The
Red Scare
A Red Scare is the promotion of a widespread fear of a potential rise of communism, anarchism or other leftist ideologies by a society or state. The term is most often used to refer to two periods in the history of the United States which ar ...
in Japan refers to the promotion of fear of the rise of communism or radical leftism in Japan.
Throughout the history of
Imperial Japan, the government suppressed
socialist
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 ...
and
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 ...
movements. In order to combat the
Communist International, Japan signed the
Anti-Comintern Pact with Germany and Italy in Nov. 6, 1937.
Near the end of
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 ...
, Prince
Konoe Fumimaro promoted the fear of a communist revolution as a result of
Japan's defeat.
In response to
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 ...
tensions in Asia, the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
funded the
Japanese Liberal Democratic Party in an effort to turn Japan into a bulwark against communism during the 1950s and 1960s.
See also
*
Japanese dissidence during the Shōwa period
*
Political repression in Imperial Japan Political repression in Imperial Japan lasted from the Meiji period to the fall of the Empire of Japan after the end of World War II. Throughout this period, dissidence was curtailed by laws, and police, and dissidents became political prisoners.
S ...
*
Japanese Red Army
The was a militant communist organization active from 1971 to 2001. It was designated a terrorist organization by Japan and the United States. The JRA was founded by Fusako Shigenobu and Tsuyoshi Okudaira in February 1971 and was most active i ...
*
Red Purge
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
References
{{reflist , 2
Political movements in Japan
Anti-communism in Japan
Japan–Soviet Union relations
Red Scare