Social Democratic Party (Japan, 1926)

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]

This article is about the Japanese political party that existed from 1926 to 1932. For other Japanese social democratic parties, see Social Democratic Party (Japan) (disambiguation).
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

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. Awaya 1983, pp. 37, 346.
  2. Awaya 1983, p. 37.
  3. Awaya 1983, p. 146.
  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. Beckmann, George M., and Genji Okubo. The Japanese Communist Party 1922–1945. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1969. p. 103
  8. Beckmann, George M., and Genji Okubo. The Japanese Communist Party 1922–1945. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1969. pp. 101–102
  9. 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. 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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