They're pretty bad when it comes to international stuff, but that's kind of harsh. My friend works as a teacher in Japan and the JCP does some decent work with the teachers' unions. They're also one of the most consistent voices in Japanese politics calling for the total removal of American military bases from the mainland and Okinawa.
I dislike how reluctant they are to work with China or the DPRK. You'd think that would be very obvious given their geography and how many Chinese and Korean immigrants live in Japan. Also they should be more vocal about completely abolishing the Japanese monarchy. I still think you're being harsh considering the JCP does an ok amount of union salting, which means they're at least better than useless.
The main issue they're always going to face is they're a primarily electoral party within the Japanese parliament, which is a government that was hastily designed by the USA to ensure Japan is always ruled by American interests, large Japanese businesses, and the yakuza.
I don't think that liberal democracy has ever really allowed democratic control of foreign policy. Until our capitalist world state starts to crumble all any electoralist communist party can do is advocate for less exploitative domestic policy. Until the US declines its puppets will be manipulated with short strings. Electoral parties, unions, revolutionaries, can effect policy within their borders. The only way to change exploitative foreign policy is for the victims of it to fight back.
The JCP isn't going to take a stand, and potentially lose voters or risk the wrath of the other parties, on principle. The reality is that foreign policy is what voters care about the least. It doesn't effect them directly.
Think about Corbyn, his stance on Israel was correct but it also lead to him getting smeared as anti-semetic. Would the media have found something similarly nonsensical to slander him with? Probably. But its easy to look at that and see something avoidable.
Sadly the JCP is one of if not the worst communist party in existence, they make the CPUSA look like bolsheviks
They're pretty bad when it comes to international stuff, but that's kind of harsh. My friend works as a teacher in Japan and the JCP does some decent work with the teachers' unions. They're also one of the most consistent voices in Japanese politics calling for the total removal of American military bases from the mainland and Okinawa.
I dislike how reluctant they are to work with China or the DPRK. You'd think that would be very obvious given their geography and how many Chinese and Korean immigrants live in Japan. Also they should be more vocal about completely abolishing the Japanese monarchy. I still think you're being harsh considering the JCP does an ok amount of union salting, which means they're at least better than useless.
The main issue they're always going to face is they're a primarily electoral party within the Japanese parliament, which is a government that was hastily designed by the USA to ensure Japan is always ruled by American interests, large Japanese businesses, and the yakuza.
I don't think that liberal democracy has ever really allowed democratic control of foreign policy. Until our capitalist world state starts to crumble all any electoralist communist party can do is advocate for less exploitative domestic policy. Until the US declines its puppets will be manipulated with short strings. Electoral parties, unions, revolutionaries, can effect policy within their borders. The only way to change exploitative foreign policy is for the victims of it to fight back.
The JCP isn't going to take a stand, and potentially lose voters or risk the wrath of the other parties, on principle. The reality is that foreign policy is what voters care about the least. It doesn't effect them directly.
Think about Corbyn, his stance on Israel was correct but it also lead to him getting smeared as anti-semetic. Would the media have found something similarly nonsensical to slander him with? Probably. But its easy to look at that and see something avoidable.