WORLD ECONOMY / JAPAN Emperors and constitutions ALTHOUGH the Gulf crisis has shown the fundamental unity of the imperialist states in slapping down any challenge to their authority from the dependent countries, it has also thrown a spotlight on long-simmering tensions between them. The debate over German and Japanese participation in the Gulf war effort should be seen in this context. In Japan, the debate is taking place against the backdrop of a continued drive by ruling class circles to rehabilitate the imperial/chauvinist tradition of the pre-World War 2 period. The ceremonies for the inauguration of the new Japanese Emperor, Akihito, held on November 12, take on a special significance in the light of this.
### BERNARD GIBBONS
T HE coalition "Down with Glorification of the Emperor System! Joint Action against the Accession Ceremonies (Sokui-no-Rei and Daijosai)". , supported by, among others, the Japanese Trotskyists of the Japan Revolutionary Communist League, was organized in April 1990 with the aim of stopping the Sokui-noRei and the Daijosai, the two major Shinto ceremonies held by the Japanese state for Akihito, the new Tenno (the special Japanese term reserved for the Emperor — it means "heavenly sovereign"). The Sokui-no-Rei took place on November 12; the Daijosai is scheduled for two weeks later.
In all, it is estimated that the ceremonies will cost some $15 million. In the Sokui-no-Rei ceremony, the new Tenno declares that the peoples of the world must obey him, "the son of the gods" and recognize their subordinate relationship to him.
In the Daijosai, Akihito joins the spirit of his ancestor, the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, thereby becoming a "living god" and absolute ruler, then forces the Japanese people to swear allegiance to him, as their forebears did, and receives tribute from them as proof of submission.
The coalition says that "through these ceremonies Akihito, like his father, Hirohito, seeks to confirm himself as 'son of the gods' and as the supreme ruler not only of the people of Japan but of every area of the world". The coalition points out that the ceremonies have the aim of restoring Shinto as Japan's state religion and sanctifying the lineage of the Tenno's family, thereby legitimizing discrimination. Whilst the main opposition parties, including the Socialists and Communists, have skirted the issue (although they boycotted the ceremonies), the coalition has brought the Japanese far left together with several Christian and traditional Buddhist organizations, as well as the Buraku-min, an oppressed minority people.
Tacit recognition of chauvinism and fanaticism
Mass meetings and rallies were held in Tokyo, on November 12 against the Sokui-no-Rei and planned for November 22 and 23 against the Daijosai - with protests in many other Japanese cities. A national caravan campaign against the chauvinist rituals was launched on October 10.
The coalition is asking for international support and an international boycott of ceremonies which it says imply "tacit recognition of the chauvinistic, racist and fanatic ideology of Tennoism.....we are sure that if people outside Japan understood the real meaning of these ceremonies they would never want their leaders to attend the Sokui-no-Rei"
The ceremonies are indicative of the Japanese ruling class's desire to mark a break with Japan's post-1945 history. The Tenno system and the state religion of Shinto provided the ideological basis for Japanese aggression against neighboring countries in the 1930s and 1940s. After 17 the 1945 defeat, both the wartime emper-
JAPAN / SOUTH KOREA or Hirohito and the Tenno system survived in the framework of the so-called "symbolic Tenno system" which involved Hirohito's renunciation of his divine status, and the removal of Shinto as the state religion.
Akihito's accession takes place in the context of the desire of a significant section of the Japanese ruling class to bring Japan's military capacities into line with its enormous economic power (Japan's low level of military expenditure was of course a significant factor in the development of this power, providing it with a comparative advantage in relation to other imperialist states). The Japanese military has been deeply involved in the preparation of these ceremonies.
Decline in support for Prime
Minister
The proposal of Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu to send members of the Japanese Self-Defence Force (as the armed forces are known) to the Gulf (in a • "noncombat" role, under the guise of a "UN Peace Cooperation Corps") has run into considerable opposition and brought about a sharp drop in his personal standing in the opinion polls. Article 9 of Japan's US-dictated 1947 Constitution unilaterally renounces war and the use of force, and rules out the maintenance of an army or other "war potential" on its territory.
Whilst this article indicated the desire of the United States to bring to heel its imperialist rival in the Pacific, it reflected a very real pacifist and anti-militarist sentiment amongst the Japanese masses, who had suffered terribly in a war foisted upon them by the militarist clique which had seized power in the 1920s.
Indeed, it was the Americans themselves who urged on and facilitated Japanese rearmament in the context of the Communist victory in China and the Korean war.
In 1948, only a year after the constitution was adopted, Washington was urging the creation of a Japanese paramilitary force. A "reserve guard" was created in 1950, composed of about 75,000 men (many, former officers of the imperial army) — this was charged with assuring 18 "internal security" during the anti• Communist purge then being vigorously pursued in Japan. This reserve guard formed the nucleus of what became in 1954 the Self-Defence Force. From the 1960s onwards Japanese rightists have agitated for a revision of article 9.
The force of the article had already been severely weakened by the security treaty with the US signed in 1951 (renewed, despite very fierce popular opposition, in 1960) as well as Japan's active role as a base for the US war effort in Korea and Vietnam. The military budget has grown by an average of 6% per year since 1961 and has now passed beyond the psychologically important threshold of 1% of GNP. Japan's armed 4 голін 3500 3 - 3530 ві forces are now 250,000 strong, and military expenditure is running at $25-30 billion per year.
Strong pressure from the US government for a Japanese commitment to the crusade in the Gulf has come in a situation where Japanese-US relations are already strained because of the 2/1 trade imbalance between the two countries. Kaifu's initial response to this pressure was to send money to fund the war effort, but it took weeks to establish governmental consensus on a contribution of $4 billion - there are sharp cleavages within Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party on how to respond to US pressure.
The proposal that troops be sent met a wave of parliamentary and public opposition (a poll published in the daily newspaper Asahi showed 78% of Japanese people opposed to the sending of troops abroad, as against 15% in favour. 54% were opposed even to the sending of unarmed civilian units. (See IV 194). There were strong protests also from Japan's neighbours, particularly China and South Korea.
Important victory for peace movement
On Tuesday November 6, the proposal was finally withdrawn - the government recognized that it had no chance of pas sage in the upper house, where the combined opposition parties hold a majority, and many doubted its chances of getting through the lower house, where the LDP is in the majority.
The chauvinist offensive of the Japanese ruling class is by no means over — the government now plans to draw up new legislation to enable Japan to participate in future UN authorized "peacekeeping" activities. But whatever lies ahead, the defeat of Kaifu's proposal is a significant victory for the anti-militarist majority within Japanese society, and it has provided a major fillip for the international movement against the war by showing that mass opposition can bring results.
Further information on opposition to accession ceremonies from; Information Center on Imperial Succession, United Church of Christ, Nishi-Waseda 2-3-18, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
H OW many of your members have been detained since the wave of protests and general strike that was coordinated by Chun No Hyep in April/May?
Kim Sang Bock: There are currently 450 workers imprisoned by the goverment for engaging in strike action and about 100 workers in hiding. These are predominantly leading activists in Chun No Hyep who were singled out by govemment forces for arrest when they stormed into factories and shipyards to crush the strikes. • What is the present situation as regards on-going industrial disputes?
KSB: One place of particular concern to us at the moment is the Samsung shipyard. Samsung is the second largest company in Korea and its management, supported by the government, actively prohibits free trade union activity. They even went to the lengths of setting up a ghost union in order to try to undermine workers' attempts to establish their own democratic Minjung union.
When workers persisted in their efforts to build an independent union they incurred such heavy repression from the police and management that one worker committed suicide in protest at the absence of democratic rights. We would be grateful if labour movement activists could give their full support to such initiatives.
Kim Kyung Eun: In Seoul alone eight unions are at the moment taking action against the lock-out. These are mainly women workers, like the 600 on strike at the Nau Precision Company which makes VATEL cordless phones. In this particular case the women organized a go slow in protest at the 7% pay offer. The capitalists retaliated by announcing the close down of the company, while at the same time hiring scabs and bribing some striking workers to continue production.
Every day the striking workers go to picket at the factories and everyday they are arrested by the special riot police task force and by hired thugs known as Kusudey who work alongside the police. They are then usually forced onto buses and driven to clearings a couple of miles outside of Seoul where they are released. In the very hot weather we have recently seen police shutting workers in buses with locked windows, and leaving them there for two to three hours in the glaring • Many people have been amazed at Chun No Hyep's ability to coordinate such a large wave of strikes and protests just two months after its formation. How do you propose to maintain the momentum until the next series of wage settlements?
KKE: We always knew that the govern-
International Viewpoint #195 • November 26, 1990
SOUTH KOREA