was a Japanese

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician. He was the leader 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 ...

(JCP) from 1958 to 1977.

Early life

Miyamoto was born in Shimata-mura (島田村), Yamaguchi in 1908. He was originally from

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). Y ...

. Miyamoto attended and graduated from

Tokyo Imperial University , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

in March 1931, which is now the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

, where he majored in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

Japanese Communist Party

Kenji Miyamoto officially joined the

(JCP) two months after graduation in May 1931. In 1932 Miyamoto married author and humanitarian activist Yuriko Chūjō who had returned from living in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

together with Yuasa Yoshiko. Chūjō was editor of the

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

literary journal ''Hataraku Fujin'' (Working Women), a leading figure in the

proletarian literature movement Proletarian literature refers here to the literature created by left-wing writers mainly for the class-conscious proletariat. Though the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' states that because it "is essentially an intended device of revolution", it is ...

and a member of the JCP. Since its founding in 1922, the JCP had been outlawed 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 subjected to repression and persecution by the government of

Imperial 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 forma ...

. Miyamoto was arrested by the Japanese military police in 1933 and accused of conspiring to beat a policeman to death in a crackdown on Japanese communists. He denied that he had committed the crime. Miyamoto was convicted of the

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

charges and sentenced to life in prison. He was released 12 years later after Japan surrendered, ending

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 ...

in 1945. His prison sentence had been annulled following an imperial decree by

Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

. Miyamoto reentered politics soon after his release from prison and once again became involved with the Japanese Communist Party. He led the Communist's 1949 election campaign, which saw the JCP win 35 seats. The JCP lost ground in 1950, just before the start of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, just across the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

. Gen.

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

, the American

Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers was the title held by General Douglas MacArthur during the United States-led Allied occupation of Japan following World War II. It issued SCAP Directives (alias SCAPIN, SCAP Index Number) to the Japanese government, aiming to suppress its "milit ...

in Japan, banned Miyamoto and 23 other high ranking JCP members from holding any public office. Miyamoto became head of the JCP in 1958. That same year, Miyamoto publicly renounced his previous calls for a violent

communist revolution A communist revolution is a proletarian revolution often, but not necessarily, inspired by the ideas of Marxism that aims to replace capitalism with communism. Depending on the type of government, socialism can be used as an intermediate stage ...

in Japan. Instead, he and the JCP now switched to a peaceful stance, which Miyamoto called "smiling communism". The party under Miyamoto began emphasizing issues such as housing, inflation and education. Miyamoto further mainstreamed the JCP throughout his term. He oversaw the removal of the phrase "

proletarian dictatorship In Marxist philosophy, the dictatorship of the proletariat is a condition in which the proletariat holds state power. The dictatorship of the proletariat is the intermediate stage between a capitalist economy and a communist economy, whereby the ...

" following the JCP convention in 1976 and replaced it with a declaration supporting democracy and freedom. The party has continued with this platform that Miyamoto began up to the present day. The JCP rebounded under Miyamoto from its leaders' partial ban in 1950, despite its opposition to the existence of the

Japanese Imperial Family The , also referred to as the Imperial Family or the House of Yamato, comprises those members of the extended family of the reigning Emperor of Japan who undertake official and public duties. Under the present Constitution of Japan, the Emperor i ...

, which made the party unpopular with many Japanese. The JCP reached its electoral zenith in 1979 when it captured 8% of the seats in Japan's lower house of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. Miyamoto was known for his independent views. He visited

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 1966 and called the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

"abnormal." He was noted for his outspoken condemnation of the 1968

invasion of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Miyamoto also opposed the close alliance between Japan and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Following the

fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...

eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

, Miyamoto stated that it was a defeat for

Stalinism Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

and the Soviet-backed governments, but not for

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

. Miyamoto stepped down as leader of the JCP in 1977. He was succeeded as

presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. Communist states In Communist states the presidi ...

chairman by

Tetsuzo Fuwa is the pen name of a member''The Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (1979) and the former chair of the Japanese Communist Party. He is a graduate of Tokyo University. He joined the Communist Party in 1947. By around 1972, Fuwa was being placed in p ...

in 1982. Miyamoto remained active within the JCP and continued to hold the post of chairman until his official retirement in September 1997. He held an honorary position from 1997 until his death in 2007. Miyamoto died from

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

in a

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

hospital on 18 July 2007. He was 98 years old. Yuriko Miyamoto had died in 1951.

External links

Miyamoto, key postwar leader of JCP, dies at 98
''Japan Times''

''New York Times''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miyamoto, Kenji 1908 births 2007 deaths Japanese communists Members of the House of Councillors (Japan) Japanese Communist Party politicians University of Tokyo alumni Hikari, Yamaguchi Politicians from Yamaguchi Prefecture

Early life

Japanese Communist Party

See also

External links

References