The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) is the oldest political party in Japan. It boasts a rich history spanning over 80 years. 2004 was another milestone in the life of the YAKP: at the XXIII congress held in January in the resort of Atami, a new party program was adopted.

In the 43 years that have passed since the adoption of the former ideological platform1 at the ^Eighth Party Congress in 1961, both the world and Japan have changed, and the Communists themselves have changed. The YAKP has made changes to the program four times in recent decades. But by 2004, it became obvious that individual amendments could no longer bring the document of forty years ago closer to the realities of today.

One of the main advantages of the new program, according to its creators, was the reduction and simplification of the text compared to the previous version of the YAKP program document. The changes are designed to make the program more accessible to ordinary citizens; strengthen the party's connection with potential voters; provide its own asset with a list of clear strategic goals and socio-political attitudes with which the YAKP enters the XXI century.

LOOKING BACK ON THE PAST, THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE

The new program of YAKP ² consists of five chapters. The first chapter, "Pre-war Japanese Society and the YAKP", which deals with the period from July 15, 1922 (the date of the founding of the Communist Party) to August 1945 (the surrender of militaristic Japan), has undergone the least changes. The party remained true to its previous assessment of its role in Japanese political life before and during World War II. In those years, the YAKP was the only consistent advocate of peace and democracy, despite all the hardships of the illegal situation.

The second chapter is titled " Characteristics of Post-war Japanese Society." The authors of the new program refused to present the main events of the recent past in a consistent, chronological order and formulated three key conclusions that characterize the specifics of this historical period.

This is, first of all, the loss of Japan's independence. As a result of the American occupation, and later the formation of the American-Japanese military-political alliance (treaties of 1951, 1960), Japan found itself in military and foreign policy subordination to the United States.

Secondly, the change of the political system in Japan during the constitutional reform. The Constitution of 1947, for the first time in the country's history, established the principle of popular sovereignty and renunciation of war, deprived the emperor of real power, denying him a divine origin.

Third, the dismantling of the semi-feudal system of land ownership, which was the material basis for the reproduction of the rudiments of the feudal system in the public life of Japan. The agrarian reform was one of the first important steps for successful progress on the path of modernization.

As a result, the YAKP defines modern Japan as the only highly developed capitalist country that is de facto dependent on the United States. Moreover, the influence of the United States extends not only to the military and diplomatic, but also to the economic sphere. In turn, the anti-national policies of large Japanese corporations, whose power is exercised in the form of state capitalism (an alliance of reactionary politicians, high-ranking corrupt officials, and business elites), result in many social problems. Such factors as the legal insecurity of workers ' interests (compared to the social guarantees provided by labor legislation in the EU countries), discrimination against women, the deterioration of the situation of small and medium-sized businesses (especially in the agricultural sector), and environmental pollution. The YAKP assumes that these contradictions and related conflicts will only increase in the new century.

The third chapter of the program - "The situation in the world: from the twentieth century to the twenty-first century" - provides a detailed picture of the transformations that affected international relations during the twentieth century, and offers guidelines for life in the coming century.

Despite the tragedies of world wars, totalitarian regimes, and numerous interethnic conflicts, the world continues to move along the path of progress. By the end of the last century, the YAKP refers to the emergence of the UN-a universal interstate forum and a world-loving guide-

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the collapse of the colonial system (thanks to which a new force, the Non - Aligned Movement, emerged on the world stage); the establishment of regimes in most countries that proclaim adherence to democratic values.

The program also analyzes in detail the world experience of socialist construction. Thus, it is argued that when Stalin came to power in the USSR, the Soviet leadership rejected socialist principles and guided the country along the path of hegemony in foreign policy and despotism in domestic policy ^.3 It is particularly emphasized that the YAKP once condemned the military aggression of the USSR against Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan. At the same time, since the Soviet Union in the eyes of the YAKP was, in fact, an "evil empire", the collapse of the USSR and the Soviet bloc, according to the Japanese Communists, cannot be considered the collapse of the socialist movement4 .

In the modern world, the YAKP refers to countries that have "abandoned capitalism" and are striving to achieve socialism based on a market economy as role models (China, Vietnam, Cuba are not mentioned directly in the text, but they are meant).

As the most serious global threats to humanity, the YAKP points to the dramatically widening gap between the poor and the rich, to environmental disasters, and to the continuing danger of the use of atomic weapons. The YAKP most severely criticizes the United States. The American foreign policy ideology of hegemonism, the doctrine of warning strikes, and economic expansion under the slogan of globalization are assessed by the YAKP as manifestations of neocolonialism and imperialism. The YAKP, opting for a world order based on the principles of the United Nations, asserts that American imperialism is the main threat to peace and security in the twenty-first century.

It is noteworthy that the current ideologists of the YAKP consider only highly developed capitalist countries with an aggressive foreign policy (currently the United States) to be imperialist. In itself, the active foreign economic activity of national monopolies, which is expressed, among other things, in the form of capital exports, is not considered by them to be a sign of imperialist policy. Thus, the YAKP does not classify modern Japan as an imperialist Power. In addition, Japanese Communists now prefer to refer to the ruling class as "large corporations and businesses" rather than as "monopoly capital" (a term that, in their view, is more applicable in economic rather than political analysis).

CONSENSUS-THE WEAPON OF THE JAPANESE PROLETARIAT

The largest and fourth chapter of the new program of the YAKP is called "Democratic Revolution and Democratic Coalition Government". By democratic revolution is meant the totality of transformations that modern Japan needs from the point of view of the YAKP. The concept of a democratic revolution, in contrast to the socialist one, presupposes the peaceful implementation of reforms within the existing socio-political system. At the same time, the cardinal nature of innovations affecting key areas of society's life, their implementation in the interests of the majority of the people, allow us to speak of a revolution in the social order.

The YAKP defines three sets of issues as the goals of the democratic revolution: national independence, security and diplomacy; constitution and democracy; and economic democracy.

In the foreign policy sphere, the YAKP calls for abandoning the Japanese-American alliance and the presence of US military bases on Japanese soil. With regard to its own self-defense forces, it is planned to prohibit their use abroad and strive for gradual complete elimination. The YAKP wants to build its relations with other members of the international community on the basis of its rights as a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, on the principles of peaceful coexistence and dialogue between different nations. The declared peacefulness, by the way, does not prevent the YAKP from making traditionally tough territorial demands on Russia, extending its claims entirely to all the islands of the Kuril Ridge.

At a time when the ruling coalition is actively preparing for constitutional reform, the YAKP intends to defend the inviolability of the basic foundations of the constitutional order, primarily the principles of popular sovereignty and pacifism.

The YAKP continues to believe that the role of the emperor as a symbol of the nation enshrined in the Constitution does not correspond to the principles of democracy. But the YAKP does not see the transition to a republican form of government outside the procedure of constitutional reform, the necessary condition for which is the support of the majority of Japanese society.

The struggle for democracy in the economic sphere for the YAKP is the implementation of a system of social guarantees for workers (modeled on Western Europe); limiting the omnipotence of large corporations in the interests of their employees, small and medium-sized businesses, and environmental protection; supporting national agriculture, forestry and fisheries, including for solving the problem of food self-sufficiency countries. In the field of international trade, the YAKP stands for equal relations with other countries and for solving global economic problems.-

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problems, including overcoming the North-South divide.

As a tool for implementing all the necessary changes, the YAKP is going to use a broad coalition of democratic forces, including representatives of various social strata - wage workers and employees, peasants and fishermen, representatives of small and medium-sized businesses, intellectuals, women, youth and students.

The YAKP advocates parliamentary methods of political struggle and seeks to enlist the support of the majority of citizens for a peaceful coming to power. If successful, the YAKP expects to create a government of a democratic coalition, in the formation of which all political forces that share the same democratic beliefs with the YAKP will be able to participate.

IS THERE A BUS STOP IN THE COMMUNE?

The last, fifth chapter of the program - "For a society of socialism/communism" - is devoted to the description of the ultimate goals of the YAKP.

In the society of the future, the YAKP plans to implement the socialization of the means of production, which will get rid of the exploitation of man by man and from poverty, and create conditions for a radical reduction of working hours in the interests of the comprehensive development of human individuality. It is also assumed that over time, social development based on the principles of humanism will reach such a level that there will be no need for the state as a specific form of self-organization of society.

The YAKP does not share or support the classical, generally accepted definitions of socialism and communism (the term "socialism/communism" is used) and suggests that the goals of progress are not strictly defined stages, but a long series of social transformations that do not have clear boundaries. According to the YAKP, the road to socialism / communism is a long road, every step of which requires creative efforts. It will not be possible to foresee in advance all the difficulties that await on it, or how to overcome them. It is important to learn the lessons of the past and move forward step by step, thinking about the real needs of the majority of the people and achieving public consensus in solving all important social problems.

NEW OLD PROGRAM

An analysis of the new program of the YAKP suggests that the Japanese Communists remain true to their ideals. The main provisions concerning the history of the YAKP, the ideas of the democratic revolution, the government of the democratic coalition, and the evolutionary nature of social development have remained virtually unchanged in the new version of the program. The political face of the YAKP is still defined by two of the most striking features-anti-Americanism and pacifism. It is the consistent anti-Americanism and pacifism that make it possible to accurately identify the YAKP in the political spectrum of modern Japan.

Back in the 60s of the last century, the YAKP refused to implement the socialist revolution as the main program requirement. The emasculation of the class approach resulted in the oblivion of the class struggle as the content and meaning of the communist movement. What was previously perceived as a departure from the orthodox tenets of communist ideology is now seen as a general crisis of the left - wing idea-social development outside the capitalist system is excluded from the current political agenda, pushed back to an indefinite historical perspective and practically not discussed.

Currently, the YAKP has about 400 thousand members. The YAKP enjoys a certain popularity at the local level - it has over 4 thousand deputies in local authorities. But the YAKP has never had the broad support of Japanese voters. In this sense, we should not overestimate the significance of its recent failures in the parliamentary elections (the number of seats held by the YAKP in both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors has been reduced from 20 to 9 in each). The YAKP retains its inherent minimum representation at the national level, and the recent fluctuations in the number of its mandates do not exceed traditional indicators.

At the same time, it seems that the future of the YAKP largely depends on the prospects for the formation of a two-party system in Japan. If the Japanese political class moves towards a two-party system, with the Liberal Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan as the poles, then the YAKP will fall on hard times. Let us venture to assume that the pro-consensus YAKP will have to abandon its own ideals in favor of more popular ideas.

¹ For more information about the eighth Congress and the previous program of the YAKP, see: Eighty Years of the Japanese Communist Party. Tokyo. 2004, p. 146 - 152.

² The program materials of the YAKP are provided by http://www.jcp.or.jp/english.

³ For the uneasy history of relations between the YAKP and the CPSU, see, for example, Fuwa T. Intervention and Conspiracy: The Struggle of the Japanese Communist Party against Soviet Hegemonism-from the secret archives of the CPSU. Tokyo, 1997.

⁴ See, for example, Japan: Handbook, Moscow, 1992, p. 384.

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