Graph Youth and the Japanese Communist Party Youth Movement circa 1960: The Image of ‘Democracy’

Abstract In 1950, Cominform (the Information Bureau of the Communist and Workers’ Parties) criticised the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) for promoting ‘peaceful revolution’ under the Allied Occupation. The critique led to the so-called ‘1950 issue’, a period beset by ideological divisions, in which the JCP split, with one faction continuing to support ‘peaceful revolution’ and the other siding with Cominform’s views. Nuyama Hiroshi founded the magazine Gurafu wakamono (Graph Youth) in 1958 after a temporary respite to the 1950 issue. The magazine was aimed at the young people of Japan, and ran until 1971. Nuyama was regarded as an authority on cultural issues within the JCP and, in addition to being the first editor-in-chief of Gurafu wakamono, he led the ‘Dance for Dance’s Sake’ movement, sometimes referred to as the ‘Singing and Dancing Communist Party’. In 1966, during the lifetime of the magazine, Nuyama’s ideological differences regarding the Cultural Revolution in China led to his excommunication from the Communist Party. Drawing on material from the magazine itself, this article examines the democratic ideology promulgated by Gurafu wakamono and its successor magazine, also edited by Nuyama, with particular emphasis on editions published in the late 1950s and early 1960s.