The Village of Surveillance, the Banner of Solitude: Scenes of Communist Distrust in the 1945-1960s

The Village of Surveillance, the Banner of Solitude: Scenes of Communist Distrust in the 1945-1960s

In the 1945-1960s, especially during the period of postwar turmoil and the eve of rapid economic growth, "politics" was "distant and frightening" for many local communities in Japan. In particular, there was a deep-seated wariness of the JCP, not only within the state authorities, but also within local communities.

Rumors that a local youth had "joined the Communist Party" or was "spreading leaflets" quickly spread throughout the village, surrounding him with rumors that he was "a changed man" or "being watched by the authorities. The residents of the village do not listen to his talk of "justice" and "equality," but rather fear his enthronement from state power. Rather than what he has to say, they instinctively avoid him, fearing what would happen if the police acted, or what would happen if the village came under fire.

This is a proof that the prewar memories of the "Red Hunt" by the Public Security Law and the Special Higher Police, as well as the structure of snitching and mutual surveillance during the war, survived in a different form after the war ended. In the 1950s, when the Cold War structure covered the world and Japan was part of the U.S. anti-communist policy, sympathizing with communism was a dangerous act that would have branded one as an "unpatriotic" person.

During the "Red Purge" of 1950, many Communist Party officials and sympathizers were forced out of their workplaces, and the image of "Communism = violence and chaos" took root through newspapers and radio waves. This national structure also affected local communities. In small villages, Communist Party members are treated as if they were "plague gods. No matter how much they talk about their ideals, the self-preservation instinct of the community, which says, "We don't want any trouble," and "We can't live under the thumb of the authorities," blocks them.

In the rural society of those days, the prejudice that "anyone involved in politics is no better than a yakuza" was deeply rooted, and "collusive democracy" prevailed in which elections were decided based on "who the influential people of the village vote for. This is why "young people who are involved in politics as individuals with their own convictions" are isolated from the rest of the society.

This episode truly illustrates the reality that while postwar democracy was guaranteed on paper, the spirit of democracy was not accepted in local communities, i.e., the conflict between "democracy on the surface" and "peer pressure behind the scenes. The "justice" of the youth is not accepted by society, but rather they are excluded. In the atmosphere of the Showa period, in which state power and the community developed a strange complicity, his figure is a mirror reflecting the distortions of the times.