View source for Japanese Communist Party

{{Short description|Japanese political party}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox political party
| name             = Japanese Communist Party
| native_name      = {{nobold|{{Nihongo2|日本共産党}}<br />{{transliteration|ja|Nihon Kyōsan-tō}}}}
| abbreviation     = JCP
| logo             = Nihon Kyōsantō Logo.svg
| logo_upright     = 1.1
| colorcode        = {{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}
| headquarters     = 4-26-7 [[Sendagaya]], [[Shibuya]], 151-8586 Japan<ref name="Bloomberg"/>
| youth_wing       = [[Democratic Youth League of Japan]]
| chairperson      = [[Tomoko Tamura]]
| secretary_general = [[Akira Koike]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jcpcc/blog/2016/04/20160412-jcpelectsnewleadership.html |title=JCP elects new leadership |date=12 April 2016 |quote=The Japanese Communist Party 5th Central Committee Plenum on 11 April relieved Yamashita Yoshiki (House of Councilors member) of his duty as secretariat head for health reasons and elected Koike Akira (House of Councilors member and currently JCP vice chair) to the position. |access-date=7 June 2016 |archive-date=12 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712012031/http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jcpcc/blog/2016/04/20160412-jcpelectsnewleadership.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| leader1_title    = Representatives leader
| leader1_name     = [[Chizuko Takahashi]]
| leader2_title    = Councillors leader
| leader2_name     = [[Tomoko Kami]]
| foundation       = 15 July 1922<br>({{age in years and days|1922|07|15}}){{sfn|Uno|1991|p=1030}}
| newspaper        = ''[[Shimbun Akahata]]''
| membership_year  = January 2024
| membership       = {{decrease}} 250,000<ref name="NHK 19 Jan 2024"/>
| ideology         = {{ubl|class=nowrap
 | [[Communism]]
| [[Marxism]]<ref name="Hayes">{{harvnb|Hayes|2018|p=81}}: "As a party committed to an ideological position, the JCP suffers even more than other opposition parties from the ideological neutrality of the Japanese voter. Any effort to mute its Marxist orientation would bring into question its very raison d'être. Moreover membership in the international communist movement is a liability."</ref>
| [[Scientific socialism]]<ref name="Party Program"/>
 | [[Progressivism]]<ref name="progressiveJCP"/>
 | [[Pacifism]]<ref name="East Asia Forum"/>
}}
| position         = {{nowrap|[[Left-wing politics|Left-wing]] to [[Far-left politics|far-left]]}}
| seats1_title     = [[House of Councillors (Japan)|Councillors]]
| seats1           = {{composition bar|7|248|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| seats2_title     = [[House of Representatives (Japan)|Representatives]]
| seats2           = {{composition bar|8|465|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| seats3_title     = [[Prefectures of Japan|Prefectural assembly members]]
| seats3           = {{composition bar|109|2614|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| seats4_title     = [[Municipalities of Japan|Municipal assembly members]]
| seats4           = {{composition bar|2173|28941|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| colors           = {{color box|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}} [[Red (politics)|Red]]<ref>{{cite news |date=21 October 2017 |script-title=ja:日本に定着するか、政党のカラー |trans-title=Will the colors of political parties settle in Japan? |url=https://r.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO22461210Z11C17A0000000 |language=ja |publisher=[[Nikkei, Inc.]] |access-date=29 May 2020}}</ref>
| symbol           = [[File:Flag of JCP.svg|150px]]
| international    = [[International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties|IMCWP]]<ref>[http://www.solidnet.org/links/communist-and-workers-parties/ Communist and Workers' Parties]</ref>
| website          = {{ublist
 | {{URL|https://www.jcp.or.jp/}} (Japanese)
 | {{URL|https://www.jcp.or.jp/english}} (English)
}}
| country          = Japan
| flag             = Flag of the Japanese Communist Party.svg
}}

The {{Nihongo|'''Japanese Communist Party'''|日本共産党|Nihon Kyōsan-tō|extra=[[abbr.]] '''JCP'''}} is a [[communist party]] in [[Japan]]. Founded in 1922, it is the oldest active [[List of political parties in Japan|political party in the country]]. It had 250,000 members as of January 2024, making it one of the largest [[List of communist parties#Modern non-ruling|non-governing communist parties]] in the world. The party is [[Chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party|chaired]] by [[Tomoko Tamura]], who replaced longtime leader [[Kazuo Shii]] in January 2024.

The JCP, founded in 1922 in consultation with the [[Communist International|Comintern]], was deemed illegal in 1925 and repressed for the next 20 years, engaging in underground activity. After [[World War II]], the party was legalized in 1945 by the [[Occupation of Japan|Allied occupation]] authorities, but its unexpected success in the [[1949 Japanese general election|1949 general election]] led to the "[[Red Purge]]", in which tens of thousands of actual and suspected communists were fired from their jobs in government, education, and industry. The [[Soviet Union]] encouraged the JCP to respond with a violent revolution, and the resulting internal debate fractured the party into several factions. The dominant faction, backed by the Soviets, waged an [[Mountain Village Operation Units|unsuccessful guerrilla campaign]] in rural areas, which undercut the party's public support.

In 1958, [[Kenji Miyamoto (politician)|Kenji Miyamoto]] became the JCP's leader and moderated the party's policies, abandoning the previous line of [[Left-wing terrorism|violent revolution]] and extremism. Miyamoto also began distancing the JCP from the [[Eastern Bloc]] in the 1960s. The party maintained a neutral position during the [[Sino-Soviet split]] and expressed its support for a [[Multi-party system|multi-party]] [[liberal democracy]] in contrast to the [[authoritarian]] [[One-party state|one-party systems]] of communist-ruled nations such as [[China]] and the Soviet Union. Measures were also undertook to expel members who were aligned with either pro-Soviet or pro-PRC positions. His efforts to regain electoral support were particularly successful in the main urban areas such as [[Osaka]], [[Kyoto]], and [[Tokyo]], and the JCP worked with the [[Japan Socialist Party]] (JSP) in the 1970s to elect a number of progressive mayors and governors. By 1979, the JCP held about 10% of the seats in the [[National Diet]]. The party saw a brief electoral resurgence after the collapse of the JSP in 1996; however, the party has generally been in decline since in terms of electoral results and party membership.

The party at present advocates the establishment of a democratic society based on [[pacificism]]. It believes that this objective can be achieved by working within an electoral framework while carrying out an [[Extra-parliamentary opposition|extra-parliamentary]] struggle against "[[imperialism]] and its subordinate ally, [[State monopoly capitalism|monopoly capital]]". As such, the JCP does not advocate violent revolution, but rather a "democratic revolution" to achieve "democratic change in politics and the economy". It accepts the current constitutional position of [[Emperor of Japan|the emperor]] but opposes the involvement of the [[Imperial House of Japan|Imperial House]] in politics. A staunchly [[antimilitarist|anti-militarist]] party, the JCP firmly supports [[Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution]] and seeks to dissolve the [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]]. It opposes [[U.S.-Japan Alliance|Japan's military alliance with the United States]] as an unequal relationship and infringement of Japan's [[national sovereignty]].

{{TOC limit|3}}

==History==

===Foundation===
[[Sanzō Nosaka]] became a communist in the late 1910s and was a founding member of the [[Communist Party of Great Britain]]. [[Sen Katayama]] left Japan for the United States in 1914, after serving a prison sentence for supporting a strike. He became a communist during his time in the country and was a founding member of the [[Communist Party USA]] (CPUSA). Katayama founded the Association of Japanese Socialists in America and served as chair of the Far Eastern People's Congress.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=4–7}}

In 1921, Katayama was informed by the [[Communist International]] (Comintern) that the First Congress of the Toiler of the Far East would be held on 21 January 1922 in Irkutsk. Three men from his organization (Watanabe Haruo, Taguchi Unzo, and Maniwa Suekichi) served as delegates.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=8–9}} The Japanese Communist Party was founded in Tokyo on 15 July 1922,{{sfn|Uno|1991|p=1030}}{{sfn|Hayes|2018|p=80}} at a meeting where [[Kyuichi Tokuda]] discussed sessions held between the Japanese delegation and Comintern officials. Two delegates were sent to the [[4th World Congress of the Communist International]] and a general meeting of the party was held in [[Ichikawa, Chiba]], on 4 February 1923.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=18}}{{sfn|Linkhoeva|2020|p=159}}

The party's early leadership was drawn from the [[anarcho-syndicalist]] and [[Christian socialist]] movements that developed around the turn of the century. From the former came [[Hitoshi Yamakawa]], [[Sakai Toshihiko]], and [[Kanson Arahata]], who had all been supporters of [[Kōtoku Shūsui]], an [[anarchist]] executed in 1911. Katayama, another early party leader, had been a Christian socialist for much of his political life. The three former anarchists were reluctant to found the JCP, with Yamakawa shortly after arguing that Japan was not ready for a communist party and calling for work to be done solely within labor unions. Katayama's theoretical understanding of [[Marxism]] also remained low.{{sfn|Crooke|2018|p=9}}{{sfn|Walker|Gray|2009|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=cRa1JpOeG-EC&pg=PA164 162–164]}}

===Outlawed and persecuted===
[[File:Tokuda Nosaka Shiga.JPG|thumb|Prominent wartime JCP members from left to right: [[Kyuichi Tokuda]], [[Sanzō Nosaka]] and [[Yoshio Shiga (communist)|Yoshio Shiga]], {{circa}} 1945–1946]]
In May 1923, a roster of the JCP's membership was found by police at Manabu Sano's quarters at [[Waseda University]]. A series of protests were occurring at the university about military training. On 5 June, almost every member of the party, except those in rural areas or outside the country, were arrested.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=18–19}} The Japanese government used the [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake]] as an excuse to crack down on suspected enemies of the state and murdered socialists, anarchists, communists, and labor officials. Ōsugi was [[Amakasu Incident|murdered]] in his prison cell.{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|p=19}}

A group of Japanese communists, including Arahata, assembled in [[Vladivostok]] in August, and decided to create a [[Mass mobilization|proletarian party]]. Those members arrested in 1923, and released in 1924, believed that the conditions for a communist party were not present and decided to dissolve the party at the Morigasaki Conference in March. However, [[Grigori Voitinsky]] rejected this and ordered them to reestablish the party.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=21–22}} In August, a committee with Tokuda as chair was formed to reestablish the party. [[Masanosuke Watanabe]] and Manabu Sano held positions in this committee and Arahata was an organizer in the [[Kansai region]]. The JCP was formally reestablished on 4 December 1926. [[Fukumoto Kazuo]], a rising figure in Japanese communism, was a member and his ideology, Fukumotoism, was a main part of the platform.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=25–28}}

When the JCP was outlawed in 1925 with the passage of the [[Peace Preservation Law]], the JCP was subjected to repression and persecution by the [[Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu|Special Higher Police]] (''Tokkō''), nicknamed the "Thought Police".{{sfn|Kapur|2018b|p=307}}{{sfn|Banno|2012|p=193}} JCP members and sympathizers were imprisoned and pressured to "[[Tenkō|convert]]" (''tenkō suru'') to anti-communist nationalism.{{sfn|Kapur|2018b|p=307}} Many of those who refused to convert remained imprisoned for the duration of the [[Pacific War]]. The Japanese Communist Party member [[Hotsumi Ozaki]], who was part of the [[Richard Sorge]] spy ring for the [[Kremlin]], was the only Japanese person hanged for treason under the Peace Preservation Law.{{sfn|Johnson|1990|p=2}} Police also commonly used methods of torture against arrested communists.{{sfn|Itasaka|1983a|pp=340–341}} One of the JCP members killed by police torture in this period was the writer [[Kobayashi Takiji]].{{sfn|Hasegawa|2022}}

[[Hyōgikai]] was formed on 25 May 1925, and this union served as a vehicle for the communist party. Other proletariat parties ([[Japan Farmers Party (1926–1928)|Japan Farmers Party]], [[Japan Labour-Farmer Party]], [[Social Democratic Party (Japan, 1926)|Social Democratic Party]], and [[Labour-Farmer Party]]) were formed during this period.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=23–24}} [[Ikuo Oyama]], the leader of the Labour-Farmer Party, was sympathetic to the Communists.{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|p=29}} These parties won several seats in the [[1928 Japanese general election|1928 election]], but a [[March 15 incident|crackdown on 15 March]] resulted in 1,200 people, including Communist leaders, being arrested and the Japanese government dissolved Hyōgikai and Labour-Farmer Party. Manabu Sano, Masanosuke Watanabe, [[Shoichi Ichikawa]], Kenzō Yamamoto, and Hideo Namba avoided arrest as they were serving as representatives to the [[6th World Congress of the Communist International]] and reorganized the party. The Labour-Farmer Party was reconstituted, with opposition from the Comintern-affiliated communists, into the [[Proletarian Masses Party]] with [[Mosaburō Suzuki]] as Secretary General.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=33–36}} Masanosuke Watanabe, the chair of the party, committed suicide on 6 October 1928, after being arrested.{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|pp=35–36}} An attempt to reform Hyōgikai resulted in more arrests, so a new organization, the National Council of Japanese Labor Unions (Zenkyō), was formed as an underground group with 5,500 members on 25 December.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=36–37}}

Police found a chart of the JCP's district organization in Tokyo after arresting a prominent member on 18 March 1929.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=40}} Shoichi Ichikawa was arrested on 28 April, Mitamura Shiro and Nabeyama Sadachika on 28 April, and Manabu Sano avoided arrest until his apprehension in Shanghai on 16 June 1929.{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|p=37}} Kenzo Yamamoto, who was sick in Moscow, was one of the few leaders not imprisoned. 81 high-ranking members of Zenkyō were arrested in April. The party was reconstituted by Seigen Tanaka, Zenshirō Zennō, and Sano Hiroshi in July. Many members wanted to dissolve the party as the Peace Preservation Law was amended to inflict the death penalty.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=40}} A police raid led by a former wrestler arrested most of Seigen Tanaka's subordinates on 14 July 1930, and he was arrested later that same day.{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|pp=41–42}} Kenzō Yamamoto was executed by the Soviets in 1939, after Sanzō Nosaka accused him of spying; Yamamoto's death was reported as 1942, and the truth about his death was not revealed until 1992.{{sfn|Sanger|1992}}

In 1932, Japanese authorities raided a meeting of members of the Japanese Communist Party in [[Atami]].{{sfn|Beckmann|Okubo|1969|p=237}} According to a March 1933 article on the raid, the accused were not the "rag-tag-and-bobtail" of the people. Only a very small minority of the accused were laborers. Almost all the accused were of the "better classes". Among the accused were two judges, two professors of universities, lawyers, teachers, and students.<ref name="Argus">{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4722120 |title=Japan. Suppressing the Communist |work=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]]}}</ref> Professor S.H Roberts of the [[University of Sydney]] reported in a 1934 newspaper that "all Japan was stirred when it was realized that only a minority of prisoners were laborers."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/166104856?searchTerm=atami%20raid%20communist |title=World Affairs in the Balance. Japan at the Cross-Roads |work=[[The Sydney Mail]]}}</ref> In addition, the arrested were also accused of being connected to the [[Omori bank robbery|Omori Bank Robbery]].<ref name="Argus"/>

Jōkichi Kazama was sent from Moscow to rebuild the party in December 1930. He and Noboru Matsumura wrote the 1931 Draft Thesis, but the Comintern was displeased with it. A new document supported by the Comintern, the 1932 Draft Thesis, was written by Nosaka and served as the JCP's main document until 1946. This document stated that a bourgeois revolution to eliminate feudalism and the emperor must occur before the proletariat revolution.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=40–43}} Kazama and other leaders were arrested in fall 1932. The party was reformed by Masami Yamamoto, who was also sent from Moscow, in January 1933,{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=43}} but he was arrested on 3 May.{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|p=57}} Manabu Sano, Kazama, Tanaka, and other imprisoned Communist leaders denounced communism starting in May. The leadership of the party's central committee passed from [[Eitaro Noro]] to [[Kenji Miyamoto (politician)|Kenji Miyamoto]] to Hakamada Satomi as a result of each person's arrests. The party lost its organization after Hakamada Satomi's arrested on 3 March 1935.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=43}}{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|p=58}} [[Shōjirō Kasuga]], who was arrested in 1928 and released in 1937, attempted to reform the party after he was released, but he and 157 members were arrested in 1938.{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|p=69}}

{{multiple image
 | align       = right
 | total_width = 320
 | image1      = Kasuga Shoichi.jpg
 | alt1        = Photograph of Shōichi Kasuga
 | caption1    = Shōichi Kasuga
 | image2      = Ritsu Ito 19500113.JPG
 | alt2        = Photograph of Ritsu Ito
 | caption2    = Ritsu Ito
 | image3      = Yasoji Kazahaya 01.jpg
 | alt3        = Photograph of Yasoji Kazahaya
 | caption3    = Yasoji Kazahaya
 | footer      = Shōichi Kasuga, Ritsu Ito, Yasoji Kazahaya, and others attempted to reform the JCP in 1940, but were all arrested. 
}}

Three groups, unaware of each other, attempted to reconstitute the JCP in 1940. One was formed by Shōichi Kasuga in March, but he and 60 other members were arrested 60 days later. Yasoji Kazahaya, Hiroshi Hasegawa, and Ritsu Ito were arrested before their organization was formed. [[Shigeo Kamiyama]], who claimed to have abandoned communism upon his release from prison in 1937, saw most of his 70 members arrested in February 1941, before his own arrest in May.{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|pp=70–71}}

A Japanese section of the CPUSA was formed in 1929. The centre of Japanese communism and its printing facilities was shifted from Shanghai to [[Brooklyn]] in the United States. Traditional routes of funding and support from the Soviet Union through China was made impossible by Japanese spy networks. The [[Home Ministry]] reported that the communist movement in Japan was recovering due to this change.{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|pp=59–61}}

Throughout World War II, members of the JCP had either been jailed or had gone into exile. Under a modified Peace Preservation Law that went into effect in March 1941, the authorities had the power to detain "thought criminals" who had failed to give sufficient evidence of reform "in order to prevent further offenses by them."{{sfn|Beckmann|Okubo|1969|p=}}{{pn|date=August 2025}} The Japanese government would imprison [[Kyuichi Tokuda|Tokuda Kyuichi]] and [[Yoshio Shiga (communist)|Yoshio Shiga]]. Released only after the end of the war by the United States. [[Sanzō Nosaka|Nosaka Sanzo]] would live in exile as a Japanese representative of the [[Communist International|Comintern]]. Residing in Moscow, the United States, and then finally in Yenan, China. While in Yenan he would found the [[Japanese People's Emancipation League]] and made contacts with the Chinese Communist Party and the United States. Returning to Japan following the end of the war.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Japanese Thread: A life in the U.S. Foreign Service |first=John K. |last=Emmerson |publisher=[[Holt, Rinehart and Winston]] |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-03-041646-0}}</ref>{{pn|date=October 2025}}

===Postwar reemergence===
[[File:Release of Communist.JPG|thumb|right|Release of Japanese Communist Party members from prison, 1945]]
On 4 October 1945, all political prisoners, including communists that had been imprisoned for decades, were ordered to be released by the [[Occupation of Japan|Allied military occupation of Japan]].{{sfn|Hayes|2018|p=81}} The first issue of ''[[Shimbun Akahata]]'' after the end of the war thanked the Allied occupation for the "democratic revolution" that was occurring and called for the recreation of a communist political party. A national conference was held on 8 November 1945, and the 4th Party Congress was held from 1 to 2 December. This was the party's first congress in nineteen years.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=48–50}}{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|pp=88–89}}

According to [[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]], the JCP, unlike the French, and Italian communists, emerged into the postwar period without an organizational base established through wartime resistance movements. As a result, the postwar JCP relied heavily on support of Korean activists in Japan. Of the roughly one thousand supporters who gathered in Western Tokyo to greet party members who had emerged from prison on 10 October 1945, half or more were Korean.{{sfn|Hasegawa|2022}} Initially the JCP advocated for a united front with the Japan Socialist Party though this did not occur due to profound positional disagreements between the two parties.{{sfn|Hayes|2018|p=81}}

Nosaka returned to Japan after fourteen years in exile on 10 January 1946.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=53}} Under the guidance of Nosaka, the party pursued a policy of portraying itself as "lovable".{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=12}} Nosaka's strategy involved avoiding open calls for violent revolution and taking advantage of the seemingly pro-labor stance of the Allied occupation to organize the urban working classes and win power at the ballot box and through propaganda.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=128}} In particular, the party was successful in winning acceptance of the notion that communists had been the only ones to resist [[Japanese militarism|Japanese wartime militarism]].{{sfn|Kapur|2018b|p=307}} This propaganda effort won the party thousands of new members and an even larger number of sympathizers, especially among artists and intellectuals.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=12}}

Party membership, which never exceeded 1,000 in the pre-war period, rose from 1,180 in December 1945, to 7,500 by February 1946, 70,000 by December 1947, and over 100,000 by April 1950. [[Sanbetsu]], a union affiliated with the JCP, had around 1.5 million members as overall Japanese union membership rose to 6 million in the post-war period.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=67–68}} The JCP benefited from Japan's [[Koreans in Japan|Korean population]] that was more favorable to communism due to discrimination and high unemployment rates. The JCP made dramatic gains in the [[1949 Japanese general election|1949 general election]], tripling its popular vote support and increasing its seat total from 4 to 35.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=72}}

===Red Purge and turn to violence===
Beginning in the fall of 1949, in reaction to the JCP's electoral success, increasing labor strikes, and as part of the "[[Reverse Course]]" in Allied occupation policy amid rising [[Cold War]] tensions, the Allied occupation authorities and the Japanese government carried out a sweeping [[Red Purge]], firing tens of thousands of communists and suspected communists from government posts, teaching positions at schools, and private corporations.<ref>{{harvnb|Kapur|2018a|pp=9–10}}; {{harvnb|Sugita|2021|p=5}}; {{harvnb|Gordon|1993|p=156}}; {{harvnb|Itasaka|1983b|p=18}}</ref> The purge was further intensified in response to the outbreak of the [[Korean War]].{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|pp=9–10}}

[[File:Japanese Communist Party Headquarters in 1950.jpg|thumb|JCP headquarters in 1950. The large banner above the door reads "Oppose war!"]]

[[Douglas MacArthur]] considered banning the JCP on 3 May 1950. Twenty-four members of the party's central committee were removed from office on 6 June and its newspaper, ''Shimbun Akahata'', was suspended on 27 June. A total of 11,000 workers and 1,200 government workers were fired from 1949 to 1950.{{sfn|Cole|Totten|Uyehara|1966|pp=31–32}}{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=84–85}} Union divisions and attacks on communist influence in labor led to Sanbetsu's membership falling to 400,000 by 1949.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=69}}

Against this backdrop in January 1950, the Soviet-led [[Cominform]], at the behest of Soviet premier [[Joseph Stalin]], issued a blistering criticism of the JCP's peaceful line as "opportunism" and "glorifying American imperialism". It also demanded that the JCP carry out an immediate violent revolution along Maoist lines.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=128}} This devastating "Cominform Criticism" led rival JCP factions to compete for the Cominform's approval, and ultimately led to the militant {{Nihongo|"1951 Platform"|[[:ja:51年綱領|51年綱領]]}} which declared that "it would be a serious mistake to think that Japan's liberation can be achieved through peaceful, democratic means" and called for an immediate violent revolution.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=128}} This thesis was a combination of late Stalinist and Maoist thought.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=80–81}} The result was a campaign of violence in which JCP activists threw Molotov cocktails at police boxes and cadres were sent up into the mountains with instructions to organize ostensibly oppressed farmers into "[[Mountain Village Operation Units|mountain guerrilla squads]]".{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=128}}

The backlash to the JCP's new militant line was swift and severe. Militants were rounded up, tried, and sentenced to lengthy prison terms, and in the 1952 general election, Japanese voters vented their ire at the JCP by stripping the party of every single one of its 35 Diet seats, a blow from which it would take two decades to recover.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|pp=129, 133}} Stunned, the JCP gradually began to pull back from its militant line, a process facilitated by the death of Stalin in 1953.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=129}} At the 6th Party Congress in 1955, the JCP renounced the militant line completely, returning to its old "peaceful line" of gradually pursuing socialist revolution through peaceful, democratic means.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=129}}

{{ill|Shigeo Shida|ja|志田重男}} and {{ill|Ritsu Itō|ja|伊藤律}} were informally controlling the JCP in the early 1950s. Tokuda's death in 1953 created a power vacuum in the party. Shida won and Itō was expelled from the party, having been accused of being a spy.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=93}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 September 1953 |title=Tokyo Party Ousts Missing Red Chief |page=4 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1953/09/21/archives/tokyo-party-ousts-missing-red-chief-ritsu-ito-head-of-agriculture.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713025930/https://www.nytimes.com/1953/09/21/archives/tokyo-party-ousts-missing-red-chief-ritsu-ito-head-of-agriculture.html |archive-date=13 July 2024}}</ref> Shida's influence waned in the late 1950s as Miyamoto, who became General Secretary in 1958, gained power.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=100, 103–104}} Members of Shida's faction later broke away to from a new JCP in September 1965.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=256}} This group performed poorly in elections despite support from the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=304}}

In 1959, the party held 11 seats in the prefectural assemblies, 349 seats in the city assemblies, and 565 in the town and village assemblies.{{sfn|CIA|1962|p=2}}

===Anpo protests===
[[File:Kenji Miyamoto.jpg|thumb|[[Kenji Miyamoto (politician)|Kenji Miyamoto]] held the party's leadership position from 1958 to 1982.]]

In 1960, the JCP played a central role in organizing the massive [[Anpo protests]] against the [[Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan|U.S.–Japan Security Treaty]], which were the largest protests in Japanese history.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|pp=1, 19}} The JCP took a different line than the [[Japan Socialist Party]], [[Sohyo]] labor federation, and other groups who argued that the main target of the protest movement was Japanese monopoly capitalism. Instead, the JCP argued that the main enemy was American imperialism, and along with affiliated groups, focused its protests around the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=27}} Accordingly, JCP-linked groups were the driving force behind the "[[Anpo protests#The "Hagerty Incident"|Hagerty Incident]]" in which the car carrying U.S. President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]]'s press secretary [[James Hagerty]] was mobbed outside of Tokyo's [[Haneda Airport]] on 10 June 1960, provoking a major international incident and helping to precipitate the downfall of the [[Nobusuke Kishi]] cabinet.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=27}}

The Anpo protests were a turning point in the JCP's ongoing attempts to revive its political fortunes after the disastrous turn toward violent revolution in the early 1950s.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=128}} Although the Maoists had been purged from the party following the earlier disaster, the JCP was still riven by the age-old rivalry between the Rōnō Ha (Worker-Farmer Faction) and the Kōza Ha (Lecture Faction), which dated back to the prewar era.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=128}} Among other disagreements, the two factions disagreed over which stage of Marxist development Japan was currently in; the Rōnō Ha believed that Japan had already achieved full capitalism, which meant that an immediate socialist revolution was possible, whereas the Kōza Ha argued that Japan's transition to capitalism was not yet complete and that therefore what was needed was a "[[Two-stage theory|two-stage]]" revolution{{emdash}}first a "democratic revolution" that would overthrow American imperialism and establish true democracy, and then a "socialist revolution" that would establish communism.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=129}} Although the "mainstream" of the JCP, led by [[Kenji Miyamoto (politician)|Kenji Miyamoto]], favored the Kōza Ha interpretation, as late as the 7th Party Congress in 1958 the "anti-mainstream" Rōnō Ha faction, led by Shōjirō Kasuga, still controlled around 40% of the delegates.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=128}}

The Anpo protests greatly strengthened the hand of the Kōza Ha faction.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=130}} During the protest, the JCP, still scarred by the backlash to its violent line in the 1950s, consistently advocated peaceful, orderly, and restrained protests.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=130}} This stance was highly unpopular with the radical student activists of the [[Zengakuren]] student federation, who broke decisively with the JCP as a result and began to build a [[New Left in Japan|New Left]] student movement.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|pp=146–151}} However, the movement proved unpopular with the broader public, and the JCP was able to use its image as a "peaceful" and "positive" force during the protests as a recruitment tool. Membership in the party soared during the course of the protests, doubling from 40,000 to 80,000, and most of the new recruits wound up supporting the Kōza Ha line.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=130}}

===Zenith===
Over the remainder of the 1960s, the Kōza Ha was able to purge many members from the Rōnō Ha faction, and others, dissatisfied with JCP policies, quit the party of their own accord.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|pp=131–132}} Miyamoto was able to cement his control over the party and reigned as party chairman all the way until 1982. Meanwhile, the party's membership continued to grow rapidly, and the party began to make steady gains at the ballot box, winning more and more seats in the [[National Diet]].{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=130}} By the mid-1960s, the [[United States Department of State]] estimated party membership to be approximately 120,000 (0.2% of the working-age population),{{sfn|Benjamin|Kautsky|1968|p=122}} Miyamoto reported a membership above 100,000 in 1964,{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=226}} and the party had acquired around 300,000 members by 1970.{{sfn|Berton|2000}}

The JCP's vote totals in the prefectural assemblies doubled between the 1959 and 1963 elections and their seats rose from 12 to 22 despite running 200 fewer candidates.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=324}} The JCP's vote totals and seats in city council elections rose from 509,069 to 880,991 votes and 218 to 369 seats. Their vote totals in the town council elections doubled and their seats rose from 168 to 314.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=326}} The JCP's revenue of $9 million in 1969, was larger than all of the other parties except for the LDP.{{sfn|Langer|1972|p=35}}

In the [[1972 Japanese general election|1972 general election]], the JCP won an astonishing 38 seats in the Diet, surpassing its 1949 high of 35 and signaling the party's full recovery from the disastrous militant line of the early 1950s.{{sfn|Kapur|2018a|p=133}} Party membership continued to grow in the 1970s, albeit at a slower rate than in the 1960s, reaching approximately 500,000 members by 1980.{{sfn|Berton|2000}} By the 1970s the JCP was the largest non-ruling communist party in the world.{{sfn|Langer|1972|pp=16; 18}}

===1990s to 21st century===
[[File:Nikyo Chuo Iinkai at Tokyo in 2018.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|JCP headquarters in Tokyo's [[Shibuya]] Ward]]

After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], the JCP released a press statement titled "We welcome the end of a party which embodied the historical evil of [[great power]] [[chauvinism]] and [[Hegemony|hegemonism]]". The party also criticized the Eastern Bloc countries which abandoned socialism, describing their decisions as a "reversal of history".<ref name="yomiuri.co.jp">{{cite web |website=The Daily Yomiuri |url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120715002061.htm |title=JCP struggling to become relevant |date=16 July 2012 |access-date=12 July 2012}}</ref> Consequently, the party did not suffer an internal crisis as a result of the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991, nor did it consider disbanding or changing its name. However, owing to a significant loss in electoral support, the party revised its policies in the 1990s and became a more traditional [[democratic socialist]] party.<ref name="britannica"/>

Lam Peng Er argued in the ''[[Pacific Affairs]]'' in 1996 that "the JCP's viability is crucial to the health of Japanese democracy" because "[i]t is the only established party in parliament that has not been coopted by the conservative parties. It performs the watchdog role against the ruling parties without fear or favor. More importantly, the JCP often offers the only opposition candidate in prefectural governorship, city mayoral and other local elections. Despite the ostensible differences between the non-communist parties at the national level, they often support a joint candidate for governor or mayor so that all parties are assured of being part of the ruling coalition. If the JCP did not offer a candidate, there would be a walkover and Japanese voters would be offered a fait accompli without an electoral avenue of protest. Promoting women candidates in elections to win women's votes is another characteristic of the party. More women are elected under the communist label than other political parties in Japan."{{sfn|Er|1996|pp=362–363}}

In 2008, foreign media recorded an increase in support for the party due to the effect of the [[2008 financial crisis]] on Japanese workers.{{sfn|Demetriou|2008}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8027397.stm |title=Communism on rise in recession-hit Japan |work=[[BBC News]] |date=4 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250826202831/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8027397.stm |archive-date=26 August 2025}}</ref> However, the party failed to increase its number of seats in the [[2009 Japanese general election|2009 general election]]. Subsequently, the projected decline of the party was halted, with the JCP becoming the third-largest party in the [[Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jps_2013/20130516_09i.html |title=JCP book to be published for the first time in South Korea |website=Japanese Communist Party |access-date=27 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241029010328/https://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jps_2013/20130516_09i.html |archive-date=29 October 2024}}</ref>{{sfn|Dvorak|2013}} and making gains in the House of Councillors, going from six to 11 seats. The party surged in the 2014 elections, receiving 7,040,130 votes (13.3%) in the constituency section and 6,062,962 (11.37%) in the party lists.

During the nomination period of the [[2016 Japanese House of Councillors election|July 2016 House of Councillors election]], the party signed an agreement with the [[Democratic Party (Japan, 2016)|Democratic]], [[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|Social Democratic]] and [[People's Life Party|People's Life]] parties to field a jointly endorsed candidate in each of the 32 districts in which only one seat was contested, uniting in an attempt to take control of the House from the LDP–Komeito coalition.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/06/07/national/politics-diplomacy/opposition-parties-activists-ink-policy-pact-upper-house-election/ |title=Opposition parties, activists ink policy pact for Upper House election |work=[[Japan Times]] |date=7 June 2016 |access-date=23 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921153349/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/06/07/national/politics-diplomacy/opposition-parties-activists-ink-policy-pact-upper-house-election/ |archive-date=21 September 2021}}</ref> JCP leaders expressed willingness to enter into a coalition with the Democratic Party, a notion which was rejected by then-Democratic Party President [[Katsuya Okada]] as being "impossible" in the near future due to what he viewed as some of the "extreme leftist policies" promoted by the JCP.{{sfn|Osaki|2016}} The party had three Councillors up for re-election and fielded a total of 56 candidates in the election, down from 63 candidates in the 2013 election, but still the second-highest number after the LDP.<ref name=yomi16>{{cite web |url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/sangiin/2016/news2/20160623-OYT1T50006.html |script-title=ja:第３極衰退で候補者減、タレント候補１０人に |title=Dai 3-kyoku suitai de kōho-sha-gen, tarento kōho 10-ri ni |trans-title=Fewer candidates with the demise of the third pole – 10 celebrity candidates |language=ja |work=[[Yomiuri Shimbun]] |date=23 June 2016 |access-date=23 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623011624/http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/sangiin/2016/news2/20160623-OYT1T50006.html |archive-date=23 June 2016}}</ref> However, only 14 of those candidates contested single- and multi-member districts, while 42 contested the 48-seat national proportional representation block.<ref name=yomi16/>

Councillor [[Tomoko Tamura]] was appointed as the party's first chairwoman on 18 January 2024, replacing Kazuo Shii who had occupied the role for over 23 years.{{sfn|Miki|2024}}{{sfn|Johnston|2024}}

==Ideology and policies{{anchor|Ideology}}==
{{Socialism in Japan|Parties}}
{{Communist parties|Asia}}
The JCP is one of the largest non-governing [[Communist party|communist parties]] in the world;<ref name=":1" /> it is, however, politically moderate and advocates a peaceful transition to communism.<ref>{{harvnb|Hoover|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jyx1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT170 170]}}: "The JCP, a moderate communist party today, is not against religion and does not strive to eliminate the emperor. [...] Stressing a peaceful transition to communism, the JCP has adopted an independent and nationalist potision."</ref> [[Marxism–Leninism]], which former party chairman [[Tetsuzo Fuwa]] had worked for years to make acceptable to the electorate, was abandoned in favor of [[scientific socialism]] in 1976.<ref>{{cite book |last=Samuels |first=Richard J. |author-link=Richard J. Samuels |year=2019 |title=Machiavelli's Children: Leaders and Their Legacies in Italy and Japan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_6tDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT311 |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |page=311 |isbn=978-1-5017-2029-1 |access-date=26 May 2023 |quote=Miyamoto's successor, Fuwa Tetsuzo, was one of that group. He long been engaged in an effort to make Marxism-Leninism palatable to the electorate. [...] But throughout, while emphasizing the JCP's independence, he insisted that the JCP was the "correct" inheritor of scientific socialism.}}</ref><ref name="Abe 106">{{harvnb|Abe|Shindō|Kawato|2018|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=nIN1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT106 106]}}: "In 1976, even the term "proletarian authority" was expunged from the party program, and "Marxism-Leninism" was changed to "scientific socialism.""</ref> The party adopted a [[Eurocommunist]] outlook before the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Lansford |first=Tom |year=2025 |title=Political Handbook of the World 2024–2025 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g1BSEQAAQBAJ&pg=PT919 |publisher=[[Sage Publishing|SAGE Publications]] |page=919 |isbn=978-1-0719-3187-5 |access-date=25 July 2025}}</ref> According to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', the JCP became a more traditional [[democratic socialist]] party after modifying its policies in the 1990s.<ref name="britannica"/> This analysis is supported by the Japanese political scientist {{ill|Kōji Nakakita|ja|中北浩爾}}, who is often cited as a specialist on the JCP.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tanida |first=Kuniichi |date=26 September 2022 |title=The Japanese Communist Party: A Century of Moving with the Times |url=https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/d00826/ |access-date=22 June 2023 |website=nippon.com |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603104442/https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/d00826/ |archive-date=3 June 2023}}</ref> The JCP follows a Marxist ideology,{{sfn|Peng-Er|2005|p=57}}<ref name="Hayes"/> stating that the theory of Marx and Engels is the foundation of their program.<ref name="Shii 2023">{{cite web |first=Kazuo |last=Shii |author-link=Kazuo Shii |date=15 September 2023 |script-title=ja:歴史に深く学び、つよく大きな党を――『日本共産党の百年』を語る |title=Rekishi ni fukaku manabi, tsuyoku ōkina tō o ― ― "Nihon Kyōsantō no momotose" o kataru |language=ja |trans-title=Learning deeply from history and building a big party: "One Hundred Years of the Communist Party of Japan" |url=https://www.jcp.or.jp/web_jcp/2023/09/101th-shii-koen.html |website=Japanese Communist Party |script-quote=ja:共産主義の社会について、「人間の自由で全面的な発展」というマルクス、エンゲルスの未来社会論の真の輝きを発掘し、綱領の根幹にすえました。 |quote=Kyōsan shugi no shakai ni tsuite, `ningen no jiyūde zenmen-tekina hatten' to iu Marukusu, engerusu no mirai shakai-ron no shin no kagayaki o hakkutsu shi, kōryō no konkan ni suemashita. |trans-quote=In addition, with regard to the socialist and communist society that our Party is aiming for, we have unearthed the true brilliance of Marx's and Engels' theory of the future society, which is "the free and comprehensive development of human beings," and made it the foundation of our program. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250725091538/https://www.jcp.or.jp/web_jcp/2023/09/101th-shii-koen.html |archive-date=25 July 2025}}</ref> The party sits on the [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]]{{refn|<ref name="Bloomberg">{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/OAPANZ:JP |title= Japanese Communist Party |website= bloomberg.com |publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.]] |quote=Japanese Communist Party (JCP) operates as a left-wing political party in Japan. The Company conducts membership organization established to promote the interests of a national, State, or local political party or candidate. |access-date=25 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="britannica">{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Japanese-Communist-Party |title=Japanese Communist Party &#124; political party, Japan |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]] |access-date=11 October 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |date=30 November 2022 |title=Japan Decides 2021 The Japanese General Election |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zQafEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22left-wing+Japanese+Communist+Party%22&pg=PA362 |location=Germany |publisher=Springer International Publishing |page=362 |isbn=978-3-031-11324-6 |access-date=20 July 2025}}</ref>}} to [[Far-left politics|far-left]]{{refn|<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Robert J. |editor1-last=Pekkanen |editor2-first=Steven R. |editor2-last=Reed |editor3-first=Ethan |editor3-last=Scheiner |editor4=Daniel M. Smith |title=Japan Decides 2017: The Japanese General Election |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_FdDwAAQBAJ&dq=Japan+far-left+JCP&pg=PA93 |date=2018 |page=93 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |isbn=978-3-319-76475-7}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Hrebenar|2019|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=u5SpDwAAQBAJ&dq=progressive+JCP+Japan&pg=PT227 227]}}: "This trend erodes the traditional support of the "progressive" parties, especially those—as with the JCP—perceived to be on the extreme Left."</ref>{{sfn|Jou|Endo|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BDelDAAAQBAJ&q=The+JCP%27s+policy+position+is+at+the+far+left+of+the+ideological+spectrum+of+the+country&pg=PA16 16]}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/election-fever-hits-japan |title=Election campaign, the Japanese way |date=13 June 2017 |access-date=16 October 2017 |work=[[The Straits Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309015809/https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/election-fever-hits-japan |archive-date=9 March 2022 |url-status=dead |quote=Both the LDP and Kibo no To are in favour of constitutional revision, unlike the new left-leaning Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the far-left Japanese Communist Party.}}</ref>}} of the [[left–right political spectrum]].

===Economic policy===
The JCP strives to change the nation's economic policy of what it views as serving the interests of large corporations and banks to one of "defending the interests of the people". It advocates establishing "democratic rules" that will check the activities of large corporations and "protect the lives and basic rights of the people".{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Regarding the [[international economy]], the JCP has advocated establishing a new international democratic economic order on the basis of respect for each country's economic [[sovereignty]]. The party strongly opposed Japan's consideration of the failed [[Trans-Pacific Partnership]].{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} 

In September 2015, after the passage of the [[2015 Japanese military legislation]], the JCP called for cooperation from other opposition parties to form an interim government to abolish the bills. It was the first time the party had called for such cooperation with other parties.<ref>{{cite web |author-link=Kazuo Shii |last=Shii |first=Kazuo |url=http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jcpcc/blog/2015/09/we-call-for-establishing-a-national-coalition-government-to-repeal-the-war-security-legislation.html |title=We Call For Establishing a "National Coalition Government to Repeal the War (Security) Legislation" |website=Japanese Communist Party |date=19 September 2015 |access-date=29 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250110093228/https://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jcpcc/blog/2015/09/we-call-for-establishing-a-national-coalition-government-to-repeal-the-war-security-legislation.html |archive-date=10 January 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.japan-press.co.jp/modules/news/index.php?id=8565 |title=JCP proposes establishing a national coalition gov't to repeal war legislation |date=20 September 2015 |website=Japan Press Weekly |access-date=29 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250919235538/https://www.japan-press.co.jp/modules/news/index.php?id=8565 |archive-date=19 September 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/21/national/politics-diplomacy/jcp-seeks-cooperation-from-opposition-parties-on-new-security-laws/ |title=JCP seeks cooperation from opposition parties on new security laws |date=21 September 2015 |work=[[Japan Times]] |access-date=29 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924162033/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/21/national/politics-diplomacy/jcp-seeks-cooperation-from-opposition-parties-on-new-security-laws/ |archive-date=24 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/28/national/politics-diplomacy/two-opposition-parties-mull-coalition-talks-jcp/ |title=Two opposition parties to mull coalition talks with JCP |date=28 September 2015 |work=[[Japan Times]] |access-date=29 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930225241/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/29/national/politics-diplomacy/two-opposition-parties-mull-coalition-talks-jcp/#.Vgxn9XfP1qY |archive-date=30 September 2015}}</ref>

The JCP supports the abolition of the consumption tax.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Andrews |first=William |date=15 July 2022 |title=The Japanese Left Has a Complex and Turbulent History |url=https://jacobin.com/2022/07/japan-new-old-left-jcp-long-60s |magazine=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |access-date=20 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250928135321/https://jacobin.com/2022/07/japan-new-old-left-jcp-long-60s |archive-date=28 September 2025}}</ref>

In July 2025, the JCP stated that it supports a prompt raise in the minimum wage to ¥1,500 per hour with a later aim of ¥1,700 per hour, a decrease in working hours and an increase in "free time", improving conditions for nonregular workers and ending unjust terminations of employment.<ref name="The Japan Times, July 2025">{{cite news |last=Tamura |first=Tomoko |date=16 July 2025 |title=JCP vows fairer taxes, stronger social safety net and a commitment to peaceful diplomacy |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/07/16/japan/japan-communist-party/ |work=[[Japan Times]] |access-date=20 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250804155808/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/commentary/2025/07/16/japan/japan-communist-party/ |archive-date=4 August 2025}}</ref> The party also stated its support for a temporary tax on a degree of the internal reserves of big businesses and ending tax cuts given to large corporations.<ref name="The Japan Times, July 2025"/>

===Social policy===
The JCP is generally regarded as the most [[Progressivism|progressive]] party in Japanese politics.<ref name="progressiveJCP">The JCP is on an independent path different from other communist parties, and has traditionally been regarded as a (socially) progressive party in the context of Japanese politics:{{bulleted list
| {{harvnb|Hrebenar|2019|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=u5SpDwAAQBAJ&dq=progressive+JCP+Japan&pg=PT227 227]}}: "This trend erodes the traditional support of the "progressive" parties, especially those—as with the JCP—perceived to be on the extreme Left."
| {{harvnb|Jou|Endo|2016|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=BDelDAAAQBAJ&dq=progressive+%22Japanese+Communist+Party%22&pg=PA29 29]}}: "Conventional wisdom, still dominant in media and academic circles, holds that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) occupy the conservative and progressive ends of the ideological spectrum, ..."
| {{cite book |editor-last=Ando |editor-first=Takemasa |date=2013 |title=Japan's New Left Movements: Legacies for Civil Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wcdEAQAAQBAJ&dq=progressive+JCP+Japan&pg=PA33 |quote=Progressive parties: Progressive parties, the Japan Socialist Party (JSP) and the Japan Communist Party (JCP), also played a key role in the large-scale mobilisation |page=33 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-135-08738-8}}
}}</ref> In 2000, the party opposed legislation which reintroduced two symbolic practices to secondary school graduation ceremonies in Japan, namely the raising of the [[Hinomaru|national flag]] and the singing of the [[Kimigayo|national anthem]], both of which the party views as relics of Japan's militarist past.<ref>{{Cite web |date=6 March 2000 |script-title=ja:『日の丸・君が代』 子どもへの強制やめよう |title="Hinomaru Kimigayo" kodomo e no kyōsei yameyou |trans-title=Let's stop forcing the "Hinomaru and Kimigayo" on children |url=https://www.jcp.or.jp/web_policy/2001/03/post-173.html |access-date=11 December 2022 |website=Japanese Communist Party |language=ja}}</ref>

Abolition of the monarchy was one of the policies supported by the JCP upon its foundation.{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|p=16}} It has traditionally been opposed to the existence of the [[Imperial House of Japan|Imperial House]] since its inception. However, the party changed its stance in 2004 by acknowledging the [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]] as Japan's head of state.<ref name="yomiuri.co.jp" /> The JCP has stated that it supports the establishment of a democratic republic, but also that "[the monarchy's] continuation or discontinuation should be decided by the will of the majority of the people in future, when the time is ripe to do so".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.japan-press.co.jp/modules/news/index.php?id=8847 |title=Shii answers reporters' questions on JCP decision to attend opening ceremony of the Diet – @JapanPress_wky |website=japan-press.co.jp |access-date=27 March 2018}}</ref>

====LGBT rights and feminism====
The JCP has been one of the political parties to vocally back [[LGBT rights in Japan|LGBTQ+ rights in the country]]; communist lawmakers have been working to win the passage of [[same-sex marriage]] and anti-discrimination laws in parliament.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Atkins |first=C. J. |date=6 February 2024 |title=Japanese Communists' first woman leader, Tomoko Tamura, comes out punching for peace |url=https://peoplesworld.org/article/japanese-communists-first-woman-leader-tomoko-tamura-comes-out-punching-for-peace/ |website=People's World |language=en-US}}</ref> The JCP jointly supports the passing of an LGBT equality law with the [[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan]] (CDP), the [[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|Social Democratic Party]] (SDP), and [[Reiwa Shinsengumi]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/10/6f1719034954-focus-japan-election-pledges-on-lgbt-rights-boost-legislation-hopes.html |title=FOCUS: Japan election pledges on LGBT rights boost legislation hopes |quote= The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and three others—the Japanese Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party and Reiwa Shinsengumi—agreed on a common policy of enacting an LGBT equality law. |work=[[Kyodo News]] |date=28 October 2021 |access-date=25 January 2022}}</ref>

The JCP has maintained a friendly relationship with the [[Feminism in Japan|Japanese feminist camp]] since its inception, and is still the most active in women's rights issues among Japan's major political parties. The JCP was the first party to call for [[Women's suffrage|universal suffrage for women]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Ian |editor-last=Neary |title=The Buraku Issue and Modern Japan: The Career of Matsumoto Jiichiro |date=2009 |publisher=[[Routledge]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=Melissa |editor1-last=Haussman |editor2-first=Birgit |editor2-last=Sauer |title=Gendering the State in the Age of Globalization: Women's Movements and State Feminism in Postindustrial Democracies |quote=Movement The repression in the 1920s of all leftist organizations, including the Japanese Communist Party which had been formed in 1922, led to their women militants being hounded and also to the suppression of feminist activities. |date=2007 |page=196 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14388627 |title=Voters elect 41 women to the Tokyo assembly, the most ever |quote=Of all the parties, the Japanese Communist Party saw the highest number of its female candidates elected to the assembly at 14. Voters sent 19 of the party's candidates to the assembly in total. |language=en |work=[[The Asahi Shimbun]] |date=6 July 2021 |access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref> The party supports eliminating the [[Gender pay gap|wage gap between men and women]]<ref>{{cite news |date=1 November 2021 |title=Japan election latest: Tokyo stocks jump as LDP win eases uncertainty |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Japan-election/Japan-election-latest-Tokyo-stocks-jump-as-LDP-win-eases-uncertainty |access-date=25 January 2021 |work=[[Nikkei Asia]] |quote=The JCP also put gender at the center of its platform, vowing to eliminate wage gaps between men and women.}}</ref> and has called for the participation of more women in Japanese politics and political life.<ref name="slatefr">{{cite news |last=Durand |first=Damien |title=Le Japon est-il l'avenir du communisme? |url=http://www.slate.fr/story/98095/japon-communisme}}</ref>

===Foreign policy===
The founding platform of the JCP called for the withdrawal of Japanese soldiers from China, Sakhalin, Korea, and Taiwan.{{sfn|Swearingen|Langer|1968|p=16}}

The JCP campaigned against the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|invasion of China]] and the imperial regime's [[Pacific War|expansionist policy in Asia]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |first=Chris |last=Dite |date=December 2023 |title=How a Young Communist Won and Lost Power in Postwar Japan |url=https://jacobin.com/2023/12/toshiko-karasawa-japanese-communist-party-workers-postwar-history |magazine=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250427171305/https://jacobin.com/2023/12/toshiko-karasawa-japanese-communist-party-workers-postwar-history/ |archive-date=27 April 2025}}</ref> Following the outbreak of the 1931 [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]], the Japanese Communist Party had infiltrated the military, including in Tokyo, and Osaka. They would distribute leaflets and newspapers opposing the war.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kure-sensai.net/Undou/Senzen/HansenUndou.htm |script-title=ja:「戦争に反対して、命がけで活動した人たちの記録」|language=ja |title='Sensō ni hantai shite, inochigake de katsudō shita hito-tachi no kiroku' |trans-title="A record of people who risked their lives in opposition to the war." |publisher=kure-sensai.net |date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241226184305/https://kure-sensai.net/Undou/Senzen/HansenUndou.htm |archive-date=26 December 2024}}</ref>

One of the JCP's main objectives is terminating the [[U.S.-Japan Alliance|Japan–United States military alliance]] and the dismantling of all [[United States Forces Japan|American military bases in Japan]],<ref name="slatefr" /> with a goal to make Japan a [[Non-Aligned Movement|non-aligned]] and [[neutral country]], in accordance with its principles of [[self-determination]] and [[national sovereignty]]. There are about 130 American military bases and related facilities in Japan, with [[Okinawa Prefecture]] alone hosting more than half of [[United States Forces Japan]] personnel. The JCP adheres to the idea that Japan, as an Asian country, must not allow its relationship with the United States and the [[G8]] to define its foreign relations and should put its East Asian neighbors at the center of its diplomatic efforts. It supports establishing an "independent foreign policy in the interests of the Japanese people" and rejects "uncritically following any foreign power".{{cn|date=October 2025}}

The JCP advocates that Japan issue further apologies for its actions during [[World War II]] and has condemned prime ministerial visits to [[Yasukuni Shrine]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jps_2013/20131226_yasukuni.html |title=JCP Chair Shii comments on Abe's shrine visit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161127024831/http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jps_2013/20131226_yasukuni.html |archive-date=27 November 2016 |website=Japanese Communist Party |date=26 December 2013 |access-date=2 April 2014}}</ref> In the 1930s, while the JCP was still illegal, it was the only political party to vocally oppose [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Japan's war with China]].<ref>{{cite book |script-title=ja:日本共産党の八十年: 1922~2002 |date=2003 |publisher=日本共産党中央委員会出版局 |isbn=978-4-530-04393-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DiW4AAAAIAAJ |language=ja}}</ref> The JCP supports Japanese territorial claims over the [[Kuril Islands dispute|Kuril]]{{efn|Unlike the view of the Japanese government, the JCP also calls for the return of the Kuril Islands in their entirety.<ref>{{Cite web |title=日ロ領土問題と平和条約交渉について |url=https://www.jcp.or.jp/web_policy/2001/04/post-296.html |access-date=21 July 2025 |website= |publisher=Japanese Communist Party |language=ja |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250809061800/https://www.jcp.or.jp/web_policy/2001/04/post-296.html |archive-date=9 August 2025}}</ref>}} and [[Senkaku Islands dispute|Senkaku]] Islands and [[Liancourt Rocks dispute|Liancourt Rocks]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 September 2012 |script-title=ja:領土問題 尖閣諸島 竹島/日本共産党はこう考えます |title=Ryōdomondai Senkakushotō Takeshima/ Nihonkyōsantō wa kō kangaemasu |trans-title=Territorial Issues: Senkaku Islands, Takeshima / This is what the Japanese Communist Party thinks |url=https://www.jcp.or.jp/akahata/aik12/2012-09-11/2012091105_01_1.html |access-date=11 December 2022 |website=Japanese Communist Party |language=ja |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240218055708/https://www.jcp.or.jp/akahata/aik12/2012-09-11/2012091105_01_1.html |archive-date=18 February 2024}}</ref> Furthermore, the JCP has condemned North Korea's nuclear-weapons testing, calling for effective sanctions, but opposing the prospect of a military response.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jps_2013/20130216_4.html |title=Shii comments on DPRK nuclear test |website=Japanese Communist Party |date=16 February 2013 |access-date=2 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407071249/http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jps_2013/20130216_4.html |archive-date=7 April 2014}}</ref>

The JCP's leading politicians are known to be the most active opponents of [[Anti-Korean sentiment in Japan|anti-Korean racism]] and [[xenophobia]] in Japan. Contemporary JCP politicians criticize mainstream Japanese politicians for instigating contempt towards Korea, and oppose [[historical revisionism]] in regard to [[Korean history]] and Japanese war crimes. The JCP was one of the few Japanese parties which supported the [[Korean independence movement]]. In the latter half of the 1940s, a training school for Korean revolutionaries was operated jointly by the JCP and several Korean organizations, including the [[Communist Party of Korea]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Langer |first1=Paul |last2=Swearingen |first2=Rodger |date=1950 |title=The Japanese Communist Party, the Soviet Union and Korea |journal=Pacific Affairs |volume=23 |issue=4 |page=352 |doi=10.2307/2752742 |jstor=2752742 |issn=0030-851X}}</ref> In South Korea, the JCP is known as the only "pro-South Korea" political party in Japan.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 October 2019 |script-title=ko:"일본 내 친한파·온건파 목소리 커져… 이제 대화 분위기 형성" |title="ilbon nae chinhanpa·ongeonpa mogsoli keojyeo… ije daehwa bun-wigi hyeongseong" |trans-title="Voices of pro-Japanese and moderate factions are growing louder... Now, an atmosphere for dialogue is being formed" |url=https://www.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20191014017002 |access-date=19 March 2023 |work=[[Seoul Shinmun]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250720165208/https://www.seoul.co.kr/news/newsView.php?id=20191014017002 |archive-date=20 July 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=26 November 2018 |script-title=ko:시이 가즈오 일본공산당 위원장 "역사수정주의 최우선한 아베 정권, 위안부·강제징용 문제 내팽개쳐" |language=ko |title=Sii Gajeuo Ilbongongsandang Wiwonjang "Yeogsasujeongjuui Choeuseonhan Abe Jeong-gwon, Wianbu·gangjejing-yong Munje Naepaeng-gaechyeo" |trans-title=Japanese Communist Party Chairman Kazuo Shii: "The Abe administration, prioritizing historical revisionism, has neglected the comfort women and forced labor issues." |url=https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201909032233005 |access-date=19 March 2023 |work=[[Kyunghyang Shinmun]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201230440/https://www.khan.co.kr/article/201909032233005 |archive-date=1 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=5 August 2019 |script-title=ko:"아베, 국내 돌파구 못 찾아 해외에 적 만들어" 일본 참의원 발언 눈길 |language=ko |title="Abe, gugnae dolpagu mos chaj-a haeoee jeog mandeul-eo" ilbon cham-uiwon bal-eon nungil |trans-title="Abe has failed to find a domestic breakthrough and has created enemies overseas," remarks by the Japanese House of Councilors draw attention |url=https://www.hankookilbo.com/News/Read/201908051818050121 |access-date=19 March 2023 |work=[[Hankook Ilbo]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230319114011/https://www.hankookilbo.com/News/Read/201908051818050121 |archive-date=19 March 2023}}</ref><ref name="사람들">{{Cite web |date=26 November 2018 |script-title=ko:일본 국가주의와 싸우는 사람들 |language=ko |title=ilbon guggajuuiwa ssauneun salamdeul |trans-title=People fighting Japanese nationalism |url=https://www.sisain.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=33267 |access-date=19 March 2023 |work=시사IN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127142805/https://www.sisain.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=33267 |archive-date=27 January 2024}}</ref> Although it is illegal to form a communist party in South Korea, ''[[Mindan]]'' maintains friendly relations with the JCP.<ref name="민단">{{Cite web |last=Cho |first=Jun-hyung |date=13 January 2016 |script-title=ko:재일민단 신년회 참석한 일본공산당 서기국장 |language=ko |title=jaeilmindan sinnyeonhoe chamseoghan ilbongongsandang seogigugjang |trans-title=The Japanese Communist Party Secretary General attended the New Year's party of the Korean Residents Union in Japan. |url=https://www.yna.co.kr/view/PYH20160113094000073 |access-date=19 March 2023 |work=[[연합뉴스]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025211922/https://www.yna.co.kr/view/PYH20160113094000073 |archive-date=25 October 2023}}</ref> In 2003, due to the consideration of the then liberal South Korean president [[Roh Moo-hyun]], formal exchanges between the JCP and the South Korean government began.<ref name="노무현">{{Cite web |date=12 June 2003 |script-title=ko:日本共産党の委員長 訪韓に意欲的 |title= |trans-title= |language=ko |url=http://world.kbs.co.kr/service/news_view.htm?lang=j&Seq_Code=7227 |access-date=21 March 2023 |work=[[Korean Broadcasting System|KBS World JAPANESE]] |archive-url= |archive-date=}}</ref>

====Pacifism====
The JCP has traditionally championed [[pacifism]].<ref name="East Asia Forum">{{cite web |first=Daniel |last=Clausen |date=24 October 2013 |title=Japan's persistent pacifism (in English) |url=https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2013/10/24/japans-persistent-pacifism/ |access-date=4 January 2014 |publisher=[[East Asia Forum]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240617191817/https://eastasiaforum.org/2013/10/24/japans-persistent-pacifism/ |archive-date=17 June 2024}}</ref> With regards to the [[Japan Self-Defense Forces]] (Japan's armed forces), the JCP's current policy is that it is not principally opposed to its existence (in 2000 the party stated that it would agree to its use should Japan ever be attacked), but that it will seek to abolish it in the long term, international situation permitting.<ref name="Party Program">{{cite web |script-title=ja:日本共産党綱領 |title=Nihon Kyōsantō kōryō |language=ja |trans-title=Program of the Communist Party of Japan |date=18 January 2020 
|url=https://www.jcp.or.jp/web_jcp/html/Koryo/ |website=Japanese Communist Party |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250907231640/https://www.jcp.or.jp/activity/kouryo/ |archive-date=7 September 2025}}</ref> The JCP opposes the possession of [[nuclear weapon]]s by any country, military blocs, and [[Constitutional reform in Japan|attempts to revise Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution]], which says that "never again{{nbsp}}... [will Japan] be visited with the horrors of war through the action of government". Regarding the resolution of disputes, it argues that priority must be given to peaceful means through negotiations, not to military solutions. The JCP says that Japan must adhere to the [[United Nations Charter]].<ref name="Party Program" />

====China and the Soviet Union====
{{See also|Relations between the Japanese Communist Party and the Chinese Communist Party|Relations between Japanese revolutionaries, the Comintern and the Soviet Union}}
The JCP took a neutral stance during the [[Sino-Soviet split]] and Miyamoto believed that it was unnecessary for the JCP to take a side.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=107}} A pro-Chinese faction under the leadership of Hakamada Satomi and pro-Soviet faction under the leadership of [[Yoshio Shiga (communist)|Yoshio Shiga]] and [[Shigeo Kamiyama]] existed within the JCP. However, both groups were in the minority compared to the neutral faction.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=146}}

Another pro-Soviet faction of the party was under the leadership of [[Shōjirō Kasuga]]. Kasuga's faction formed the Preparatory Commission for a Socialist Reform Movement on 9 October 1961. This group broke away on 3 May 1962, and formed the [[Unified Socialist League]] with 600 members.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=144–145}} Relations between the Soviet Union and JCP soured as the Soviets attempted to court the JSP. Shiga and {{ill|Ichizo Suzuki|jp|鈴木市蔵}} were expelled from the party for voting in favor of the [[Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty]] in 1963. Shiga and Suzuki were praised in Soviet publications, including ''[[Pravda]]''.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=161–171}} The publication of ''Shimbun Akahata'' faced restrictions in the Soviet Union while Shiga's ''Voice of Japan'' did not.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=255}}

The JCP supported China during the [[Sino-Indian War]].{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=150}} Miyamoto announced the JCP's opposition to the 1968 [[1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia|Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia]]. At the same time, the party had distanced itself from Mao and Maoism, which allowed it to avoid being associated with China's [[Great Leap Forward]] and [[Cultural Revolution]] once they started coming more fully to light in the 1970s. In July 1969, the JCP declared that if it ever came to power, it would permit the free functioning of opposition parties, in an effort to distinguish itself from the [[one-party state]]s in the Soviet Union and China.{{sfn|Berton|2000}} A purge of pro-Chinese elements in the JCP, including Tokuda's son Nishizawa Ryūji from the Central Committee, was conducted in 1966.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|pp=284–285}} In 1976, mentions of "Marxism–Leninism" in the party program were changed to "[[scientific socialism]]".<ref name="Abe 106"/>

In 2020, the JCP revised its platform for the first time since 2004. The new platform criticized the [[Chinese Communist Party]], denouncing China's "great-power chauvinism and hegemonism" as "an adverse current to world peace and progress". The JCP also removed a line from its platform which described China as a country "that is beginning a new quest for socialism". JCP members have stated that this was due to [[Human rights in China|human rights conditions in China]]. The [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China|Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China]] denounced the accusations of the JCP as "groundless and biased".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/01/18/national/politics-diplomacy/japanese-communist-party-china-platform/ |title=Japanese Communist Party slams China in first platform change since 2004 |date=18 January 2020 |work=[[Japan Times]] |access-date=19 February 2020 |language=en-US |issn=0447-5763 |archive-date=19 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200219093018/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/01/18/national/politics-diplomacy/japanese-communist-party-china-platform/}}</ref>{{sfn|Ryall|2020}}

==Organization==
The party officially upholds [[democratic centralism]]. The party constitutions states decisions "shall be based on democratic discussion and finally decided by majority vote" and that "there shall be no factions or splinter groups". Along with [[Komeito]], the JCP is unique amongst major Japanese political parties for the continuity of its leaders, with Shii having served as JCP chairman from 2000 to 2024.<ref name=":1" />

===Central organization===
[[File:Japanese Communist Party headquarters 2024-03-31.jpg|thumb|JCP Central Committee Building]]

According to the party constitution, the highest body of the JCP is the Party Congress, organized by the Central Committee every 2–3 years, though it may be postponed in special circumstances.<ref name=":0" /> Between the congresses, the highest body is the Central Committee, elected by the Party Congress. The Central Committee meets two times every year and can also hold a plenum at the request of one-third of its membership.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Constitution of the Japanese Communist Party |url=https://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jps_weekly/Constitution_001124.html |access-date=19 September 2022 |website=Japanese Communist Party}}</ref> The Central Committee is made out of regular and alternate members; the latter can participate in Central Committee meetings but cannot vote. The Central Committee also elects the executive committee of the Central Committee, and its chairpersons and vice-chairpersons, the head of the Secretariat. The current chairman of the executive committee of the Central Committee of the JCP is [[Tomoko Tamura]]. The Central Committee also appoints the Disciplinary Commission and the Audit Commission, and may elect a Central Committee chairperson; the current Central Committee chair is [[Kazuo Shii]].<ref name=":0" />

The executive committee manages party affairs between Central Committee meetings. It appoints the members of the Secretariat, which manages the day-to-day affairs of the party center, and the Central Organ Paper Editors Commission. It also elects the Standing Committee of the executive committee.<ref name=":0" />

===Press===
''Shimbun Akahata'' (Japanese: ''Red Flag Newspaper'') is the daily organ of the JCP in the form of a national newspaper. ''[[Musansha Shinbun]]'' (Japanese: ''Proletarian News'') was another publication of the party which was circulated between 1925 and 1929.<ref>{{cite book|title=Musansha shinbun|publisher=Stanford University Libraries |url=https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/10368389|access-date=14 April 2022}}</ref> Several other newspapers preceded and merged into ''Red Flag'', including ''Daini Musansha Shinbun'' (Japanese: ''The Second Proletarian News''), which was merged into ''Red Flag'' in 1932.{{sfn|Beckmann|Okubo|1969|p=188}} ''Daini Musansha Shinbun'' was itself the immediate successor to the original ''The Proletarian News'', which was banned by the government in September 1929.{{sfn|Beckmann|Okubo|1969|p=188}} ''Daini Musansha Shinbun'' began publication immediately after the ban.{{sfn|Beckmann|Okubo|1969|p=188}}

In the past, the party published numerous other newspapers as well, including another national paper called ''Nihon Seiji Shinbun'' (Japanese: ''Japan Political News'') and a theoretical journal called ''Zenshin'' (Japanese: ''Forward'').{{sfn|Beckmann|Okubo|1969|p=250}} The party also published several regional newspapers such as ''Class War'' in and around [[Kyoto]], [[Osaka]] and [[Kobe]], ''Shinetsu Red Flag'' in [[Nagano Prefecture|Nagano]] and ''Hokkaido News'' in [[Hokkaido]].{{sfn|Beckmann|Okubo|1969|pp=138–139}} They also published numerous (the exact number is unknown) factory newspapers.{{sfn|Beckmann|Okubo|1969|p=152}}

Some regional newspapers, such as {{lang|ja-latn|Shin Kanagawa}} (Japanese: ''New Kanagawa'') in [[Kanagawa]], are still published.{{sfn|Peng-Er|2005|p=63}}

===Affiliated organizations===
The youth wing of JCP is the [[Democratic Youth League of Japan]]. In the 1920s and 1930s, the organization published several newspapers of its own, including {{lang|ja-latn|Rēnin Seinen}} (English: ''Lenin Youth'') and ''Proletarian Youth''.{{sfn|Beckmann|Okubo|1969|p=188}}

The party also has affiliate medical and consumer co-ops.{{sfn|Peng-Er|2005|pp=62–64}} The Japanese Consumers' Co-Operative Union (JCCU), the umbrella body of the co-operative movement in Japan, has a sizable number of communists in its ranks, although the exact numbers are difficult to verify.{{sfn|Peng-Er|2005|pp=62–64}} Another example of the JCP's prevalence in the co-operative movement is the Co-op Kanagawa in the [[Kanagawa Prefecture]], which has 800,000 members and has historical ties to the JCP.{{sfn|Peng-Er|2005|pp=62–64}} It still advertises and occasionally is published in JCP newspapers such as ''Red Flag'' and ''New Kanagawa''.{{sfn|Peng-Er|2005|pp=62–64}} The prevalence of [[Company union|house unions]] in Japan as opposed to enterprise unions has prompted much of the exceptional development of other organizations by the JCP, as well as causing the JCP to seek other external organizational support, including from [[kōenkai]].{{sfn|Peng-Er|2005|pp=62–64}}

[[File:Japanese Communist Party logo.svg|thumb|Official logo of the Japanese Communist Party and the highlighted acronym JCP]]

The {{Nihongo|Choir of JCP-fans|JCPファン雑唱団|JCP-fan zassyōdan}} is a musical group which supports the JCP. Its repertory and artistic activity are strongly linked to {{Nihongo|[[The Singing Voice of Japan]]|日本のうたごえ|Nihon no utagoe}} / {{Nihongo2|うたごえ運動}} {{transliteration|ja|Utagoe-undō}}), a musical movement of Japanese working class that dates back to 1948, when the {{Nihongo|Choir of the Communist Youth League of Japan|日本青年共産同盟中央合唱団|Nihon-seinen-kyōsan-dōmei Chuō-gassyōdan}} was established. The group was founded in [[Kyoto]] in 2011 and is directed by Tadao Yamamoto, a composer, accordionist, choir director, and ordinary member of the National Council of The Singing Voice of Japan. In various cultural events organized by the party, the Choir of JCP-fans appears as an element among the joined choirs of the volunteer singers of The Singing Voice of Japan. As of 2016, the choir is the only organization of Japanese musicians specializing in political support and in the cultural activity of the party.

Notable concerts and performances by the choir include:
* 11 February 2011, [[Kyoto Kaikan|Kyoto Kaikan Hall]]: Concert sponsored by the Kyoto Committee of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcp-kyoto.jp/old/activities/2011/02/post-45.html |trans-title=First performance of the Choir of JCP-fans in a concert Kyoto Kaikan Hall, sponsored by the committee of Kyoto of the JCP. |script-title=ja:「いっぱい花咲かそうコンサート2011」日本共産党京都府委員会 |publisher=Japanese Communist Party |title=Ippai Hanasaki ka sō konsāto 2011' Nihon Kyōsantō Kyōto fu iin-kai |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624152125/http://www.jcp-kyoto.jp/old/activities/2011/02/post-45.html |archive-date=24 June 2016}}</ref>
* 1 August 2013, Nishijin Bunka Center ([[Kyoto]]): Cultural Live Revolutionary ''[[Pub]]'', in collaboration with {{Nihongo|Tokiko Nishiyama|西山登紀子}}, former JCP member of the [[House of Councilors]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kyoto-minpo.net/archives/2013/08/05/post_9652.php |language=ja |script-title=ja:「文化ライブで勝利に貢献 共産・文化後援会が革命酒場」- 京都民報 |date=5 August 2013 |title='Bunka raibu de shōri ni kōken Kyōsan bunka kōen-kai ga kakumei sakaba' – Kyōto min-hō |trans-title="Cultural Live Contributes to Victory: Communist Cultural Supporters Association Opens Revolutionary Bar" – Kyoto Minpo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251007042939/https://www.kyoto-minpo.net/archives/2013/08/05/post_9652.php |archive-date=7 October 2025}}</ref> 
* 23 September 2014, Takaragaike Park (Kyoto): Festival Kyoto ed. 2014, organized by the Kyoto Committee of the JCP.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcp-kyoto.jp/old/activities/2014/09/2014-9.html |publisher=Kyoto Committee of the JCP |date=9 September 2014 |language=ja |script-title=ja:「2014 京都まつり」- 文化の森 ステージ「にぎわいの広場」日本共産党京都府委員会 |title='2014 Kyōto matsuri' – bunka no mori sutēji 'nigiwai no hiroba' Nihon Kyōsantō Kyōto fu iin-kai |trans-title="2014 Kyoto Festival" – Cultural Forest Stage "Nigiwai no Hiroba" Kyoto Prefectural Committee of the Japanese Communist Party |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251007043025/http://www.jcp-kyoto.jp/old/activities/2014/09/2014-9.html |archive-date=7 October 2025}}</ref>
* 1 February 2015, Kyoiku Bunka Center (Kyoto): Festival sponsored by the Kyoto Committee of the JCP.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcp-kyoto.jp/old/activities/2015/01/212015.html |publisher=Kyoto Committee of the JCP |date=29 January 2015 |language=ja |script-title=ja:「いっぱい花咲かそうフェスタ2015」同上 |title='Ippai Hanasaki ka sō fesuta 2015' dōjō |trans-title="Let's Make Flowers Bloom Festa 2015" (as above) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251007043107/http://www.jcp-kyoto.jp/old/activities/2015/01/212015.html |archive-date=7 October 2025}}</ref>
* 29 April 2016, Takaragaike Park (Kyoto): Festival Kyoto ed. 2016, organized by the Kyoto Committee of the JCP: performance with {{Nihongo|''Seifuku Kōjō Iinkai''|制服向上委員会}} and {{Nihongo|[[Akira Koike]]|小池晃}}, JCP member of the [[House of Councilors]] and Secretary-General of the party.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcp-kyoto.jp/activity_and_policy/activity_and_policy-1123/ |publisher=Kyoto Committee of the JCP |date=2 April 2016 |language=ja |script-title=ja:「2016 京都まつり」（宝が池公園）。制服向上委員会、小池晃（参議院議員・日本共産党書記局長）共演「2016京都まつり」同上 |title='2016 Kyōto matsuri' (Takaragaike kōen). Seifuku kōjō iin-kai, Koike Akira (Sangiin giin Nihon Kyōsantō shoki kyokuchō) kyōen '2016 Kyōto matsuri' dōjō |trans-title="2016 Kyoto Festival" (Takaraike Park). "2016 Kyoto Festival" with the Uniform Improvement Committee and Akira Koike (House of Councillors member and Secretary General of the Japanese Communist Party) (as above) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251007042937/https://www.jcp-kyoto.jp/activity_and_policy/activity_and_policy-1123/ |archive-date=7 October 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://lineblog.me/ski/archives/5687917.html |publisher=Seifuku Kojo Iinkai (SKI) |date=23 April 2016 |language=ja |script-title=ja:制服向上委員会公式ブログ「2016.04.23 イベント告知」|title=Seifuku kōjō iin-kai kōshiki burogu '2016. 04. 23 Ibento kokuchi' |trans-title=Uniform Improvement Committee Official Blog "2016.04.23 Event Announcement" |access-date=22 June 2016 |archive-date=20 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620041312/http://lineblog.me/ski/archives/5687917.html}}</ref>

==Membership==
44.09% of the JCP's membership in 1966 was between the ages of 30–39, 27.50% were below 29, 15.21% were 40–49, 8.81% were above 50, and 3.74% were of an unknown age. The most common form of employment was in factory work, civil service, education, and agrarian work.{{sfn|Scalapino|1967|p=313}} During the 1980s, party membership began to decline, falling to 500,000 by 1990<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Fujita |first=Yuki |date=30 January 2023 |title=Japan Communist Party in turmoil as calls emerge for new leadership |work=[[Nikkei Asian Review]] |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Inside-Japanese-politics/Japan-Communist-Party-in-turmoil-as-calls-emerge-for-new-leadership |access-date=12 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251011162255/https://asia.nikkei.com/politics/inside-japanese-politics/japan-communist-party-in-turmoil-as-calls-emerge-for-new-leadership |archive-date=11 October 2025}}</ref> and 370,000 by 1997.{{sfn|Berton|2000}}

Following its advancement in the [[2013 Tokyo prefectural election]], the party enjoyed an increase in membership growth, with over 1,000 people joining in each of the final three months of 2013. Approximately 20% of new members during this period were aged 20 to 40, showing a higher ratio of young people joining the party than in the past. The JCP had approximately 320,000 members in January 2014.<ref name="msmu">{{cite web |url=http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140107p2a00m0na015000c.html |title=Japanese Communist Party seeing sharp increase in new, young members (in English) |work=[[Mainichi Shimbun]] |date=7 January 2014 |access-date=9 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110090834/http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140107p2a00m0na015000c.html |archive-date=10 January 2014}}</ref>

More recently, however, membership numbers have declined, with membership around 300,000 in 2017, 270,000 in 2020,<ref name="JCP_profile">{{Cite web |title=A Profile of the Japanese Communist Party (2020) |url=http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/2020what_jcp.html |access-date=29 January 2021 |work=Japanese Communist Party |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121164613/https://www.jcp.or.jp/english/2020what_jcp.html |archive-date=21 January 2025}}</ref> and 250,000 in 2024.<ref name="NHK 19 Jan 2024">{{cite news |script-title=ja:共産党 党員減少進む中 女性初の委員長で党勢回復できるか課題 |title=Kyōsantō tōin genshō susumu naka josei-hatsu no iin-chō de tōsei kaifuku dekiru ka kadai |trans-title=As the Communist Party's membership continues to decline, can the first female chairperson help restore the party's strength? |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20240119/k10014326281000.html |work=[[NHK]] |date=19 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240203163209/https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20240119/k10014326281000.html |archive-date=3 February 2024}}</ref>

{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
{|class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
|+Membership figures
|-
!Year
!Number
!Reference
!Notes
|-
|March 1948
|18,088
|{{sfn|Colbert|1952|p=100}}
|
|-
|1949
|100,000
|{{sfn|Langer|1972|p=49}}
|
|-
|July 1958
|45,000
|{{sfn|Langer|1972|p=20}}
|7th Party Congress
|-
|July 1961
|88,000
|{{sfn|Langer|1972|p=20}}
|8th Party Congress
|-
|November 1964
|140,000
|{{sfn|Langer|1972|p=20}}
|9th Party Congress
|-
|November 1965
|165,000
|{{sfn|Langer|1972|p=20}}
|
|-
|October 1966
|250,000–270,000
|{{sfn|Langer|1972|p=20}}
|10th Party Congress
|-
|July 1970
|300,000
|{{sfn|Langer|1972|p=20}}
|11th Party Congress
|-
|}
{{col-end}}

==Notable members==
{{Main|List of members of the Japanese Communist Party}}
[[File:Takiji Kobayashi.JPG|thumb|[[Takiji Kobayashi]], prominent author of [[proletarian literature]]]]

===Pre-war (1922–1941)===
* [[Kanson Arahata]]
* [[Sen Katayama]]
* [[Hajime Kawakami]]
* [[Fukumoto Kazuo]]
* [[Takiji Kobayashi]]
* [[Toshihiko Sakai]]
* [[Hitoshi Yamakawa]]
* [[Sakaguchi Kiichiro]]

===Wartime (1941–1945)===
* [[Kim Chon-hae]]
* [[Sanzō Nosaka]]
* [[Yoshio Shiga (communist)|Yoshio Shiga]]
* [[Kyuichi Tokuda]]
* [[Wataru Kaji]]

===Post-war (1945–present)===
* [[Kiyoteru Hanada]]
* [[Kenji Miyamoto (politician)|Kenji Miyamoto]]
* [[Hiromu Murakami]]
* [[Tetsuzo Fuwa]]
* [[Kazuo Shii]]
* [[Hisashi Inoue]]
* [[Takeshi Kimura]]
* [[Tomoko Tamura]]

==Leaders==

===Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Central Committee===
{{Main|Chairperson of the Japanese Communist Party}}

===Chairman of the Central Committee===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+
! rowspan="2" |No.
! rowspan="2" |Photo
! rowspan="2" |Name<br /><small>{{nowrap|(Birth–death)}} </small>
! colspan="2" |Term of office
|-
!Took office
!Left office
|-
|1
|[[File:Sanzō Nosaka photographed by Shigeru Tamura.jpg|100px]]
|[[Sanzō Nosaka]]<br /><small>{{nowrap|(1892–1993)}}</small>
|1 August 1958
|31 July 1987
|-
|2
|[[File:Kenji Miyamoto.jpg|100px]]
|[[Kenji Miyamoto (politician)|Kenji Miyamoto]]<br /><small>{{nowrap|(1908–2007)}}</small>
|31 July 1982
|26 September 1997
|-
|3
|[[File:Fuwa Tetsuzo.png|126x126px]]
|[[Tetsuzo Fuwa]]<br /><small>{{nowrap|(born 1930)}}</small>
|24 November 2000
|14 January 2006
|-
|4
|[[File:Kazuo Shii in SL Square in 2017.jpg|100px]]
|[[Kazuo Shii]]<br /><small>{{nowrap|(born 1954)}}</small>
|18 January 2024
|Incumbent
|}

===Head of the Secretariat===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+
! rowspan="2" |No.
! rowspan="2" |Photo
! rowspan="2" |Name<br /><small>{{nowrap|(Birth–death)}} </small>
! colspan="2" |Term of office
|-
!Took office
!Left office
|-
|1
|[[File:Fuwa Tetsuzo.png|126x126px]]
|Tetsuzo Fuwa<br /><small>{{nowrap|(born 1930)}}</small>
|7 July 1970
|31 July 1982
|-
|2
|
|Mitsuhiro Kaneko<br /><small>{{nowrap|(1924–2016)}}</small>
|31 July 1982
|13 July 1990
|-
|3
|[[File:Kazuo Shii in SL Square in 2017.jpg|100px]]
|[[Kazuo Shii]]<br /><small>{{nowrap|(born 1954)}}</small>
|13 July 1990
|24 November 2000
|-
|4
|[[File:Tadayoshi Ichida 2018.jpg|frameless|133x133px]]
|[[Tadayoshi Ichida]]<br /><small>{{nowrap|(born 1942)}}</small>
|24 November 2000
|18 January 2014
|-
|5
|
|[[Yoshiki Yamashita]]<br /><small>{{nowrap|(born 1960)}}</small>
|18 January 2014
|11 April 2016
|-
|6
|[[File:Akira Koike 20230320teigen01.jpg|frameless|133x133px]]
|[[Akira Koike]]<br /><small>{{nowrap|(born 1960)}}</small>
|11 April 2016
|Incumbent
|}

==Election results==
===House of Representatives===
Prior to 1996, the entire House of Representatives was elected by majoritarian or "semi-proportional" voting systems with votes cast for individuals (1946: [[limited voting]] in multi-member districts, 1947 to 1993 [[Single non-transferable vote|SNTV]] in multi-member districts). Since 1996, the House of Representatives is elected in a [[Parallel voting|parallel election system]]—essentially two separate elections only in the lower house complicated by the fact that a candidate may stand in both segments and the [[sekihairitsu]] system which ties proportional list ranking to FPTP results: only the majority of members the House of Representatives, 295 (initially 300) seats, are elected in a majoritarian system with voting for candidates ([[First-past-the-post voting|first-past-the-post]] in single-member districts), while the remaining 180 (initially 200) seats are elected by a proportional representation system (votes are cast for party lists in regional multi-member districts, called "blocks" in the House of Representatives). The votes and vote percentages in the table below are the JCP candidates' vote totals for the whole election from before 1993 and just the votes for the party in the election to the 180 proportional seats after 1996.{{cn|date=October 2025}}

The JCP polled 11.3% of the vote in 2000, 8.2% in 2003, 7.3% in 2005, 7.0% in 2009, and 6.2% in 2012. These results seemed to indicate a trend of declining support, but the party won 21 seats in 2014, up from eight in the previous general election, as the JCP received 7,040,130 votes (13.3%) in the constituency section and 6,062,962 (11.37%) in the party lists. This continued a new wave of support that was also evident in the [[2013 Tokyo prefectural election]] in which the party doubled its representation. Fighting on a platform directly opposed to [[neoliberalism]], the [[Trans-Pacific Partnership]], attempts to rewrite the constitution, [[United States Forces Japan]], and [[Anti-nuclear power movement in Japan|nuclear power]], the JCP tapped into a minority current that seeks an alternative to Japan's rightward direction.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.communist-party.org.uk/international/analysis-a-briefings/1889-kenny-coyle-japanese-communists-surpass-10-per-cent-vote.html |title=Kinder Scout Trespass commemoration – sponsored fundraiser |first=Phil |last=Katz |website=[[Communist Party of Britain]] |access-date=27 March 2018 |archive-date=30 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171030093626/https://www.communist-party.org.uk/international/analysis-a-briefings/1889-kenny-coyle-japanese-communists-surpass-10-per-cent-vote.html}}</ref> Following the [[2016 Japanese House of Councillors election]], the party held 13 seats in the [[House of Councillors]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003069791 |title=Upper House Election 2016 |work=The Japan News |date=11 July 2016 |access-date=11 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160713153117/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003069791 |archive-date=13 July 2016}}</ref> After the [[2017 Japanese general election]], the party held 12 seats in the [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]],<ref>{{cite web |date=27 October 2017 |script-title=ja:平成２９年１０月２２日執行 衆議院議員総選挙・最高裁判所: 裁判官国民審査結果調 |title=Heisei 29-nen 10 tsuki 22-nichi shikkō Shūgiingiinsōsenkyo Saikōsaibansho: Saibankan kokumin shinsa kekka-chō |trans-title=House of Representatives General Election/Supreme Court held on 22 October 2017: Survey of the Results of the National Review of Judges |language=ja |url=https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000516736.pdf |publisher=Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Local Government and Political Affairs Bureau, Election Department |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250624011530/https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000516736.pdf |archive-date=24 June 2025}}</ref> and since the [[2021 Japanese general election]], it holds 10 seats.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 November 2021 |script-title=ja:令和３年１０月３１日執行 衆議院議員総選挙・最高裁判所: 裁判官国民審査結果調 |title=Ryō wa 3-nen 10 tsuki 31-nichi shikkō shūgiingiinsōsenkyo Saikōsaibansho: Saibankan kokumin shinsa kekka-chō |trans-title=General Election of the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court held on 31 October 2021: Survey of the Results of the National Review of Judges |language=ja |url=https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000776531.pdf |publisher=Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Local Government and Political Affairs Bureau, Election Department |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120141931/https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000776531.pdf |archive-date=20 November 2021}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+ [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | Election
! rowspan=2 | Leader
! rowspan=2 | No. of<br/>candidates
! colspan=3 | Seats
! rowspan=2 | Position
! colspan=2 | Constituency votes
! colspan=2 | PR Block votes
! rowspan=2 | Status
|-
! No.
! ±
! Share
! No.
! Share
! No.
! Share
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[1946 Japanese general election|1946]]
| rowspan="4" | [[Kyuichi Tokuda]]
|143
|{{composition bar|6|464|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|1.3%
|4th
|2,135,757
|3.85%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[1947 Japanese general election|1947]]
|120
|{{composition bar|4|466|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 2
|0.9%
|{{decrease}} 5th
|1,002,883
|3.67%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[1949 Japanese general election|1949]]
|115
|{{composition bar|35|466|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 31
|7.5%
|{{increase}} 4th
|2,984,780
|9.76%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[1952 Japanese general election|1952]]
|107
|{{composition bar|0|466|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 35
|0%
|{{decrease}} 5th
|896,765
|2.54%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Extra-parliamentary{{efn|The JCP retained members in the House of Councillors.}}}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[1953 Japanese general election|1953]]
| rowspan="3" | [[Sanzō Nosaka]]
|88
|{{composition bar|1|466|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 1
|0.2%
|{{decrease}} 6th
|655,990
|1.90%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[1955 Japanese general election|1955]]
|60
|{{composition bar|2|467|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase}} 1
|0.4%
|{{increase}} 5th
|733,121
|1.98%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1958 Japanese general election|1958]]
|114
| {{Composition bar|1|467|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease}} 1
| 0.2%
| {{increase}} 3rd
| 1,012,035	
| 2.55%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1960 Japanese general election|1960]]
| rowspan="8" | [[Kenji Miyamoto (politician)|Kenji Miyamoto]]
|118
| {{Composition bar|3|467|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{increase}} 2
| 0.6%
| {{decrease}} 4th
| 1,156,723
| 2.93%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1963 Japanese general election|1963]]
|118
| {{Composition bar|5|467|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{increase}} 2
| 1.1%
| {{steady}} 4th
| 1,646,477
| 4.01%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1967 Japanese general election|1967]]
|123
| {{Composition bar|5|486|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
| 1.0%
| {{decrease}} 5th
| 2,190,564
| 4.76%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1969 Japanese general election|1969]]
|123
| {{Composition bar|14|486|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{increase}} 9
| 2.9%
| {{steady}} 5th
| 3,199,032
| 6.81%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1972 Japanese general election|1972]]
|122
| {{Composition bar|38|491|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{increase}} 24
| 7.7%
| {{increase}} 3rd
| 5,496,827
| 10.49%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1976 Japanese general election|1976]]
|128
| {{Composition bar|17|511|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 21
| 3.3%
| {{decrease}} 4th
| 5,878,192
| 10.38%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1979 Japanese general election|1979]]
|128
| {{Composition bar|39|511|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{increase}} 22
| 7.6%
| {{increase}} 3rd
| 5,625,527
| 10.42%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1980 Japanese general election|1980]]
|129
| {{Composition bar|29|511|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 10
| 5.7%
| {{steady}} 3rd
| 5,803,613
| 9.83% 
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1983 Japanese general election|1983]]
| rowspan="6" | [[Tetsuzo Fuwa]]
|129
| {{Composition bar|26|511|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 3
| 5.1%
| {{decrease}} 4th
| 5,302,485
| 9.34%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1986 Japanese general election|1986]]
|129
| {{Composition bar|26|512|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
| 5.1%
| {{increase}} 3rd
| 5,313,246
| 8.79%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1990 Japanese general election|1990]]
|131
| {{Composition bar|16|512|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 10
| 3.1%
| {{decrease}} 4th
| 5,226,987
| 7.96%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1993 Japanese general election|1993]]
|129
| {{Composition bar|15|511|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 1
| 2.9%
| {{decrease}} 6th
| 4,834,587
| 7.70%
| colspan="2" bgcolor="lightgrey" |
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[1996 Japanese general election|1996]]
|321
| {{Composition bar|26|500|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{increase}} 11
| 5.2%
| {{increase}} 4th
| 7,096,766
| 12.55%
| 7,268,743
| 13.08%
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[2000 Japanese general election|2000]]
|332
| {{Composition bar|20|480|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 6
| 4.2%
| {{decrease}} 5th
| 7,352,844
| 12.08%
| 6,719,016
| 11.23%
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[2003 Japanese general election|2003]]
| rowspan="7" | [[Kazuo Shii]]
|316
| {{Composition bar|9|480|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 11
| 1.9%
| {{increase}} 4th
| 4,837,953
| 8.13%
| 4,586,172
| 7.76%
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[2005 Japanese general election|2005]]
|292
| {{Composition bar|9|480|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
| 1.9%
| {{steady}} 4th
| 4,937,375
| 7.25%
| 4,919,187
| 7.25%
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[2009 Japanese general election|2009]]
|171
| {{Composition bar|9|480|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{steady}} 0
| 1.9%
| {{steady}} 4th
| 2,978,354
| 4.22%
| 4,943,886
| 7.03%
| {{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[2012 Japanese general election|2012]]
|322
| {{Composition bar|8|480|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 1
| 1.7%
| {{decrease}} 7th
| 4,700,290
| 7.88%
| 3,689,159
| 6.13%
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[2014 Japanese general election|2014]]
|315
| {{Composition bar|21|475|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{increase}} 13
| 4.4%
| {{increase}} 5th
| 7,040,170
| 13.30%
| 6,062,962
| 11.37%
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[2017 Japanese general election|2017]]
| 243
| {{Composition bar|12|465|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 9
| 2.6%
| {{steady}} 5th
| 4,998,932	
| 9.02%
| 4,404,081
| 7.90%
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[2021 Japanese general election|2021]]
| 130
| {{Composition bar|10|465|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 2
| 2.2%
| {{decrease}} 6th
| 2,639,631
| 4.59%
| 4,166,076
| 7.25%
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
! [[2024 Japanese general election|2024]]
| [[Tomoko Tamura]]
| 236
| {{Composition bar|8|465|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
| {{decrease}} 2 
| 1.7%
| {{decrease}} 7th
| 3,695,807
| 6.81%
|3,362,966
| 6.16%
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|}

===House of Councillors===
Elections to the House of Councillors are staggered. Every three years, half of the House is up for election to six-year terms. In addition, a parallel election system is used: the majority of members of the House of Councillors (currently 146 of 242, or 73 in one regular election to one half of the House) are elected in 45 (formerly 46→47) prefectural districts, votes are cast for individual candidates by SNTV, but with both multi- and single-member districts used and in the latter SNTV becomes identical to FPTP (winner-takes-all). The remaining, currently 96 members (48 per regular election) are elected in one nationwide district. Until 1980, votes there were cast for individuals too by SNTV. Since 1983, votes are cast for party lists and the seats are allocated proportionally (d'Hondt) in the nationwide district. Unlike in general elections to the lower house, a candidate may not be nominated in both segments of one regular election to the upper house. The seats totals show below are the JCP's overall post-election seat totals, not just their seats elected in that particular year. The votes shown are the votes in the election for the 48 (formerly 50) seats in the nationwide SNTV/PR segment.{{cn|date=October 2025}}

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|+ [[House of Councillors]]
|-
!rowspan=2 data-sort-type="date"|Election
!colspan=2|National district votes
!colspan=2|Total
!rowspan=2|Status
|-
!data-sort-type="number"|No. of votes
!data-sort-type="number"|%
!data-sort-type="number"|Seats
!data-sort-type="number"|±
|-
![[1947 Japanese House of Councillors election|1947]]
|610,948
|2.9
|{{composition bar|4|250|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1950 Japanese House of Councillors election|1950]]
|1,333,872
|4.8
|{{composition bar|4|260|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{steady}}0
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1953 Japanese House of Councillors election|1953]]
|293,877
|1.1
|{{composition bar|2|260|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-2}}2
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1956 Japanese House of Councillors election|1956]]
|599,254
|2.1
|{{composition bar|2|254|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{steady}}0
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1959 Japanese House of Councillors election|1959]]
|551,916
|1.9
|{{composition bar|3|254|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|1}}1
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1962 Japanese House of Councillors election|1962]]
|1,123,947
|3.1
|{{composition bar|4|254|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|1}}1
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1965 Japanese House of Councillors election|1965]]
|1,652,364
|4.4
|{{composition bar|6|254|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|2}}2
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1968 Japanese House of Councillors election|1968]]
|2,146,879
|5.0
|{{composition bar|7|251|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|1}}1
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1971 Japanese House of Councillors election|1971]]
|3,219,307
|8.1
|{{composition bar|10|251|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|3}}3
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1974 Japanese House of Councillors election|1974]]
|4,931,650
|9.4
|{{composition bar|19|260|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|9}}9
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1977 Japanese House of Councillors election|1977]]
|4,260,050
|8.4
|{{composition bar|16|252|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-3}}3
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1980 Japanese House of Councillors election|1980]]
|4,072,019
|7.3
|{{composition bar|12|252|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-4}}4
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1983 Japanese House of Councillors election|1983]]
|4,163,877
|8.9
|{{composition bar|14|252|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|2}}2
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1986 Japanese House of Councillors election|1986]]
|5,430,838
|9.5
|{{composition bar|16|252|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|2}}2
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1989 Japanese House of Councillors election|1989]]
|3,954,408
|7.0
|{{composition bar|14|252|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-1}}2
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1992 Japanese House of Councillors election|1992]]
|3,532,956
|7.9
|{{composition bar|11|252|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-3}}3
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1995 Japanese House of Councillors election|1995]]
|3,873,955
|9.5
|{{composition bar|14|252|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|3}}3
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[1998 Japanese House of Councillors election|1998]]
|8,195,078
|14.6
|{{composition bar|23|252|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|9}}9
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[2001 Japanese House of Councillors election|2001]]
|4,329,210
|7.9
|{{composition bar|20|247|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-3}}3
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[2004 Japanese House of Councillors election|2004]]
|4,363,107
|7.8
|{{composition bar|9|242|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-11}}11
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[2007 Japanese House of Councillors election|2007]]
|4,407,937
|7.5
|{{composition bar|7|242|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-2}}2
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[2010 Japanese House of Councillors election|2010]]
|3,563,556
|6.1
|{{composition bar|6|242|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-1}}1
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[2013 Japanese House of Councillors election|2013]]
|5,154,055
|9.7
|{{composition bar|11|242|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|5}}5
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[2016 Japanese House of Councillors election|2016]]
|6,016,245
|10.7
|{{composition bar|14|242|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{increase|3}}3
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[2019 Japanese House of Councillors election|2019]]
|4,483,411
|8.95
|{{composition bar|13|245|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-1}}1
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[2022 Japanese House of Councillors election|2022]]
|3,618,343
|6.82
|{{composition bar|11|248|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-2}}2
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
![[2025 Japanese House of Councillors election|2025]]
|2,864,738
|4.84
|{{composition bar|7|248|{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}}}
|{{decrease|-4}}4
|{{no2|Opposition}}
|-
|}

==Current members of National Diet==

===House of Representatives===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
* [[Seiken Akamine]] ([[Okinawa 1st district|Okinawa-1st]])
* [[Akira Kasai]] ([[Tokyo proportional representation block|Tokyo PR]])
* [[Keiji Kokuta]] ([[Kinki proportional representation block|Kinki PR]], contested [[Kyoto 1st district|Kyoto-1st]])
* [[Takeshi Miyamoto]] ([[Kinki proportional representation block|Kinki PR]])
* [[Toru Miyamoto (politician)|Tōru Miyamoto]] ([[Tokyo proportional representation block|Tokyo PR]], contested [[Tokyo 20th district|Tokyo-20th]])
{{col-2}}
* [[Nobuko Motomura]] (Tōkai PR)
* [[Kazuo Shii]] ([[Southern Kanto proportional representation block|Minami-Kantō PR]])
* [[Tetsuya Shiokawa]] ([[Northern Kanto proportional representation block|Kita-Kantō PR]])
* [[Chizuko Takahashi]] ([[Tōhoku proportional representation block|Tōhoku PR]])
* [[Takaaki Tamura]] ([[Kyushu proportional representation block|Kyushu PR]], contested [[Fukuoka 10th district|Fukuoka-10th]])
{{col-end}}

===House of Councillors===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
; Term expires in 2025 (elected in 2019)
* [[Yoshiko Kira]] ([[Tokyo at-large district|Tokyo at-large]])
* [[Gaku Ito]] ([[Saitama at-large district|Saitama at-large]])
* [[Akiko Kurabayashi]] ([[Kyoto at-large district|Kyoto at-large]])
* [[Akira Koike]] ([[Japanese House of Councillors national proportional representation block|National PR]])
* [[Yoshiki Yamashita]] ([[Japanese House of Councillors national proportional representation block|National PR]])
* [[Satoshi Inoue (politician)|Satoshi Inoue]] ([[Japanese House of Councillors national proportional representation block|National PR]])
* [[Tomoko Kami]] ([[Japanese House of Councillors national proportional representation block|National PR]])
{{col-2}}
; Term expires in 2028 (elected in 2022)
* [[Taku Yamazoe]] ([[Tokyo at-large district|Tokyo at-large]])
* [[Tomoko Tamura]] ([[Japanese House of Councillors national proportional representation block|National PR]])
* [[Sohei Nihi]] ([[Japanese House of Councillors national proportional representation block|National PR]])
* [[Tomo Iwabuchi]] ([[Japanese House of Councillors national proportional representation block|National PR]])
{{col-end}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Japan|Communism}}
* [[Appeal to the People]]
* [[Democracy in Marxism]]
* [[Political dissidence in the Empire of Japan]]
* [[List of foreign delegations at the 21st Japanese Communist Party Congress]]
* [[List of foreign delegations at the 22nd Japanese Communist Party Congress]]
* [[Socialist thought in Imperial Japan]]
* [[Zengakuren]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=Note}}
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Works cited==
{{refbegin}}
===Books===
* {{cite book |last1=Abe |first1=Hitoshi |last2=Shindō |first2=Muneyuki |last3=Kawato |first3=Sadafumi |year=2018 |editor-last=Pekkanen |editor-first=Robert J. |title=Critical Readings on the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nIN1DwAAQBAJ |volume=1 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |page=106 |isbn=978-90-04-38052-3 |access-date=26 May 2023}}
* {{cite book |last=Banno |first=Junji |date=2012 |title=Japan's Modern History, 1857–1937: A new political narrative |translator-last=Stockwin |translator-first=J. A. A. |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-315-77395-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Beckmann |first1=George M. |last2=Okubo |first2=Genji |year=1969 |title=The Japanese Communist Party, 1922–1945 |location=Stanford, CA |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8IarAAAAIAAJ |isbn=978-0-8047-0674-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Colbert |first=Evelyn |year=1973 |orig-date=Originally published 1952 |title=The Left Wing In Japanese Politics |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |isbn=0-8371-6880-5 |ref={{SfnRef|Colbert|1952}}}}
* {{cite book |last1=Cole |first1=Allan |last2=Totten |first2=George |last3=Uyehara |first3=Cecil |title=Socialist Parties In Postwar Japan |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=1966}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Andrew |date=20 October 1993 |title=Postwar Japan as History |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-91144-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Hayes |first=Louis D. |date=2018 |title=Introduction to Japanese Politics |edition=6th |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-315-27709-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Hoover |first=William D. |year=2018 |title=Historical Dictionary of Postwar Japan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jyx1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT170 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |isbn=978-1-5381-1156-7 |access-date=26 May 2023}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Hrebenar |editor-first=Ronald J. |date=2019 |title=Japan's New Party System |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u5SpDwAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-429-72108-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Itasaka |first=Gen |date=1983 |title=Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan |volume=1 |publisher=[[Kodansha]] |isbn=0-87011-621-5 |ref={{harvid|Itasaka|1983a}} }}
* {{cite book |last=Itasaka |first=Gen |date=1983 |title=Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan |volume=3 |publisher=[[Kodansha]] |isbn=0-87011-623-1 |ref={{harvid|Itasaka|1983b}} }}
* {{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Chalmers A. |date=1990 |title=An Instance of Treason: Ozaki Hotsumi and the Sorge Spy Ring |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8047-1766-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x-aeAAAAIAAJ |language=en}}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Jou |editor1-first=Willy |editor2-last=Endo |editor2-first=Masahisa |date=2016 |title=Generational Gap in Japanese Politics: A Longitudinal Study of Political Attitudes and Behaviour |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BDelDAAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |isbn=978-1-137-50342-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Kapur |first=Nick |year=2018a |title=Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |location=Cambridge, MA |isbn=978-0-674-98442-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Re5hDwAAQBAJ}}
* {{cite book |last=Langer |first=Paul |title=Communism in Japan: A Case of Political Naturalization |publisher=[[Hoover Institution]] |year=1972 |isbn=0-8179-3301-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Linkhoeva |first=Tatiana |date=2020 |title=Revolution Goes East: Imperial Japan and Soviet Communism |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |doi=10.1353/book.73082 |jstor=10.7591/j.ctv310vjxj |isbn=978-1-5017-4809-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Peng-Er |first=Lam |year=2005 |title=Green Politics in Japan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bkIbJAOk64wC&pg=PA57 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-134-63766-9 |access-date=26 May 2023}}
* {{cite book |last=Scalapino |first=Robert |author-link=Robert A. Scalapino |title=The Japanese Communist Movement, 1920-1966 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1967 |isbn=978-0-520-01134-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780520011342}}
* {{cite book |last1=Swearingen |first1=Rodger |last2=Langer |first2=Paul |title=Red Flag In Japan: International Communism In Action 1919-1951 |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]] |year=1968 |url=https://archive.org/details/redflaginjapanin00swea |isbn=0-8371-6880-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Uno |first=Shun'ichi |author-link=:ja:宇野俊一 |year=1991 |title=Nihon zenshi: Japan chronik |language=ja |location=Tokyo |publisher=[[Kodansha|Kodansha Ltd.]] |isbn=4-06-203994-X}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Walker |first1=David |last2=Gray |first2=Daniel |date=13 August 2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cRa1JpOeG-EC |title=The A to Z of Marxism |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |isbn=978-0-8108-7018-5 |language=en}}

===Journal articles===
* {{cite journal |last1=Benjamin |first1=Roger W. |last2=Kautsky |first2=John H. |date=March 1968 |title=Communism and Economic Development |journal=[[American Political Science Review]] |publisher=[[American Political Science Association]] |volume=62 |number=1 |pages=110–123 |doi=10.2307/1953329 |jstor=1953329}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Berton |first=Peter |title=The Japanese Communist Party and Its Transformations |date=May 2000 |number=JPRI Working Paper No. 67 |url=http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp67.html |access-date=26 July 2020 |website=Japan Policy Research Institute |archive-date=5 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805094152/http://www.jpri.org/publications/workingpapers/wp67.html}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Crooke |first=Matthew |date=2018 |title=Betraying Revolution: The Foundations of the Japanese Communist Party |url=https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/775/ |type=master's thesis |number=775 |publisher=[[University of San Francisco]] |access-date=25 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231023125440/https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/775/ |archive-date=23 October 2023}}
* {{cite journal |last=Er |first=Lam Peng |date=Autumn 1996 |title=The Japanese Communist Party: Organization and Resilience in the Midst of Adversity |journal=[[Pacific Affairs]] |volume=69 |number=3 |pages=361–379 |doi=10.2307/2760924 |jstor=2760924}}
* {{cite journal |last=Kapur |first=Nick |date=2018b |title=The Empire Strikes Back? The 1968 Meiji Centennial Celebrations and the Revival of Japanese Nationalism |journal=Japanese Studies |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=305–328 |doi=10.1080/10371397.2018.1543533 |s2cid=149788596}}
* {{cite journal |last=Sugita |first=Yoneyuki |date=11 May 2021 |title=A Paradox: the Red Purge Has Made Japan a Law-Abiding Nation |journal=East Asia |volume=38 |number=4 |pages=353–371 |doi=10.1007/s12140-021-09365-y |issn=1096-6838 |s2cid=236582291}}

===News===
* {{cite news |last=Demetriou |first=Danielle |date=18 October 2008 |title=Japan's young turn to Communist Party as they decide capitalism has let them down |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/3218944/Japans-young-turn-to-Communist-Party-as-they-decide-capitalism-has-let-them-down.html |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250902013139/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/3218944/Japans-young-turn-to-Communist-Party-as-they-decide-capitalism-has-let-them-down.html |archive-date=2 September 2025}}
* {{cite news |last=Dvorak |first=Phred |date=22 July 2013 |title=Japan Communists Celebrate a Little Victory |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/07/22/japan-communists-celebrate-a-little-victory/ |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=27 March 2018 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}
* {{Cite magazine |last=Hasegawa |first=Kenji |date=15 July 2022 |title=The Japanese Communist Party Has Been a Vital Presence in Japan's Politics |url=https://jacobin.com/2022/07/japan-communist-party-history-politics-100-anniversary |magazine=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241003134523/https://jacobin.com/2022/07/japan-communist-party-history-politics-100-anniversary |archive-date=3 October 2024}}
* {{cite news |last1=Johnston |first1=Eric |date=18 January 2024 |title=Japanese Communist Party picks first-ever female leader |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/01/18/japan/politics/jcp-female-leader-tamura/ |work=[[Japan Times]] |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250812213031/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/01/18/japan/politics/jcp-female-leader-tamura/ |archive-date=12 August 2025}}
* {{cite news |last1=Miki |first1=Rieko |date=19 January 2024 |title=Japanese Communist Party seeks reboot with 1st female leader |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Japanese-Communist-Party-seeks-reboot-with-1st-female-leader |access-date=20 January 2024 |work=Nikkei Asia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201230616/https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Japanese-Communist-Party-seeks-reboot-with-1st-female-leader |archive-date=1 December 2024}}
* {{cite news |last=Osaki |first=Tomohiro |date=21 June 2016 |title=Abe to 'take responsibility' if ruling bloc fails to win 61 seats in Upper House election |url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/06/21/national/politics-diplomacy/abe-take-responsibility-ldp-fails-win-61-seats-upper-house-election/ |work=[[Japan Times]] |access-date=23 June 2016 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20251020182851/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/06/21/national/politics-diplomacy/abe-take-responsibility-ldp-fails-win-61-seats-upper-house-election/ |archive-date=20 October 2025}}
* {{Cite news |last=Ryall |first=Julian |date=20 January 2020 |url=https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3046856/chinese-communist-partys-chauvinism-threat-peace-japanese |title=China's Communist Party a threat to peace, says Japanese counterpart |work=[[South China Morning Post]] |language=en |access-date=19 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251010222935/https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3046856/chinese-communist-partys-chauvinism-threat-peace-japanese |archive-date=10 October 2025}}
* {{Cite news |last=Sanger |first=David |date=22 September 1992 |title=Japanese Communist Disgraced at 100 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/22/world/japanese-communist-disgraced-at-100.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330073020/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/22/world/japanese-communist-disgraced-at-100.html |archive-date=30 March 2023}}

===Web===
* {{Cite web |date=15 August 1962 |title=The Communist Movement in Japan |publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] |url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78-00915R001400210001-2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250315110620/https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78-00915R001400210001-2.pdf |archive-date=15 March 2025 |ref={{harvid|CIA|1962}} }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Berton |first1=Peter |last2=Atherton |first2=Sam |date=2018 |title=The Japanese Communist Party: Permanent Opposition, but Moral Compass |location=New York |publisher=[[Routledge]]}}
* {{cite thesis |last1=Durkee |first1=T. E. |date=1953 |title=The Communist Party of Japan, 1919–1932 |type=PhD |publisher=[[Stanford University]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hoston |first1=G. A. |date=1986 |title=[[Marxism and the Crisis of Development in Prewar Japan]] |location=Princeton, NJ |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kim |first1=Hong M. |date=1976 |title=Deradicalization of the Japanese Communist Party Under Kenji Miyamoto |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Large |first1=Stephen S. |date=1977 |title=The Romance of Revolution in Japanese Anarchism and Communism during the Taishō Period |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]}}
* {{cite book |last1=Swearingen |first1=R. |last2=Langer |first2=P. |date=1952 |title=Red Flag in Japan: International Communism in Action, 1919–1951 |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Japanese Communist Party}}
{{wikiquote}}
* {{official website|http://www.jcp.or.jp/english/}}
* {{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19451009&id=ExksAAAAIBAJ&pg=5963,366778&hl=en|title=Anti-Russian Organization Rises in Japan; Red Liaison Officer Says That American Occupation Too Soft|work=Times Daily|date=9 October 1945}}
* {{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19451015&id=2mlIAAAAIBAJ&pg=4990,6441156&hl=en|title=Military Oblivion Is Japs' Fate|work=The Evening Independent|date=15 October 1945}}
* {{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19451019&id=_toLAAAAIBAJ&pg=5616,263584&hl=en|title=Jap Communists Ask United Front Against Shidehara|work=The Evening Independent|date=19 October 1945}}
* {{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1970&dat=19451215&id=0kUyAAAAIBAJ&pg=962,8055833&hl=en|title=Japanese Reds Enjoy Freedom For First Time|work= Berkeley Daily Gazette|date=15 December 1945}}
* {{cite AV media|date=27 December 1945|title=Members of the Communist Party march and protest in Tokyo.|language=ja|url=http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/members-of-the-communist-party-march-and-protest-in-tokyo-news-footage/506894925|publisher=NHK|access-date=16 January 2016|archive-date=19 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319071036/https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/members-of-the-communist-party-march-and-protest-in-tokyo-news-footage/506894925}}
* [http://libarchive.dartmouth.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/presstrans/id/11221/rec/48 Article on Japanese Communist Party from Japanese Press Translations 1945–1946] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801225352/http://libarchive.dartmouth.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/presstrans/id/11221/rec/48 |date=1 August 2020 }}. Dartmouth Digital Library Collections.
* {{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1970&dat=19460223&id=2kkyAAAAIBAJ&pg=2440,4265786&hl=en|title=Japanese Communist Party Asks End of Feudal System|work= Berkeley Daily Gazette |date= 23 February 1946}}
* {{cite web|url= http://www.ndl.go.jp/modern/e/cha5/description12.html|title= 5–12 The Red Purge|publisher=[[National Diet Library]]}} Modern Japan Archives. 6 June 1950.
* {{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1978&dat=19500608&id=uEEjAAAAIBAJ&pg=4722,840046&hl=en|title=Red Parliament Members Fight Purge in Japan|work= The Owosso Argus-Press|date= 8 June 1950}}
* {{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19510603&id=VYNhAAAAIBAJ&pg=4226,893661&hl=en|title=Japan's Eight Top Communists Still Missing Without Clue|work=Reading Eagle |date= 3 June 1951}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsiyQjPN1JU Kazuo Shii: Comments from the Japanese Communist Party on the upcoming election.] YouTube video (in English) of the JCP leader Kazuo Shii discussing the [[2014 Japanese general election]]. Uploaded 8 December 2014.
* {{cite web |url=https://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jcpcc/blog/2016/04/how-the-japanese-communist-party.html |title=How the Japanese Communist Party Developed its Theory of Scientific Socialism |work=Japanese Communist Party |access-date=12 June 2019 |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209075906/https://www.jcp.or.jp/english/jcpcc/blog/2016/04/how-the-japanese-communist-party.html |url-status=dead}}

{{Japan political parties}}
{{Communism in Japan}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Japanese Communist Party| ]]
[[Category:Anti-capitalist political parties]]
[[Category:Anti-capitalist organizations]]
[[Category:Anti-imperialism in Asia]]
[[Category:Anti-imperialist organizations]]
[[Category:Anti-militarism]]
[[Category:Anti-nationalist parties]]
[[Category:Anti-nuclear movement]]
[[Category:Anti-racism in Asia]]
[[Category:Anti-racist organizations in Asia]]
<!-- The JCP defines North Korea as a totalitarian dictatorship, supports international sanctions against North Korea, and opposes China's authoritarianism. They support liberal democracy as a precondition of communism. -->
[[Category:Communist parties in Japan]]
[[Category:Democratic socialist parties in Asia]]
[[Category:Far-left politics in Japan]]
[[Category:Formerly banned communist parties]]
[[Category:Left-wing parties in Asia]]
[[Category:LGBTQ political advocacy groups in Japan]]
[[Category:Mindan]]
[[Category:Opposition to NATO]]
[[Category:Pacifist parties]]
[[Category:Political parties in Japan]]
[[Category:Progressive parties in Japan]]
[[Category:International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties]]
[[Category:Republicanism in Japan]]
[[Category:Political parties in the Empire of Japan]]