The , abbreviated DYLJ or , is a political youth organisation in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is the youth wing of the

Japanese Communist Party The is a left-wing to far-left political party in Japan. With approximately 270,000 members belonging to 18,000 branches, it is one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party advocates the establishment of a democr ...

, as well as an organisational body of

Zengakuren Zengakuren is a league of university student associations founded in 1948 in Japan. The word is an abridgement of which literally means "All-Japan Federation of Student Self-Government Associations." Notable for organizing protests and marches, ...

. Minsei describes itself as a "voluntary youth organisation in response to a keen demand of the youth, aiming towards a better life, peace, independence, democracy and social progress". Its main activities are the peace movement, opposition to tuition hikes, petitions, volunteer work and educational activities and the like.

History

The DYLJ was formed on 5 April 1923 in the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

as the Japanese Communist Youth League, influenced by the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Like the JCP, it focused on

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

for young Japanese aged 18 and above, the overthrow of the "Emperor system", equal pay for equal work and opposition of

militarisation Militarization, or militarisation, is the process by which a society organizes itself for military conflict and violence. It is related to militarism, which is an ideology that reflects the level of militarization of a state. The process of mili ...

. Also, like the JCP, it was banned under the

Peace Preservation Law The was a Japanese law enacted on April 22, 1925, with the aim of allowing the Special Higher Police to more effectively suppress socialists and communists. In addition to criminalizing forming an association with the aim of altering the ''kokuta ...

and some of its members, like Yoshitora Kawai were captured by police, killed or died in prison. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Japan Youth Communist League was established. Later on, it was renamed the Japan Democratic Youth League. After the return of the JCP's ideology of scientific socialism, it was renamed the Democratic Youth League of Japan. In 1960, during its 6th National Congress, the League established their Agreement and "Call to the Youth League", both of which shaped the DYLJ's present character.

References

External links

* Japanese Communist Party Youth wings of communist parties Youth wings of political parties in Japan {{Communist-youth-org-stub