Appeal to the People or An Appeal to the People was a document written by communists in
Shōwa era
The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa ( Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the Taishō era.
The pre-1945 and post-war Shōwa periods are almos ...
Imperial Japan in
Fuchu Prison
Fuchu, King of Chu (), clan name Xiong, () was from 227 to 223 BC the last king of the state of Chu during the late Warring States period of ancient China (though sources argue that Lord Changping was the last king of Chu). Fuchu was his give ...
. It was issued after their release on October 10, 1945, a month after the
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...
on September 2, 1945.
In the first issue of the ''
Shimbun Akahata
is the daily organ of the Japanese Communist Party in the form of a national newspaper. It was founded in 1928 and currently has both daily and weekly editions. '' newspaper published after World War II,
Kyuichi Tokuda
was a Japanese politician and first chairman of the Japanese Communist Party from 1945 until his death in 1953.
Biography
Kyuichi Tokuda was born in 1894 in Okinawa and became a lawyer following graduation from Nihon University in 1920. He joi ...
,
Yoshio Shiga, and other released Communists issued an "Appeal to the People" on October 10, 1945. In it the following themes were advanced:
According to
John W. Dower
John W. Dower (born June 21, 1938 in Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, Rhode Island) is an American author and historian. His 1999 book ''Embracing Defeat, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II'' won the U.S. National Book Awar ...
"Later, when the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
intensified, this would become a point of embarrassment to the Communists, who lamely rationalized Tokuda's words by pointing out that the reference to "Allies" included the Soviet Union.
References
{{Reflist
1945 in Japan
1945 documents
Communism in Japan
Japanese Communist Party
Manifestos
Prison writings
Republicanism in Japan
Shōwa period