The left sees pre-war Japan as a cruel, aggressive nation that sacrificed its people through nationalism and sees it as an absolute evil.
November 30, 2020
The following is from a unique feature on a recent issue of the monthly WiLL, featuring a conversation between Hiroshi Furuta and Yutaka Asaka.
It is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but also for people worldwide.
Why is it that the more capable people are, the more they are caught up in the left and wasting away?
People from outstanding families don't pay any attention to ordinary people.
The type of person who is from a slightly better family and is good at schoolwork gets caught up in Marx.
A single incident, a blow to my beliefs, awakened me to the reality of socialism.
Furuta
I read Asaka-san's book, 'A Book that Makes Leftists Repent from the Bottom of Their Hearts,' a critical examination of socialist ideologies, but I became so distressed that I couldn't turn the pages.
The pain I felt when Marx spread through the intellectual world returned to me (lol).
Asaka
I'm sorry about that (lol).
Furuta
I woke up from Marx when I was 26 years old in 1979.
I went to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), and because I could speak Russian, I asked the female guide to let me walk by myself.
For some reason, I was able to get around, so I walked around the back streets.
What do you think I saw there?
Asaka
Homeless people?
Furuta
Yes, a bunch of unemployed people.
A job center notice on the wall said something like "Seeking tractor Belarus drivers."
One grabbed my arm and told me to sell my Seiko watch.
I shook him off, saying, "I didn't study your language for this kind of thing," but this is the reality of socialism.
Asaka
That's quite an experience.
Furuta
This blow forced Marx to face the fact that he was lying, whether he liked it or not.
That's why I gave up learning Russian.
After that, I agonized over why I had believed in Marx.
I read Asaka-san's book, “A book that makes leftists repent from the bottom of their hearts”, but I got so distressed that I couldn't turn the pages.
The pain I felt when Marx was spreading through the intellectual world came back to me (lol).
Meeting Marx
Furuta
By the way, I hear you were a former member of the Communist Party. How old were you when you joined?
Asaka
I was 18.
Furuta
That's pretty early.
Did you read Marx on your own, or was it something your teacher told you to do?
Asaka
It was a school that combined junior high school and high school, but I wasn't recruited even though there were many left-wing teachers.
It was a school that prepared students for university entrance exams, so there were lots of people around me who had a lot of knowledge.
For example, even though I was only in the first year of junior high school, they would explain things like the theory of relativity and the difference between DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid) (lol).
When I saw them, I thought, "I want to say big things too." I developed a longing to be an intellectual.
Furuta
Even so, the books recommended by your teachers were all "left-wing" books, right?
Asaka
There were a lot of Iwanami Shinsho books.
I think they were too advanced for first-year junior high school students, but the number of Iwanami Shinsho books I had read was like a benchmark for intellectuals.
Furuta
I know, I know (lol).
Asaka
Even if you try your hardest to read them, you don't understand them.
But it's cool if you can say things like "Hasegawa Masayasu said this" or "Watanabe Yozo wrote this" without thinking too much about it (lol).
When I read books written by so-called "progressive intellectuals" in this way, a question came to mind.
At the time, the Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan (in 1979), and I was witnessing the reality of socialism trampling on freedom without a second thought.
But I wondered, "Why don't these progressive people reject socialism?"
Furuta
That's interesting.
You're a rare type.
Asaka
I thought, 'Maybe I just don't know about real socialism and communism, and I'm feeling poorly about it based on my image. 'So, in the second year of junior high school, I read From Fantasy to Science and The Communist Manifesto.
Furuta
How did you find it?
Asaka
I thought,' I was misunderstanding communism after all."
I had been led to believe it was a poor ideology without freedom, but it was actually a wonderful idea.
Furuta
The truth and the fiction were reversed (lol).
Asaka
After that, I started to pay attention to the arguments of the Japanese Communist Party, and even though I was only in the second year of junior high school, I started buying the Communist Party's monthly magazine Avant-garde and Iwanami's "Sekai" (The World) (lol).
There, it was written excitingly about how outrageous the Liberal Democratic Party government was doing things.
For example, there are internal regulations for the Self-Defense Forces, and the Self-Defense Forces Law is just a "decoration," so they can do whatever they like.
When I read that, I was outraged, thinking, "This is outrageous!
On the other hand, because there are no other people in the world who would say such extreme things, I would think that I was one of the few people who knew the truth and indulged in a sense of omnipotence (lol).
Furuta
In the end, how did you manage to break free from Marx?
Asaka
Unlike Professor Furukawa, I didn't wake up with a single blow.
Even after I thought I had shaken off Marx, some of me still hadn't entirely left.
I don't know how often I had to "shed my skin" to eliminate it.
I don't remember it clearly, but at one point, I read a book by Kō Bun'yū. At the time, I didn't know what kind of person Kō was, and I thought, "Why does he have such right-wing ideas? What a strange Chinese person he is!
I thought I'd read it to hear an opposing opinion, and then I thought, "Wait a minute, this might be right" (laughs).
The left sees pre-war Japan as an absolutely evil nation that was a cruel aggressor and sacrificed its people through nationalism.
But Kō-san saw pre-war Japan in a positive light.
Furuta
Gradually, Marx is left out.
Unlike me, it's a "gradual awakening."
This article continues
