Social Democratic Party
社会民衆党
Shakai Minshū-tō
ChairpersonAbe Isoo[1]
Secretary-GeneralTetsu Katayama[1]
FoundedDecember 5, 1926 (1926-12-05)
DissolvedJuly 1, 1932 (1932-07-01)
Split fromRight-wing faction of Labour-Farmer Party[2]
Succeeded bySocial Masses Party
HeadquartersTokyo
Membership (1929)48,952[3]
IdeologySocial democracy[4]
Anti-capitalism[4]
Anti-communism[4]
Anti-fascism[4]
Political positionCentre-left[5] to left-wing

The Social Democratic Party (社会民衆党, Shakai Minshū-tō) (a more accurate translation of the Japanese name would be "Social People's Party", but this naming is common in English texts[6]) was a political party in Japan between 1926 and 1932. Amongst the three main proletarian parties in Japan at the time, the Social Democratic Party occupied a rightist position.[7]

History

The party was founded on December 5, 1926, by the Japan Federation of Labour (Sōdōmei), other trade unions and the Independent Labour Association, an organization of moderate leftist intellectuals.[8] Abe Isoo was elected chairman of the party. Suzuki Bunji, Nishio Suehiro, Akamatsu Katsumaro, Shimanaka Yuzō and Kagawa Toyohiko were Central Committee members of the party.[8] The elements which formed the new party had belonged to the Labour-Farmer Party, which opposed the inclusion of leftists in the latter party. Sodomei and other trade union had pulled out of the Labour-Farmer Party on October 24, 1926.[8][9] However, only four days after its foundation the new party suffered its first split, as leftwing socialists broke away and formed the Japan Labour-Farmer Party.[8]

In March 1927 the General Federation of Japanese Peasant Unions was formed as the agrarian wing of the party. (Japanese: Nihon Nomin Kumiai Sodomei) was a farmers' organization in Japan.[7][9] A women's organization linked to the party, the Social Women's League, was founded in November 1927. It changed its name to Social Democratic Women's League in July 1928.[10]

Regarding the Chinese question, the party opposed the policies of the Japanese government, demanding a recognition of the Nanking government and encouragement of the Three Principles of Sun Yat-sen.[11] In May 1927 the Social Democratic Party sent Miyazaki Ryusuke and Matsuoka Komakichi to Shanghai, where they met with Chiang Kai-shek. A solidarity agreement between the Social Democratic Party and the Kuomintang was signed.[12]

Miyazaki Ryusuke left the party in 1929, forming the National Democratic Party.[13]

The party won two seats in the 1930 national election.[14]

The party merged with the National Labour-Farmer Masses Party in July 1932, forming the Social Masses Party.[15]

Election results

House of Representatives
Election year Candidates Voter # of seats Change Source
1928 17 120,044
4 / 446
 Steady [16]
1930 33 170,974
2 / 446
 Decrease 2 [16]
1932 - -
3 / 446
 Increase 1 [3]

References

  1. 1 2 Awaya 1983, pp. 37, 346.
  2. ↑ Awaya 1983, p. 37.
  3. 1 2 Awaya 1983, p. 146.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Shiota, Sakiko. 日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)の解説 [The Nihon Dai Hyakka Zensho: Nipponica's explanation]. kotobank.jp (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun Company. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  5. ↑ The Buraku Issue and Modern Japan: The Career of Matsumoto Jiichiro. Author - Ian Neary. P.67. Published by Routledge in London and New York in 2010.
  6. ↑ Mackie, Vera C. Creating Socialist Women in Japan: Gender, Labour and Activism, 1900–1937. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. p. 230
  7. 1 2 Beckmann, George M., and Genji Okubo. The Japanese Communist Party 1922–1945. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1969. p. 103
  8. 1 2 3 4 Beckmann, George M., and Genji Okubo. The Japanese Communist Party 1922–1945. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1969. pp. 101–102
  9. 1 2 Wakukawa, Seiyei. Japanese Tenant Movements, in Far Eastern Survey, Vol. 15, No. 3 (Feb. 13, 1946), pp. 40–44
  10. ↑ Mackie, Vera C. Creating Socialist Women in Japan: Gender, Labour and Activism, 1900–1937. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. p. 139
  11. ↑ Young, Arthur Morgan. Imperial Japan, 1926–1938. New York: W. Morrow & Co, 1938. p. 43
  12. ↑ Large, Stephen S. Showa Japan: Political, Economic and Social History 1926–1989. London: Routledge, 1998. p. 121
  13. ↑ Large, Stephen S. Showa Japan: Political, Economic and Social History 1926–1989. London: Routledge, 1998. p. 122
  14. ↑ Beckmann, George M., and Genji Okubo. The Japanese Communist Party 1922–1945. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1969. p. 192
  15. ↑ Mackie, Vera C. Creating Socialist Women in Japan: Gender, Labour and Activism, 1900–1937. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. p. 132
  16. 1 2 Awaya 1983, p. 144.

Further reading

  • Awaya, Kentarō [in Japanese] (1983). 昭和の政党 [Political parties in Shōwa period Japan]. Shōwa no rekishi (in Japanese). Vol. 6. Tokyo: Shogakukan. ISBN 978-4093760065.
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