Left in the Shaping of Japanese Democracy

Leftist thought and activism stands as a defining force in the articulation of political culture and policy in modern Japan. Operating from the periphery of formal political power for the most part, the Japanese Left has had an impact that extends far beyond its limited success at the ballot box. The essays that compose this Oxford Festschrift range over a wide set of themes including the tragic careers of two prewar left-wing martyrs (Goto-Jones); Hisashi Asô, the great Socialist apostate (Kersten); the Left’s evasion of constitutional sovereignty (Williams); the rise and fall of Nikkyô-sô (Aspinall); the Left’s impact on privatization and bureaucratic reform (Nakano); the demise of parliamentary Socialism (Hyde); the Left’s recent embrace of free market principles (Schoppa); critical Japan studies and American empire since ‘9.11’ (Williams); and history’s final judgment on the fate of this great political movement (Banno).