February 1, 2013

Akahata ‘Current’ column

Akahata was first published in 1928, the year before the Great Depression. During the 1930s, cities were thronged with unemployed workers, farming villages were in a state of severe poverty, a large number of children were undernourished, and women were sold to brothels and factories located in the cities. This was when Japan began its full-scale invasion of China.

Also in 1928, the Maintenance of Public Order Law, established to protect and strengthen the emperor system, was revised and included the death penalty as its maximum punishment. With its continuous opposition to the war and call for sovereignty to be placed in the hands of citizens, the Japanese Communist Party was regarded by the power as a state enemy. However, without yielding to the storm of crackdowns, the JCP courageously continued publication of its organ paper Akahata.

The late Suzuki Masashi, Aichi University professor, recalled in his writing the publication of the 165th issue of Akahata, the last issue printed using typography during the war. The print shop he and his colleagues finally secured for the printing was located just across the street from a police box. They were very concerned that the police might hear the noise of printing, but it was successful without anyone disturbing them. Suzuki wrote, “During the 4-hour printing process, no police officer or a single customer visited the store. (The successful publication) must have been greatly attributed to this luck.”

In October 1945 just after the end of the war, the JCP openly restarted its activities and Akahata was again published. The publication of the daily was once suspended by the GHQ, but restarted on May 1, 1952. As we celebrate our 85th anniversary, we would like to deepen our ties with our faithful readers.