<Articles>The Labor Offensive and the up-and-coming young members of the Japan Progressive Party (日本進歩党) : the Conservative 'Reform' Movement during the Period of the General Strike of February 1 1947

The defeat in World War II and the U. S. occupation brought about revolutionary upsurges in Japan. They reached a peak during the period from the October Offensive, 1946, to the General Strike of February 1, 1947. Traditonal historical accounts of this critical period have stressed more the role of the progressive forces which were pushing the revolutionary change forward, and have tended to disregard the counter movements of the conservative forces which were trying to hold them back. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the movements of an element among the conservative forces in the hope that it may help to appreciate the period in its entire and true perspective. This element is none other than the up-and-coming young members of the House of Representatives belonging to the Progressive Party, the leading figure of whom was Inukai Takeru 犬養健. To deal with an aggressive labor movement, they made articulated policies based on a doctrine of modified capitalism and a plan of coalition government with the Social Democratic Party of Japan (日本社会党), in opposition to the policy stance of authoritative leaders in the party typified by party chairman Shidehara Kijyuro, 幣原喜重郎, whose political principle was to take strong measures against the labor offensive and to cooperate with the Japan Liberal Party (日本自由党), the ruling party of the first Yoshida Shigeru 吉田茂 cabinet. Faced with the October Offensive they had gradually refined their policies through activities such as Inukai's summarization of party achievements during the 90th session of the Diet, their criticism to the basic policies of the Yoshida cabinet, and the involvement in the settlement of Densansogi 電産争議, (the long struggle of the National Federation of the Electric Power Worker's Union), and, lastly, during the tense situation before the General Strike of February 1, they improved their policies in qualitiy and embodied them in a new party platform adovocating 'solidarism' and 'reformatory policy'. And they tried to put their policies and their coalition government plan into practice in the double political moneuvering for the formation of the coalition government with the Social Democratic Party undertaken by the Yoshida cabinet. Thus they took the opportunity provided by the labor offensive and paved the way for the formation of the coalition government with the Social Democratic Party. This movement implies historically that the revolutionary upsurge during the period of the General Strike of February 1 made a 'reformatory' conservative force appear on the postwar political stage in Japan, able to form a coalition government with a social democratic party.