Libmonster ID: JP-1566
Author(s) of the publication: A. I. Senatorov

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of the founder of the labor movement and one of the propagandists of the ideas of socialism in Japan, the initiator of the creation of the Communist Party of Japan, a prominent figure of the Comintern, Seng Katayama.

Katayama left a rich literary legacy. In his books, pamphlets, articles, correspondence, letters, memoirs, he responded vividly to events that took place both in Japan and in the international arena. The value of these works for historical scholarship lies in the fact that Katayama wrote mainly about events in which he was a direct participant. He was distinguished by the desire to document his evidence, be extremely objective, and critically rethink his own erroneous assessments, taking into account historical experience. All this determines the expediency of making extensive use of Katayama's works in research on the modern and contemporary history of Japan, especially its labor movement.

In the post-war period, scientists of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Marxism - Leninism under the Central Committee of the CPSU did considerable work on the publication of Katayama's works . References to the testimonies and assessments of the outstanding Japanese revolutionary can often be found in monographs and textbooks on the modern and contemporary history of Japan, and they are also found in such a major work as " The International Labor Movement. Questions of history and theory". At the same time, some historians, quoting extensively Japanese and other foreign authors, do not notice that their works only repeat what Katayama once said or interpret (often arbitrarily) the facts published by him earlier. And this is not accidental, since a more or less complete collection of his works is still not available either in Japanese or in Russian .2 Katayama's books and pamphlets were published in small editions during his lifetime, and they have long been a bibliographic rarity. His articles in magazines published in Japan, Europe, America and our country are also not easily accessible.

Katayama's range of interests was wide. But most often he wrote about the working class of Japan, its situation and the struggle against political disenfranchisement under the monarchical regime, against the oppression of capital, aggravated by feudal remnants. The trade union movement in Japan emerged only at the very end of the XIX century. And already in 1901, the book "The Labor Movement in Japan" appeared, written by Katayama in collaboration with K. Nishikawa. It summarized the experience of the brief

1 Katayama S. Articles and memoirs (to the centenary of the birth). Moscow, 1959; his. On the question of the origin and development of Marxism in Japan, Moscow, 1960. Memoirs, Moscow, 1964. (Translated from English).

2 The most complete collection of Katayama's works is published in the 5th edition in connection with the 100th anniversary of his birth (Katayama Sen choshakushu. Tt. 1-3. Tokyo. 1959 - 1960).

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(about four years) of the initial period of the Japanese trade union movement. After reviewing the prehistory of the labor movement in their country, the authors describe in detail the Association for Promoting the Formation of Trade Unions, the Union of Metalworkers, the Union of railway Workers, the Union of printers, and other workers ' organizations, most of which Katayama took an active part in creating. The object of the analysis was the charters of trade union organizations, and various aspects of their activities were considered in detail. The book taught the Japanese working class the basics of the trade union movement, without which it is impossible to protect its interests.

During the same period of the Japanese trade union movement, Katayama was editor - in-chief of the Japanese trade union publication Rodo Sekai (Rabochy Mir), published weekly from December 1, 1897 to December 21, 1901, and weekly from April 3, 1902 to February 23, 1903. From March 3, 1903 to December 3, 1904, the magazine was published by Katayama under the title "Shakaishugi "("Socialism"), first twice, and then once a month. The magazine's materials, including Katayama's regularly published articles and notes, are a kind of chronicle of the Japanese labor movement of those years. Rodo Sekai, and above all its regular publication of several odd English texts, became the first source of information about the Japanese labor movement for socialists in European countries.

Katayama often sent his review articles on the workers ' and emerging socialist movement of Japan to the Western socialist press. From August 1901 to 1917. 25 of his articles were published in the Chicago-based journal of American socialists, The International Socialist Review. In 1901-1904. he has written articles in the journals of European social democracy: "Die Zukunft", "Vorwarts", "Socialist Spirit"and especially often - in French "La Mouvement Socialiste". Katayama, in particular, gave detailed information about the first attempt to create a social democratic party in Japan in 1901, which was immediately banned by the authorities, and described the content of its program documents.

In the first years of this century, the Russian public turned its attention to its Far Eastern neighbor, which had embarked on the path of rapid development of capitalism and immediately joined the struggle for an imperialist division of the world. At that time, Russian readers also became aware of Katayama's name. The journal " Vestnik inostrannoy Literatura "in the review of the foreign press" Socialism in Japan "quoted S. Katayama's statements about the struggle of two trends in Japan - "peace-loving and militant" - from November 1903. Katayama was a strong opponent of the war between Russia and Japan. "We Japanese socialists," he emphasized, " are rebelling against a war with Russia, because it can end in nothing else but that thousands of poor, ignorant workers will be taken to the slaughterhouse in order to satisfy the interests of the capitalist classes and the ruling individuals, and that it will cause thousands of widows and orphans to appear in the poorest regions of the world." it will increase their poverty even more. If Japan is defeated, we will have to pay a heavy indemnity to Russia, to us, that is, under the present economic system, to the proletarian class. If we emerge victorious, the result will still not be more brilliant for the workers... The dominance of militarism, which we already have to complain about, will be even more pronounced. " 3 Following the publication in the Russian press of these words, Katayama publicly confirmed his internationalist position, exchanging a symbolic friendly handshake with G. V. Plekhanov at the meeting of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

3 Bulletin of Foreign Literature, St. Petersburg, 1904, July, p. 316.

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by opening the Amsterdam Congress of the Second International and declaring to the Congress the intention of Japanese social democracy to "openly advocate world peace", regardless of any persecution by the authorities .4
In the autumn of 1905, three progressive publishing houses in Russia published a translation from French of J. Longuet's book "Social Movement in Japan", 5 which significantly expanded the Russian reader's understanding of the then stage of development of the workers ' and socialist movement in the country that had inflicted a military defeat on the autocracy. It is characteristic that the most important and authoritative source of information about the situation in Japan for the author of the book was materials from Rodo Sekai and Katayama's articles in foreign publications.

In the future, Katayama considered it his duty to regularly inform the world community about the political life in Japan, the struggle of the working class, and the activities of the Japanese socialists, which took place in conditions of continuous police harassment. In addition to the above-mentioned American and European press organs, it is also published in the German social-Democratic organ Die neue Zeit (in 1910-1914 - nine articles). His works also appear in the Russian press .6 Foreign publications of the Japanese revolutionary and his assessment of the situation in Japan attract the attention of the ruling circles of Russia. In the review of the periodical press, which was regularly made by the headquarters of the Amur Military District, there is a translation of one of his articles, accompanied by a characteristic conclusion about the author's political personality: "This praise of strikes clearly indicates the extreme aspirations of the socialist Katayama" 7 .

At the end of World War I, Katayama was forced to leave his homeland for the United States. From there, he continued to follow the development of the political situation in his country, responding to the most important events in it with articles that, due to the political beliefs of the author, who stood on resolute anti-war positions and joined the activities of the internationalist left wing of the Socialist Party of America from the end of 1916, were published primarily in the printed organs of this Struggle", "The Revolutionary Age" and its other publications.

During the American period of his life, Katayama published, with the help of his left - wing socialist friends, an overview of the Labor Movement in Japan .8 Unlike the 1901 work of the same name, in his new book he did not confine himself to describing only the history of trade unions, but described in detail the origin and development of the socialist movement, the anti-war struggle of the socialists who rallied in 1903-1905 around the newspaper "Heimin Shimbun" ("People's Newspaper"), their publishing and propaganda work, and their activities The Japanese Socialist Party, founded in 1906 and lasted a little over a year, about disagreements among Japanese socialists on tactics, reprisals against socialists, including the famous trial on charges of an attempt on the emperor, which ended with the massacre of Vida-

4 For more information about this episode in Katayama's life, see Goldberg D. I. Katayama Sen and the Amsterdam Congress of the Second International (1904). - Peoples of Asia and Africa, 1968, N 2.

5 Longe J. Socialism in Japan. Odessa. 1905; same name. Social movement in Japan. Rostov-n/D. 1905; it is the same. Social movement in Japan. Odessa. 1905.

6 S. Katayama's answers to the "Petite Republique" questions. Bulletin of Knowledge, St. Petersburg, 1906, No. 9; Katayama S. Promyshlennost ' i sotsializm v Jap'anii [Industry and Socialism in Japan]. - Ibid., 1910, N 12; Presentation of the article by S. Katayama from the Sozialistische Monatshefte. Sovremennik, St. Petersburg, 1913, book 3.

7 China and Japan. Review of the Periodical Press, No. 94, Khabarovsk. 1912, p. 12.

8 Katayama S. The Labor Movement in Japan. Chicago. 1918.

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socialist S. Kotoku and his comrades. Katayama did not yet have a sufficient understanding of the theory of scientific socialism, but he already instinctively felt many, though not all, of the shortcomings of the Japanese socialist movement, and he was particularly acutely concerned about the socialists ' lack of close contact with the working masses. He believed that the revolution in Japan "will be proletarian." 9 His book is still a work that researchers of the history of the Japanese labor movement from the end of the 19th century to the eve of the First World War always refer to.

Following the news from Russia about the February and then the Great October Socialist Revolution, which Katayama perceived as the greatest event in modern history that corresponded to his ideals, news came to New York about the "rice riots" that swept through most prefectures of Japan in August and September 1918-mass actions of workers, peasants and the urban poor, which were attended by 10 million people. Katayama scrupulously collected reports about these events, and carefully studied them, concluding that the" rice riots " arose under the influence of the October Revolution in Russia and are a concrete manifestation of the revolutionary energy of the Japanese proletariat. He made these assessments in the small magazine Heimin ("The People"), which he published, as well as in the left-wing print organ of the American Socialists .10 But even later, Katayama repeatedly returned to this issue. This was of no small importance, since in Japan censorship prevented the publication of information about the "rice riots", trying to erase the memory of them, and among the progressive historians of the country there was an erroneous point of view that did not allow them to be considered as a revolutionary action for the reason that socialist groups did not take part in them11 .

"Rice riots" are primarily an indicator of the degree of dissatisfaction with the existing social system in Japan, the enormous revolutionary potential hidden in its working class. That is why, when Katayama's article "Critical Review of the Class Movement in Japan after World War II" was published in the popular Japanese magazine Chuo Koron (Central Public Review), 12 which focused on the analysis of the" rice Riots", the sale of this print organ was banned, although the article was already censored. many places containing descriptions of these mass actions have been excluded. One of Katayama's last publications was also devoted to this important topic .13
In the post-war years, progressive Japanese historians introduced many new materials related to the "rice riots" into scientific circulation, but all their research continues to follow the outline indicated by Katayama. His dying work on the "rice riots" was published in Japanese in 1935 as a pamphlet, delivered from the United States and distributed illegally in Japan, with a preface stating: "the rice riots" ended in the defeat of the masses, his biggest reason being the absence of a commune leader-

9 Ibid., p. 147.

10 Rice Riots and a New Meaning. - The Heimin, N 18, November 1918; A Japanese Interpretation of the Recent Food Rits. -The Class Struggle, N 3, December 1918.

11 One of the leaders of the Japanese democratic movement-X. Namba, who visited Moscow in 1928, said that during the Sixth Congress of the Comintern, Katayama was extremely pleased with the support of the ICCI for his view on the revolutionary significance of the "rice riots" for Japan. - Rodo undoshikenkyu, Tokyo, 1959 November N 18, p. 23.

12 Katayama S. Critical Review of the Class movement in Japan after the World War. - Chuo Koron, 1931, April.

13 Katayama S. To the 15th anniversary of the rice riots of 1918 in Japan. - Communist International, 1933, N 26-27.

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the student party. Therefore, it is now that we must strive for the unity, strengthening and strengthening of the Communist Party in order to win. The biggest lesson we learn from the rice riots is to learn from their revolutionary traditions. " 14
The "rice riots" of 1918, followed by a whole series of workers ' strikes and so-called tenant conflicts, dictated the need to create a party of the working class in Japan capable of taking the lead in its revolutionary struggle. Katayama, relying on the communist group of Japanese living in the United States that he had created, began practical work in this direction. Studying the experience of the Russian Bolsheviks, familiarizing himself with Lenin's works, first of all with the book "The State and the Revolution", helped him overcome some reformist illusions. Katayama concludes that the party that the Japanese working class needs must be modeled on the Bolshevik party. Mastering the basics of Marxism-Leninism allowed him to later give more precise class assessments of political events in Japan and in the international arena.

At the end of 1921, Katayama arrived in Moscow, where he remained until the last days of his life. From here, he contributed to the founding of the Communist Party of Japan (CPJ), and then helped to establish it on the principles of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism. In Moscow, he worked at the headquarters of the international Communist movement, the Comintern, and was a member of the Presidium of the ECCI after its fourth Congress. Even during his years in New York, Katayama carefully studied Japanese periodicals, political and socio-economic literature coming from his homeland, and was aware of all the events taking place in and around Japan. He followed this pattern throughout the 12 years of his life in the Soviet Union. The use of the apparatus and communications of the Comintern further expanded its information capabilities.

Among his first works written during the Moscow period of his life, three reports ("The Crisis in Japan", "The Labor Movement in Japan", "Rice Riots and the Labor Movement in Japan"), included in the collection of materials of the First Congress of Revolutionary Organizations of the Far East, which was held in the Far East, are of interest from the point of view of studying the history of the Japanese labor movement. It was held in January-February 1922 in Moscow and Petrograd 15 . Taken together, they convincingly demonstrated both the objective necessity and the real possibility of creating a revolutionary party of the working class of Japan. They contain a great deal of factual material about the economic and legal situation of the working class, about the state of the working-class movement, especially since the beginning of the First World War (about the dynamics of the strike struggle, the situation in the trade unions, and the struggle of the three trends in them - socialist, reformist, and syndicalist). Noting the presence in the country of representatives of all socialist trends "from Utopianism to Bolshevism," Katayama described those socialist groups that could form the backbone of the Communist party in the future. His hopes for the rapid creation of a Marxist-Leninist party in Japan were fulfilled: in July 1922, the CPJ was founded at an illegal congress in Tokyo.

The result of a systematic analysis of Japanese reality is reflected in numerous Katayama publications. He was a regular correspondent for the Comintern's press organs: 21 of his works were published in the journal Kommunisticheskiy Internatsionalny (under the title" Communist International").-

14 Koyama Hirotake. Historiography of social movements in Japan. Tokyo. 1979, p. 231 (in Russian).

15 First Congress of Revolutionary Organizations of the Far East. Collection. Pg. 1922.

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read from the Russian edition); he responded to literally all the most important events in Japan in the Comintern newsletter, published in English, French, German and other languages (for 1921-1933 in the English edition - "International Press Correspondence" Katayama was published 46 times). His articles also appeared in the print media of other international organizations - Profintern, the International Peasant Council, and IOPRa. Often Katayama, fulfilling the requests of Soviet scientific organizations, wrote detailed articles on various aspects of Japanese life, including the state of the Japanese education system and an overview of its history, the level of electrification of Japan, etc. An interesting sketch of the history of its socio-economic development since the incomplete bourgeois Revolution of 1868 was prepared by him on behalf of the publishing house "Planned Economy" .16
But, of course, Katayama's focus remained on the Japanese working class and its struggles. He analyzed in detail the political and economic activities of Japanese workers, followed all the nuances of the activities of their trade unions, and wrote about the struggle of various trends in them. One cannot remain indifferent when reading his description of the dire situation of the Japanese working class, especially working women .17 Katayama understood that the proletariat, in its difficult struggle against the monarchical regime and capitalist exploitation, must have allies. To orient the Japanese working-class movement to establish a close alliance with the peasant movement meant to strengthen the position of the revolutionary forces of Japan. Therefore, in the 1920s, Katayama wrote several works on this topical topic, in which he described the bulk of the Japanese peasantry as a serious revolutionary force, pushed by the objective conditions of its existence to fight the existing system18. It was thanks to his works that the Soviet reader first gained a fairly complete understanding of Japanese agriculture, the forms of production relations in it and the process of differentiation of the peasantry, the content, forms and methods of its struggle, and various types of peasant organizations.

Katayama's series of works on the peasant theme ended with the work "The Peasant Struggle in Japan" - a historical survey covering the time from the era of early feudalism to the beginning of the 30s of our century. A significant place in it was given, in particular, to identifying the role of the peasant struggle in the unfinished bourgeois revolution - "Meiji Yixing". Katayama, with his usual modesty, pointed out that he was forced to "confine himself only to presenting some basic historical facts necessary for understanding the peasant struggle at the present time." 19 Nevertheless, this work occupies an important place in the general historiography of Japan.

Katayama's article on Japanese pariahs, eta, is closely related to the topic of studying the allies of the working class .20 In the movement for the elimination of discrimination "eta", whose number in the early 20s was almost 3 million people (out of 60 ml, the country's population), he saw ultimately "a focus on social development".-

16 Katayama S. Modern Japan, Moscow, 1926.

17 Katayama S. Rabotnitsa i krestyanka v Yaponii [Worker and Peasant Woman in Japan], Moscow, 1926.

18 Katayama's most important works on the Peasant Question: The Agrarian Question in Japan. - Novy Vostok, Moscow, 1922, N 2; Cooperative movement in Japan. - Peasant International, 1925, No. 10; On the peasant question in Japan. - Peasant International, 1926, N 1-2; Recent events in the peasant movement of Japan. - On the agrarian Front, Moscow, 1926, N 9; Peasant struggle in Japan. - Modern Japan. Sat. perviy, Moscow, 1934.

19 Katayama S. Articles and memoirs, Moscow, 1959, p. 161.

20 Katayama S. The Eta movement is a powerful factor in the revolutionary struggle of the Japanese Proletariat. - Communist International, 1923, N 28-29.

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social revolution". Indeed, the Communists, who warmly supported this movement, managed to establish the closest ties, relations of solidarity and cooperation between the workers ' movement and Suiheixia, an organization that fought for the equality of pariahs in all spheres of life with the rest of the citizens of their country.

Japanese Communists began their activities in difficult conditions of persecution by the authorities, who did not want to allow the establishment of links between the young party and the masses. Katayama exposes the actions of the Japanese state machine, which attacked with all its might those who thought about changing the outdated system. With anger and indignation, he wrote about the mass killings of communists and anarchists, trade union workers ,and Koreans committed by the authorities in Tokyo and its environs in the fall of 1923 in the situation created by the earthquake that occurred in this area. 21
When the right of Communists to live and work legally was not recognized, it was important to strengthen their influence among the masses. In Katayama's writings, the idea is expressed that it is necessary to master the CPJ in all possible ways of working in legal organizations. His works allow us to trace the history of the CPY's struggle to reach out to the masses of working people. In addition to trade unions and peasant organizations, communists could at that time launch political work under the guise of a legal party. Katayama shared the Comintern's recommendation to test the experience of the US Communists, who used the creation of the Workers ' Party of America in 1921-1923 as an important means of legalizing themselves, on Japanese soil. The implementation of this advice was facilitated by the fact that in early 1925, a law was passed in Japan expanding the participation of the country's population in parliamentary elections.

Describing the history of the struggle for universal suffrage in Japan, which Katayama participated in for many years, he gives a comprehensive description of the law of 1925. "Universal suffrage has become a fait accompli, and although it is, from the proletarian point of view, insufficient and unsatisfactory, we must still assume that this law will bring with it major changes in the political life of the country." 22 Katayama expressed ?the hope that the law "will be used as far as possible by the workers and peasants and will become one of the most important tools for the political education of the Japanese proletariat." Katayama was gratified to hear news coming from Japan about the desire of organized workers and peasants to form a proletarian party in order to put electoral rights into practice for their own purposes. "The workers' demands will now be heard across the country. Through the Parliament, representatives of the workers and peasants will conduct propaganda, developing their program before the broad masses of the working people. " 23
The first attempt to create a legal party protecting the interests of workers and peasants met with fierce resistance from the ruling circles of Japan. The Peasant-Workers ' Party, founded in December 1925, lasted only three hours. But already in March 1926 the Workers 'and Peasants' Party appeared. Katayama closely followed the first steps of the legal proletarian party, analyzing the struggle of its left and right wings. He clearly called for "both wings to form a united front." 24 However, Katayama was not a hundred-

21 Katayama S. Spillover effects of the earthquake in Japan. - Military thought and revolution, 1924, March. book two.

22 Katayama S. Universal suffrage in Japan. - Communist International, 1925, N 11, p. 134.

23 Ibid., p. 135.

24 Katayama S. The Workers 'and Peasants' Party in Japan and the Proletarian Movement. - Communist International, 1926, N 9, p. 127.

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It was also used to cover up the ideological and political differences that arose in the legal proletarian parties. He boldly and implacably denounced the reformist and especially nationalist trends in the Japanese labor movement, sharply criticizing their ideological leaders.

S. Katayama exposed the attempts of the opponents of scientific socialism to appeal to the national feelings of the Japanese. Thus, the right-wing reformist figure of the Japanese labor movement, K. Akamatsu, speaking out against its left wing, argued: "The left is theoretical, but their theories are of foreign origin, the homeland of these theories is Russia." 25 Katayama showed that such statements are an old but not yet obsolete device of the enemies of Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism. The leaders of the reformist wing defiantly dissociated themselves from the Communists, recording this in the program documents of the parties they created, which wanted to find support in the workers 'and peasants' movement of the country. Katayama followed the activities of schismatics, gave them a principled assessment, pointing out that the parties of opportunists have no future.

Analyzing the platform and manifesto of the Social Democratic Party created by the right-wing leaders of the Japanese Federation of Labor in late 1926, Katayama noted: "They do not even mention class struggle, but emphasize that the party rejects extreme radicalism, which does not take into account the main stages of social evolution." His conclusion: a new petty-bourgeois party has emerged, which will inevitably join the capitalist camp26 . Katayama had good reason to make such a harsh assessment. He took into account both the words and deeds of various politicians who were trying to establish themselves in the Japanese labor movement. History has proved the validity of his prediction. Right-wing reformist leaders capitulated to the power of Japanese militarism, and many of them took the path of direct cooperation with it and support for its aggressive wars.

Carefully studying the political situation inside Japan, its foreign policy, Katayama in the 20s and 30s always repeated that the Japanese ruling circles are leading their country on a militaristic path and are ready to plunge it into the abyss of wars. The object of his research is Japanese-American and Japanese-Soviet relations, Japan's policy in China .27 In his works, various aspects of relations between Japan and the United States are considered, starting from their origins. Naturally, Katayama wrote primarily about the clash of imperialist interests of these powers in China and the Pacific.

In 1925, Katayama, recalling a long list of imperialist actions since the end of the nineteenth century, including the seizure of Taiwan, the war with Russia, the annexation of Korea, the consolidation of positions in China during World War I, and participation in anti-Soviet intervention in the Far East, concluded that "Japanese imperialism is alive and preparing for a new war." 28 . At the end of 1926, Katayama again pointed out that Japan was busy preparing for war and called for vigilance. "Japan is too poor,

25 Cit. by; ibid., p. 128.

26 Katayama S. The birth of the "social people's Party" in Japan. - Communist International, 1927, N 4, p. 48, 49.

27 In particular, this topic is considered in the following works of Katayama: Japan and America, Moscow, 1925; China and Japan. - Red International of Trade Unions, 1925, N 2-3; The revolutionary movement in China and the position of Japan. - Communist International, 1927, No. 1; Japan in the orbit of the world economic crisis. - Ibid., 1930, No. 5; Manchuria and the colonial policy of Japan. - Krasnaya Nov, 1932, January, book one; Hawaii is a strategic hub in the Pacific Ocean. Communist International, 1933, No. 17; Japanese Imperialism and War. - Ibid., 1933, N 21.

28 Katayama S. Japan and America, p. 50.

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to fight a long-term war without foreign aid... But the Japanese militarists are determined and preparing for ambitious imperialist plans. They have sufficient human resources for cannon fodder and military exploitation. " 29
As you know, the Japanese imperialists started the war in China. Katayama called the predatory occupation of Manchuria "the first step of the coming world war." 30 The ss attributed the reasons for Japan's seizure of Northeastern China to the fact that the imperialists ' actions in dividing China and organizing a new intervention against the Soviet Union forced them to temporarily put aside "all minor conflicts and divergences." 31 Katayama developed the same idea when asked why other imperialist powers allow Japan to expand its sphere of influence in China with impunity. "The imperialist powers," he wrote, are actually allowing Japan to carry out the dirtiest banditry in Northern China as a preparation for military intervention against the Soviet Union, "in order to" weaken revolutionary China and prepare the ground for the struggle against the Soviet Union. " 32
At the same time, Katayama did not underestimate the inter-imperialist contradictions. Without doubting that the imperialists would prefer to attack the USSR, he also assumed a different course of events: "If something happens in another part of the world that diverts the forces and attention of the United States there, then and only then will Japanese imperialism try to resolve its dispute with America about hegemony in the Far East with the tip of the sword... Until then, relations between Japan and America will remain "calm and peaceful." 33 Indeed, history has shown that imperialist Japan went to war with the United States, having previously tested the power of the Soviet Armed Forces in response to its provocations in the 1930s.

Strongly condemning Japanese militarism and the aggressive aspirations of the imperialists of other countries, Katayama actively fought against fascism and for the prevention of World War II. He is known as the initiator of a number of anti-imperialist forums, as a leading figure of the Anti-Imperialist League. From his articles and speeches, one can trace some milestones in the activities of the Communists in mobilizing the masses to fight against the aggressive policy of international imperialism. These include, first of all, the Brussels Anti-Imperialist Congress of 1927 , the results of which he thoroughly promoted, 34 as well as the International Anti-war Congress in Amsterdam (1932), which Katayama highly praised in his speech at the XII Plenum of the ECCI .35
Shortly before his death, Katayama wrote a short but very informative work "On the origin and development of Marxism in Japan", which was published by the magazine "Communist International" (1933, N 7-8). The appeal to a topic that would seem to have already been sufficiently addressed in Katayama's earlier works was probably due to the situation that had developed by that time in the Japanese communist movement. In the face of harsh political pressure,-

29 Katayama S. The Revolutionary Movement in China and the Position of Japan, p. 20.

30 Katayama S. Manchuria and the colonial policy of Japan, p. 90.

31 Ibid., p. 92.

32 Katayama S. Japanese Imperialism and War, pp. 19, 22.

33 Katanka S. Japan and America, p. 57.

34 See Katayama's articles: Brussels Anti-Imperialist Congress-Red International of Trade Unions, 1927, No. 3; Brussels Congress of Oppressed Peoples. - BSE. T. 7. Moscow, 1927.

35 XII ECCI plenum. Stenogr. otch. Vol. III. Moscow, 1933, pp. 50-51.

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Katayama wanted to emphasize once again the historical futility of attempts by the Japanese ruling circles to eliminate the communist movement in their country. At the same time, by critically reviewing the history of the socialist movement in Japan in the period before the formation of the Communist Party, identifying its weaknesses, rejecting erroneous points in the activities of the CPJ, he sought to ensure that his historical excursion served to strengthen it and expand its influence among the masses.

Katayama's works, which are of the greatest interest from the point of view of studying the history of Japan, also include his memoirs. He turned to their writing repeatedly. The first time was in 1912, when he was serving a prison sentence on charges of inciting Tokyo tram workers to strike. 36 Then Katayama could not ignore the threat of confiscation of the manuscript, and therefore, in his words, " he presented in it the most ordinary facts from his life as simply as possible and often had to discard everything that concerned the political, economic and social situation of Japan." 37
In 1926, Katayama popularly told, especially for the Soviet reader, "the story of a peasant boy born 65 years ago in a remote mountainous area, who went through many trials and finally found himself here in Moscow, in the red capital of the Union of Soviet Republics." 38 In 1930-1931, in the magazine October his new memoirs were published 39 . He now set out to supplement his 1912 memoir with a description of Japanese society in the second half of the nineteenth century. This work, which chronologically ends in 1897, is important not only from the point of view of understanding the process of forming Katayama's worldview, its inclusion in the labor movement, but also provides a lot of interesting information about that important period in the history of Japan when it entered the path of capitalist development.

In the last years of his life, Katayama continued to work on his memoirs despite being ill and very busy with work in the Comintern and the peace movement. He managed to bring them up to 1921-to the moment before his departure from the United States to Mexico and then to Soviet Russia. This work, the largest in volume of all his works, was translated into Russian and published in the Soviet Union in 1964. It was also met with great interest in Japan .40 These memoirs of Katayama are of the greatest scientific significance, since the author covered an incomparably longer period of time in them, sought to test himself from documentary sources, and brought many valuable documents and materials previously unknown in our country.

The literary legacy of the outstanding Japanese revolutionary still remains important for studying the modern and contemporary history of Japan, which was witnessed and actively participated in by Seng Katayama. His works help to understand not only the background, but also the essence of many events taking place in Japan today.

36 These memoirs were published by the Japanese progressive magazine Kaizo in 1920-1921, and later published in Japanese as a separate book called Jiden (Autobiography).

37 Katayama S. Articles and memoirs, p. 177.

38 Katayama S. Moya zhizn [My Life], Moscow, 1926, p. 3.

39 Katayama S. Proedennyy put ' [The path traveled]. In: Katayama S. Articles and memoirs.

40 Katayama S. Memoirs, Moscow, 1964. My memories. Parts I-II. Tokyo, 1967 (in Japanese).

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A. I. Senatorov, SEN KATAYAMA AS A HISTORIAN // Tokyo: Japan (ELIB.JP). Updated: 30.01.2025. URL: https://elib.jp/m/articles/view/SEN-KATAYAMA-AS-A-HISTORIAN (date of access: 10.02.2025).

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Haruto Masaki
Yokohama, Japan
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