was a member of the

Japanese Communist Party The is a left-wing to far-left political party in Japan. With approximately 270,000 members belonging to 18,000 branches, it is one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party advocates the establishment of a dem ...

. He was born in 1899 in Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture. He was the son of a tatami mat maker. After graduating primary school in 1912, he went to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

to work in a wine shop. In 1917, he worked in a

celluloid Celluloids are a class of materials produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor, often with added dyes and other agents. Once much more common for its use as photographic film before the advent of safer methods, celluloid's common contemporary ...

factory in Kamedo section of Tokyo. He organized the National Celluloid Workers Union in Tokyo in 1919. He joined the Japanese Communist Party soon after its establishment in 1922. In March 1927, he went to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to represent the JCP at the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by ...

, and the eighth enlarged plenum of the

ECCI The Executive Committee of the Communist International, commonly known by its acronym, ECCI (Russian acronym ИККИ), was the governing authority of the Comintern between the World Congresses of that body. The ECCI was established by the Founding ...

. That same year, Watanabe returned to Japan and took over the leadership of the party. In March 1928, he was elected chairman of the JCP central committee. During Watanabe's lifetime, he married

Tanno Setsu was a Japanese feminist, labor activist, Kameido Incident survivor, and an active member of Communist and Socialist Tokyo groups in the 1920s. Tanno became a member of the Nankatsu Labor Union, and was especially interested in its communist ...

, a labour activist, and member of the Communist Party. Watanabe escaped Japan during mass arrests on March 15, 1928. He traveled to

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...

(modern-day

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

) disguised as a dry goods merchant. He killed himself in

Keelung Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port Provincial city (Taiwan), city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan a ...

while being pursued by the police. He used the alias "Asano" during his years in the Communist Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watanabe, Masanosuke Japanese communists 1899 births 1928 deaths People from Ichikawa, Chiba 1928 suicides Suicides by firearm Suicides in Taiwan

Further reading

References