future of society.

For example, nowadays, a handful of people, such as major shareholders, control all aspects of management and pursue only the maximization of short-term profits.

The electronics and information industry, for example, has been trying to make a profit for the time being by cutting labor costs through massive restructuring. This has led to the loss of engineers and an increase in non-regular employment. Low-wage workers have lost their purchasing power, and this has chilled consumption in Japan. I think it has weakened the Japanese economy.

However, politics is also cozying up to the government to see what can be done to preserve the immediate profits, isn’t it? We are pursuing the issue of restructuring at individual large corporations and calling for employment rules that will change the flow of employment from non-regular to regular, but we believe that this will lead to the elimination of the structure of exploitation itself in the future.

The problem of exploitation and economic disparity is huge, and it has been magnified by the Corona disaster, increasing the sense of unfairness in the world.

While there are high hopes for the work of the opposition parties, there is also a lot of criticism that “anyone can just say it” and “all they do is say things that cannot be realized. How can they bridge the distance between their goals and ideals and reality?

“The Communist Party is often said to be idealistic, but I think that when a crisis like the current one occurs, that is when the evils and contradictions of capitalism erupt.

It is the “workers” who make the economy go round and produce goods, and the current political and economic system that sees them only as “labor costs” is not right.

In particular, 56% of female workers, or nearly 60%, are non-regular workers. Because of the Corona disaster, they have been cut off from the workforce, have no jobs, and are forced to work for low wages.

3.I think we can do the same thing with the economy as we did with nuclear power.

Why the LDP’s Approval Rating Hasn’t Gone Down and the Opposition’s Support Rating Hasn’t Gone Up…

By the way, no matter how much the LDP’s approval rating falls, the opposition’s approval rating does not rise. What do you think is the cause of this?

“I think that most of the people don’t see or understand the opposition. I don’t want to blame the media, but the amount of information provided is overwhelmingly dominated by the LDP, including the presidential election. How can we send out information that will not be outdone by the LDP?

If we don’t move, the news media won’t be able to cover it, so I think we need to do more to make our actions more understandable to the public, and we need to do more to appeal to the public in order to convey our policies, not just to publish them.

“While many people are calling for a change of government through a coalition of opposition parties, there are also many who say, “I don’t really understand what a coalition of opposition parties is. What are the strengths of the opposition coalition?

“I think this is the development of democracy in Japan, where each party has its own unique policies, but they fight together on the same points. I think this is the development of democracy in Japan. Democracy is a society in which it is natural to have different opinions and different political parties. Differences in opinion are a prerequisite for building a will through consultation. I think that diversity is the strength and appeal of the opposition coalition. “The content of the document is able to show a vision in a broad direction without wavering on the point of “paying decent wages to working people,” so I hope people will take a close look at it.