July 15, 2018

A total of 151 people nationwide decided to join the Japanese Communist Party on July 15, the 96th anniversary of the JCP founding. Several days earlier, in Tokyo, the JCP held a commemorative assembly where 46 people opted for JCP membership in the end. A woman in her 20s participated in this assembly with her mother who is a JCP activist and decided to join the JCP. How do they feel now?

Daughter: Now I know why my parents have been working so hard

In December last year, I worked overtime until nearly midnight. I was so busy that I understood the sentiment of people who committed suicide due to overwork. I still work overtime until after eight in the evening. I can tolerate this because I receive extra pay for that, but I'm sure I won't be able to make ends meet without overtime allowances. In this context, I'm absolutely opposed to the Abe administration's way of reforming labor legislation.

Both my parents are JCP members. I grew up in the family atmosphere wavering between joy and grief each time an election takes place. After I started to work, I began to sort of understand why my parents have been working so hard as JCP activists. As I'm always tired from work, I was still worried if I could manage to handle JCP activities such as attending JCP branch meetings. That's why I had hesitated to become a JCP member.

However, the speech JCP Chair Shii Kazuo delivered today touched my heart. The JCP has been working to strengthen the joint struggles engaged in by opposition parties and concerned citizens as a way to replace the Abe government. That has made me strongly feel that I want to contribute to a JCP advance. I now want to respond to Shii's earnest call and decided to join the JCP. I'm an Akahata Sunday edition subscriber but I will read the daily Akahata from now on as the first step in my JCP life to learn more about the world.

Mother: I'm now filled with great joy

I have a 30-year-experience in the JCP. My husband and I first met through activities we took part in with the Democratic Youth League of Japan. Since then, we have been living our lives to the fullest as JCP members. We thought our daughter was not a difficult child and we did not know how lonely she was. After she got a job and began to live on her own, she one day told us that she had long been worried that she wasn't loved by her parents. We were very surprised. So, we talked with her many times.

She then began asking us questions about politics and society and giving us her views on politics sometimes. My husband and I were also aware of how busy she was, and we wanted her to have friends who want to learn together about the world by joining the JCP. It was around that time that the daily Akahata carried "Invitations to the JCP". I read these with her. Shortly before the commemorative assembly, she sent me a text message asking if I would go to the assembly with her, and here we are.

Right after the speech, she told me that she was going to apply for JCP membership. I'm now filled with great joy.