Kyuichi Tokuda

Kyuichi Tokuda (徳田 球一, Tokuda Kyūichi, September 12, 1894 - October 14, 1953)[1] was a Japanese politician and first chairman of the Japanese Communist Party from 1945 until his death in 1953.

Kyuichi Tokuda
Portrait of Kyuichi Tokuda (ca. 1952)
Chair of the Japanese Communist Party
In office 3 December 1945 – 14 October 1953
Preceded by	Toshihiko Sakai
Succeeded by	Sanzo Nosaka
Member of House of Representatives for Tokyo 3rd district
In office 4 April 1946 – 6 June 1950
Personal details
Born	(1894-09-12)12 September 1894 Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, Empire of Japan
Died	14 October 1953(1953-10-14) (aged 59) Beijing, China
Political party	Japanese Communist Party

Biography

Kyuichi Tokuda was born in 1894 in Okinawa. He became a lawyer following graduation from Nihon University in 1920.[1] He joined the Japanese Communist Party in 1922 and became a member of its Central Committee.[2]

He was arrested in March 1928 on suspicion of violating the Peace Preservation Law, and spent 18 years in prison. He was released in October 1945.[1][2] While in prison, he occupied a cell adjacent to fellow Communist leader Yoshio Shiga.[3] Upon his release, he was reportedly hoisted to the shoulders of a crowd of Communists and Koreans chanting anti-imperial messages.[4]

After World War II, he was elected to the House of Representatives in the general election of 1946. In 1948, he survived an assassination attempt by a dynamite-laden soda bottle thrown at his feet while he was giving a speech.[5] By 1950 he was considered the second-in-command of the JCP and a key supporter of party leader Sanzo Nosaka.[3] Along with other JCP leaders, he was purged from politics under the Allied occupation. He was later exiled to China, where he died in 1953.[1] During his last years in China, he led a "mainstream" faction of the JCP and organized violent operations in Japan.[6]

Works

• Eighteen Years in Prison (Gokuchu juhachi-nen) by Kyuichi Tokuda and Yoshio Shiga. Published by the Japanese Communist Party Party in 1948.
• Appeal to the People

In popular culture

• Tokuda appears in the game Hearts of Iron IV by Paradox Interactive as the leader of the JCP. If Japan chooses to embraces communism under Hirohito, Tokuda becomes the leader of Japan. However unlike in the game, he was imprisoned shortly before the events World War 2.

See also

• Japanese dissidence during the Shōwa period
• Mountain Village Operation Unit

References

1. "Tokuda, Kyuichi". www.ndl.go.jp. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
2. Milorad M. Drachkovitch (December 1, 1986). Biographical Dictionary of the Comintern. Hoover Institution Press. pp. 472–473.
3. "JAPAN: Red Schism". Time. 1950-05-08. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
4. ""Remove Hirohito" Is Cry Of Freed Jap Communists". Toronto Daily Star. 1945-10-10. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
5. "Pressure From Left Increases in Japan". The Lewiston Daily Sun. 1948-07-20. Retrieved 2017-04-17.
6. Masaki, Nobuaki (2016-04-07). "Red-Baiting in 2016 – SNA Japan". shingetsunewsagency.com. Retrieved 2017-04-17.

External links

• Kyuichi Tokuda at Find a Grave
• Fuchu Prison Exterior Shiga Yoshio previous release 球一 Tokuda 球一 addressed Tokuda (in Japanese). Wazee Digital Commerce. 10 October 1945.
• Fuchu Prison inmate Kyuichi Tokuda expresses joy at his release while former inmate Tosaji Obara, finance director of the Japan Holiness Church, says his religious beliefs were suppressed while he was incarcerated (in Japanese). NHK. 7 November 1945.
• Leader of the Japanese Communist Party Kyuichi Tokuda appeals for the ademocratization of Japan (in Japanese). NHK. November 22, 1945.