Japan Press Weekly

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2008 February 27 - March 4 [JCP]

Fuwa speaks on 75th anniversary of death of Kobayashi Takiji

On February 26, about 1,200 people participated in an assembly in Tokyo to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the death of Kobayashi Takiji, a proletarian writer and Japanese Communist Party member.

Kobayashi was arrested by the Special High Police (Tokko) on February 20, 1933 and was tortured to death on the same day.

Fuwa Tetsuzo, director of the Social Science Institute of the JCP, spoke about Kobayashi as radical social critic of the era, describing how he opposed Japan’s war and militalization as a member of the Japanese society and how he strived to describe the era in his novels.

“Kobayashi made progress as a writer by focusing on the society’s structure of creating poverty and the struggles to fight against it” in his early works, including “March 15th, 1928,” said Fuwa.

He added, “Kobayashi would be happy to see that young people are even now reading and gaining power for their struggles from Kanikosen (The Cannery Boat),” written in 1929 about temporary workers.

Fuwa added that the period when Kobayashi made further progress was around 1931 when Japan started its war of aggression against Manchuria. Around that time he became the secretary of the Proletarian Writers League and a JCP member.

Stressing that To-seikatsusha (Living the Political Party Life) and two other short novels written latter were all part of longer stories in which Takiji tried to describe the Japanese wartime society and struggles of workers, farmers, and JCP members, Fuwa said, “I would like to encourage you to read how Takiji’s works developed within the general historical context.”
　
Fuwa in conclusion called on all the people who have respect for Kobayashi’s literature and life to carry on his attempt to create a future of peace and social justice.