Japan Press Weekly

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2024 April 24 - May 7 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Young people loosely connected with JCP deepen their interest in politics

Young people who are loosely connected with the Japanese Communist Party are becoming interested in politics and social issues by learning more about JCP policies and the structure of society.

Citizens who support the JCP have created a group called JCP Supporter. They usually take part in on-the-street politicking together with JCP Dietmembers, including JCP Chair Tamura Tomoko, and sometimes work on street surveys.

The JCP Supporter last October held Supporters’ Festival in Tokyo. Young people who visited the festival and wanted to learn about politics more casually formed connections, which they named the “Loose Club” or “Yuru Bu” in Japanese.

In March of this year, the JCP ran a booth at the Democracy Youth Festival 2024, which was organized by the Japan Youth Conference, in Tokyo. Many of those who visited the booth had almost no knowledge of the JCP.

However, one Loose Club member recalled, “Many staff at the JCP booth were women, so they were easy to talk to. The booth was always full of people and lively. I had a lot of fun.”

A 25-year-old man from Chiba Prefecture asked, “Does your party aim for a communist society?” A booth staff explained to him the “three freedoms” of socialism and communism: freedom from the profit-first principle; free and full human development; and human freedom. He learned that social transformation in a highly-developed capitalist country has immensely rich potential for freedom of human beings.

A junior high school student living in Tokyo said, “I want Japan to engage in peaceful diplomacy.” A booth staff told the student that the JCP is committed to peace diplomacy, following ASEAN’s “habit of having dialogue” and making use of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. The student said, “I agree with the JCP policy.”

After the festival, 13 young people, including the JCP booth visitors who wanted to continue the conversation and Loose Club members, moved to a nearby cafe and chatted about various topics.

A high school student who has an interest in transportation and urban planning was told about the JCP “traffic and transportation” policy. Thus, they developed their interest in politics and the JCP which has policies for each sector.