is a Japanese term referring to the coerced

ideological An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...

conversions of Japanese

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

s and

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

s who, between 1925 and 1945, were induced to renounce leftist ideologies and enthusiastically embrace the Emperor-centric, capitalist, and imperialist ideology favored by the state. ''Tenkō'' was typically performed under

duress Coercion () is compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against a party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desi ...

, most often in police custody, and was a condition for release (although surveillance and harassment would often continue thereafter). But it was also a broader phenomenon, a kind of cultural reorientation in the face of national crisis, that did not always involve direct repression. The prewar Japanese state considered

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

to be a grave threat to Japan's "national essence" (国体, ''kokutai''). The

Peace Preservation Law The was a Japanese law enacted on April 22, 1925, with the aim of allowing the Special Higher Police to more effectively suppress socialists and communists. In addition to criminalizing forming an association with the aim of altering the ''kokuta ...

, passed in 1925, empowered the

Special Higher Police The , often abbreviated , was a Japanese policing organization, established within the Home Ministry in 1911, for the purpose of carrying out high policing, domestic criminal investigations, and control of political groups and ideologies deemed ...

(''Tokubetsu Kōtō Keisatsu'', abbreviated ''Tokkō'') to persecute communists, socialists, and other leftists by explicitly criminalizing criticism of the system of private property. Thus the year 1925 marked a new phase in which the ''Tokkō'' targeted not only incorrect action (actual crimes) but also incorrect thought or ideology, earning them the nickname, the . In 1927, a sub-bureau, the "Thought Section," was established within the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the Special Higher Police in order to oversee the study and suppression of subversive ideologies. By 1933, ideological conversion had become the main means of enforcing the Peace Preservation Law, rather than judicial punishment. In order to elicit ''tenkō'' from prisoners suspected of ideological radicalism, the police employed physical torture, as well as psychological torture and familial pressure. One of the most consequential instances of ''tenkō'' came in June 1933, when Sano Manabu (1892—1953) and Nabeyama Sadachika (1901—1979), two leading figures in the

Japan 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 democr ...

, renounced their allegiance to 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 policy of violent revolution, and committed to supporting only those forms of social change that might be consonant with Japan's "national essence." Their proclamation was followed by a wave of defections from the party, signaling the demise of the party organization, except in exile. In the

postwar period In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period ...

, whether someone had succumbed to pressure (or torture) and committed ''tenkō'' became, among leftists, a sort of ideological

litmus test Litmus test may refer to: * Litmus test (chemistry), used to determine the acidity of a chemical solution * Litmus test (politics), a question that seeks to find the character of a potential candidate by measuring a single indicator * Litmus Test ...

and a form of stigma attached to the careers of left-leaning politicians, artists, and intellectuals active before and after the war. In the immediate aftermath of the war, many of these leftists attempted to atone for their wartime ''tenkō'' by undertaking "self-reflection" (''hansei''), and often re-embracing Marxism and/or communism with even greater fervor than before. These figures were often spoken of as having undergone a "re-conversion" or "second ''tenkō''" back to their original ideological stance. More broadly, the term ''tenkō '' also came to serve as a metonym for the collective experience of an entire generation of Japanese, first in turning toward support of militarism and imperialism before the war, and then again in turning toward supporting peace and democracy in the postwar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tenko Anti-communism in Japan Society of Japan Politics of Japan Socialism in Japan

See also

References