was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist and politician. Noda served as the chairman of the pro-

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

national trade union centre '' Hyōgikai''.

Early life

Noda was born in a small village in

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

in 1891. He completed his primary school studies and began working at the age of twelve. In 1904 he moved to

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, where he began an apprenticeship at an electric company. He went on to serve as a fireman and joined the army, but was released from military service for health reasons.Beckmann, George M., and Genji Okubo.
The Japanese Communist Party 1922-1945
'. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1969. p. 378 After being released from the army, Noda began working at a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

. He also volunteered as part of a military transportation crew during the 1914

Siege of Tsingtao The siege of Tsingtao (; ; zh, s=青岛战役, t=青島戰役) was the attack on the German port of Qingdao (Tsingtao) from Jiaozhou Bay during World War I by Empire of Japan, Japan and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United K ...

Trade unionist

Noda was active in trade unions in Osaka along with his wife Kimiko. He had joined the trade union movement in 1916. Between 1919 and 1922 he mobilized various strikes amongst the shipyard and iron workers of the city. In 1923 he founded the Osaka Machine Workers Union (affiliated to the '' Sodomei'' trade union centre). Noda and his wife were also founders of the clandestine Osaka Birth Control Study Society in 1923.Frühstück, Sabine.
Colonizing Sex: Sexology and Social Control in Modern Japan
'. Berkeley, Calif. .a. University of California Press, 2003. pp. 133-134 When the pro-

'' Hyōgikai'' trade union centre was founded in May 1925, Noda was elected as its chairman. Noda was not a Communist Party member at the time though, although he later became a communist.Beckmann, George M., and Genji Okubo.
The Japanese Communist Party 1922-1945
'. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1969. pp. 90-91 Noda stood as the

Labour-Farmer Party The was a political party in the Empire of Japan. It represented the left-wing sector of the legal proletarian movement at the time.Mackie, Vera C. Creating Socialist Women in Japan: Gender, Labour and Activism, 1900–1937'. Cambridge: Cambri ...

candidate from the first district of

Osaka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...

in the 1928 national Diet election (one of eleven Communist Party members running as Labour-Farmer Party candidates across the country). He was not elected.Beckmann, George M., and Genji Okubo.
The Japanese Communist Party 1922-1945
'. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press, 1969. p. 150 He was arrested in connection with the

March 15 incident The was a crackdown on socialists and communists by the Japanese government in 1928. Among those who were arrested in the incident was the Marxist economist Kawakami Hajime. Background Although the Japan Communist Party had been outlawed and fo ...

, and sentenced to two years imprisonment and five years suspended prison sentence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noda, Ritsuta 1891 births 1948 deaths Japanese trade union leaders Labour-Farmer Party politicians Japanese Communist Party politicians Activists from Okayama Prefecture