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Inejirō Asanuma
85 quotes
“You are the greatest Marxist of our era. May I ask, what is communism?”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To Mao Zedong during their meeting in Zhongnanhai, Beijing, March 1959
“The stationing of American military bases in Japan and Okinawa, which are gradually being fortified with nuclear weapons of all sizes, poses a serious threat. The peoples of Japan and China share the important common task of achieving a nuclear-free Asia and the withdrawal of foreign military bases.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Political Consultative Conference Hall, Beijing, 12 March 1959
“Taiwan is part of China and Okinawa is part of Japan. Nevertheless, the fact that both are separated from their respective mainlands is due to American imperialism. We must regard American imperialism as our common enemy and fight against it.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Political Consultative Conference Hall, Beijing, 12 March 1959
“There can be no national independence without economic independence. Japan must break free from dependence on the United States.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Political Consultative Conference Hall, Beijing, 12 March 1959
“I believe that the true nature of humanity is not one of conflict between people, nor of class against class, nor of nations fighting and shedding blood. I believe the true nature of humanity lies in resolving these problems as quickly as possible and mobilizing all our strength to struggle against great Nature. This struggle cannot be carried out without the practice of socialism. China has now resolved all its contradictions and is concentrating its struggle on great Nature. Here we can see what the advance of a socialist state looks like. I earnestly wish for victory in this struggle.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Political Consultative Conference Hall, Beijing, 12 March 1959
“Long live the advancing socialism of China! Long live the restoration of diplomatic relations between China and Japan! Long live peace in Asia and the world!”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Closing cheers, Beijing, 12 March 1959
“There is no need to retract. This is not an attack on the American people; fighting imperialist policy is natural for the Socialist Party.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Response to U.S. Ambassador Douglas MacArthur II, who demanded he retract the statement "U.S. imperialism is the common enemy of the Japanese and Chinese peoples." (May 1960, after the forced passage of the revised U.S.…
“Nichinichi kore kōnichi (日日是好日 / Every day is a good day)”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Calligraphy performed during a public lecture at Kinryū-ji Temple, Azumino, Nagano Prefecture, 4 September 1960, a stone monument reproducing his calligraphy was later erected at the temple by attendees as a memorial
“Gentlemen, I believe the essence of politics is to straighten what is crooked in the nation and society, to correct what is unjust, and to restore what is unnatural to its natural state. However, in our country today, there are many crooked things, unjust things, and unnatural things.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Final speech at Hibiya Public Hall, 12 October 1960
“The stationing of foreign troops in Japan for twenty-five long years is an unnatural situation unprecedented since the founding of the country.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Final speech at Hibiya Public Hall, 12 October 1960
“Nehru of India has said, ‘We do not like foreign bases. The existence of foreign bases within a country means that foreign powers have entered into its very heart, and they always carry the scent of war.’ We, too, are deeply struck by exactly the same feeling.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Final speech at Hibiya Public Hall, 12 October 1960
“American military bases in Japan are like American enclaves. Japanese courts have no jurisdiction inside them. This is nothing less than extraterritoriality.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Final speech at Hibiya Public Hall, 12 October 1960
“In any case, I believe that at this time we should sever our military relationship with the United States. At the same time, we should demand the severing of the military relations with Japan maintained by China and the Soviet Union. Then, with Japan, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China—so to speak, the four countries spanning the two camps—at the center, we must establish a new security system. I maintain that this must be the basis of Japanese diplomacy.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Final speech at Hibiya Public Hall, 12 October 1960
“We should respect each other's independence and territories, not interfere in internal affairs, not commit aggression, and stand on the basis of reciprocity and equality. On this basis, I believe that a new security system should naturally be established.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Final speech at Hibiya Public Hall, 12 October 1960
“During elections, they keep policies that would be unpopular with the public a secret, and then once they have won a majority in the election, they will... [push through anything using the power of the majority. What is the point of elections or a Diet if this is allowed? This is the majority party digging its own grave for parliamentary democracy.]”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Last words before being assassinated on stage (and prepared continuation), 12 October 1960
“Finally, I must say that today’s Japanese politics is money politics — it is plutocracy. This injustice must be corrected. In our country’s politics, enormous sums of money are spent on elections. Once elected, politicians scramble for vested interests to recover that money. Sometimes this even leads to the exercise of command authority. The person who collects the most money becomes party president, and the party president becomes Prime Minister. That is the mechanism we have today.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Prepared continuation of the final speech (undelivered portion), Hibiya Public Hall, 12 October 1960
“As a result of politics moving by money in this way, a mood of ‘anything goes if you have money’ fills society. Hope and ideals disappear, and a hand-to-mouth, live-for-the-day attitude prevails. The number of crimes has risen more than tenfold compared to prewar times, and juvenile problems in particular have become a source of worry for parents with children of that age. The government talks about moral education or revising the Fundamental Law of Education, but what is really needed is to correct the fundamental distortion in politics.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Prepared continuation of the final speech, Hibiya Public Hall, 12 October 1960
“The basic way to correct politics is for the government itself to uphold the Constitution and conduct clean, honest governance.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Prepared continuation of the final speech, 12 October 1960
“There’s a rumor that the Zengakuren is going to set the building on fire, so all the honorable Diet members seem to have disappeared. I'll be running in Shinjuku next election, so I’m counting on your support.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: While laughing heartily, when a young Waseda student named Michio Ozaki visited him at the Diet Members' Building around 1960 and remarked how empty the place looked. Recounted by Ozaki himself (later a journalist) in h…
“What? Is one enough for you guys?”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) said by 1960 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Maa maa. (まあまあ。)”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) said by 1960 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am a socialist. It is not necessary.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Refusing a bodyguard suggested by aides amid threats from right-wing groups, recounted by a close aide, 1960
“The masses believe in me. No one would try to kill me.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Asanuma expressing confidence when declining protection, testimony of close associates, 1960
“When we consider the new order in the East amid all the circumstances of the world, is this not precisely the time for a new Sonnō Jōi [Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians] theory to rise? Is not the true construction of a new order in East Asia precisely the practice of a new Sonnō Jōi centered on the realm of the East? Just as the loyalist shishi of the Bakumatsu period rose up upon seeing the arrival of Perry and the black ships, is this not the time, after surveying the state of the world, to expel all foreign domination from the East and construct a new order? Whether it is called the East Asian League theory, the New Order in East Asia, or the East Asian Cooperative Body—is it not a new Sonnō Jōi theory? It is by no means so-called imperialism. It is the establishment of a new Eastern spirit and a new order upon the foundation of Nationalism and Nationalism. Chiang Kai-shek has not awakened to this Eastern spirit; his error lies in allying with Britain and Russia and standing in opposition to our Japan. Wang Jingwei has awakened to it and is cooperating with our country with an anti-communist spirit in order to revive the spirit of the Chinese revolution.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 30 September 1939, Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōgaku (Doshisha Law Review), Vol…
“Having finally decided to return by crossing the continent, there are many points I felt during this trip. I will summarize them later, but what I feel most keenly is that Japanese people need to know foreign political conditions and circumstances much better. Even though Japanese politics can no longer be discussed apart from world political trends, are we not far too ignorant of them? However, this by no means means imitating the West, copying it, or falling into Westernization. Japan possesses things that surpass those of other countries. We must make great efforts to bring these superior qualities to life. Yet this must not be a narrow, old-fashioned way of thinking, but rather a position of assimilating and digesting everything that is most excellent in Japanese-ism and giving direction to everything.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1939 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 30 September 1939, Inter-Parliamentary Union Delegation Travel Diary to the U.S. and Europe — 30 June to 2 October 1939 — Transcription and Commentary, trans. from Japanese. In Dōshisha Hōgaku (Doshisha Law Review), Vol…
“The Incident has already lasted three full years. Under the august virtue of the Emperor, the valiant efforts of the officers and men of the Imperial Army have produced remarkable military results. We have seen the construction of a regenerated China centered on Wang Jingwei, and the building of the New Order in East Asia has begun. As one of the Japanese people I cannot help feeling profound gratitude and emotion. Last September the outbreak of the second European upheaval and the overwhelming victories of Germany and Italy have replaced the old European order with a new one, and world history is about to undergo a special transformation. The progress of the European situation is also repeatedly presenting divine opportunities for the construction of the New Order in East Asia. Now is the time for Japan to demand the withdrawal from Asia of all forces that obstruct the building of the New Order in East Asia, and to advance vigorously toward the establishment of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1940 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Eikoku o Tōyō kara Tsuihō seyo" ("Expel Britain from the Orient"), Jitsugyō no Sekai, September 1940
“After that, there was ongoing confrontation between the Cultural Alliance and the vertically and horizontally aligned club [Yoko-Ou Club], a group of right-leaning students who were the main perpetrators of the violence. We were in a state where it was dangerous to walk around in ordinary student attire because we would be beaten if caught. We tried our best to avoid clashes, but about four or five days or a week after the brawl, while walking behind the school, I finally ran into members of the Yoko-Ou Club. 'Come with us for a moment,' they said, and I was taken to their club office. A large group of judo club members surrounded me and said, 'You were incited by socialists to hold that meeting, weren't you? That's outrageous—write an apology letter.' I replied, 'I wasn't incited by any socialists. As a Waseda student, I acted from a pure standpoint, driven by student passion to protect the founding spirit of Waseda—which Marquis Ōkuma Shigenobu established as a free academy in opposition to the bureaucratic military clique—for the independence of learning and freedom of research. So I cannot write one. After that, they beat and kicked me, and I fell into a near-death state. But in the end, without writing the apology letter, I endured until morning and finally made it to a friend's house with a face covered in lumps, limping.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950) (recounting being ambushed and severely beaten by right-wing students a few days after the Bloody Friday rally against the Waseda Military Research Group)
“I went to prison only twice: once when I was thrown into Ichigaya Prison during the Great Earthquake, and once during the Ashio Incident. On the other hand, the number of times I was thrown into the police detention cell is too many to count. If I refused to obey an order to stop a speech meeting, I would be taken away. If I participated in a demonstration during a labor dispute, I would be detained. These days, when I travel to the countryside, I sometimes meet former police officers who used to detain me. They say things like, 'I used to arrest you all the time back in the day, but nowadays I think the Socialist Party is the best. I'm a Socialist Party fan now.'”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950)
“I have lived for twenty years in a small apartment in Fukagawa consisting of three rooms: a six-mat room, a four-and-a-half-mat room, and a three-mat room. It is cramped, and I receive many visitors, so I cannot rest properly. Sometimes I think about moving, but after living in one place for so long, I cannot bring myself to decide to leave. The neighbors tell me not to go, and I myself, even though things have improved a little, do not feel like leaving this apartment. Moreover, I serve as the head of the local cooperative here. The cooperative runs the bathhouse, fish shop, and vegetable shop, so I am, so to speak, the fishmonger boss, the greengrocer boss, and the bathhouse boss. This makes me even closer to everyone in the neighborhood, and because of these human ties, I find it hard to move.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1950 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Maa-Maa Koji's Discourse: The Path I Have Walked (1950)
“The Yoshida Cabinet has driven post-independence Japanese politics into confusion and wandering. The people, having won independence six years after the end of the war, have regained the national awareness that was lost under occupation and are burning with enthusiasm to rebuild as a democratic nation. Yet the Yoshida Cabinet fails entirely to respond to this passion of the people. Instead, it blindly follows America in foreign policy while racing full speed ahead on a reactionary and reverse course in domestic policy. This is raising the specter of fascist reactionary politics that drives progressive citizens to despair, while on the other hand giving the Communist Party room to run wild, opening the path to totalitarianism of both the left and right, and placing the homeland and democracy in crisis.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech supporting the no-confidence motion against the Yoshida Cabinet, 14 March 1953
“Moreover, when we look at the territorial issue: while it may be unavoidable that territories acquired by Japan during its period of expansion are returned to their respective countries, we have lost sovereignty over South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The Habomai and Shikotan Islands, which administratively belong to Hokkaido, are occupied by the Soviet Union. Amami Ōshima, the Okinawa islands, the Ogasawara Islands, Iwo Jima, and others remain under continued special military occupation, with over a million compatriots living outside Japanese administration. This must truly be called a national tragedy. Moreover, these compatriots fervently desire an early return to Japan.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1953 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech supporting the no-confidence motion against the Yoshida Cabinet, 14 March 1953
“I was cornered to the limit, which instead heightened my rebellious spirit. When a guard passed by on patrol, I requested, 'I'm bored, so please let me read a book.' The guard curtly refused, saying 'I'm busy,' but I persistently demanded it anyway. That seems to have been a mistake. Around 9 p.m., I was dragged to the guards' station and told, 'Say what you said earlier again.' When I replied, 'I just said to lend me a book,' he said, 'You were being cheeky with that mouth,' and jammed two fingers into my mouth, yanked me up, threw me to the floor, and they all beat, kicked, and pummeled me. On top of that, when I was returned to my cell, I was handcuffed behind my back with leather handcuffs. The leather handcuffs lasted about a week, and it was so painful I could barely sleep or eat. However, I was told this was still on the lighter side, which shows how brutal it was under the earthquake emergency. After the leather handcuffs were removed, I was ordered to polish the handcuffs. There is no greater irony than being made to polish the handcuffs that would be put on one's own hands. About a month later I was released, but it was not family or friends who greeted me, it was the special higher police from Waseda Police Station. Having no choice, I went to Waseda Police Station, where I was told, 'Go back to the countryside and behave yourself, or you’ll be detained.' Thus, I dejectedly returned to my hometown on Miyake-jima. Miyake-jima was once an island where exiles were sent, it was truly a 'Taishō-era exile to the islands.'”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: My Resume (私の履歴書), Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 1956 (book form: 1957).
“Looking at the current world situation, the global situation has changed since our delegation visited China two years ago in April 1957. Chairman Mao Zedong has expressed this with the apt phrase, 'the East Wind is prevailing over the West Wind,' and today this phrase has become known not only in China but around the world. In the world today, the growing strength of forces seeking peace and democracy — particularly the decisive upsurge of anti-colonial and anti-imperialist movements in Asia and Africa — clearly shows the overall trend. The colonial systems of the imperialist powers are already collapsing.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Political Consultative Conference Hall, Beijing, 12 March 1959
“We, the Japan Socialist Party, earnestly hope for the normalization of diplomatic relations with China at the earliest possible date. When we consider where the failures of Japanese diplomacy have always lain, they have consistently come from tying itself to distant countries while turning its back on its neighbors. In the Meiji era, Japan concluded the Anglo-Japanese Alliance with distant Britain and played the role of a watchdog in Asia. During the Second World War, it again formed a military alliance with distant Germany and Italy, turned its back on China and the countries of Southeast Asia, attempted military invasion, and pursued imperialist expansion — this, I believe, must be called a great failure. Now again, by tying itself to America, it is attempting to play a mediating role in America’s imperialist expansion into Southeast Asia. We strongly warn the government of this and demand a change of course. Our Socialist Party opposes such a diplomatic policy. In other words, we believe Japan should shift from the ‘distant alliance, nearby attack’ policy to a policy of good-neighbor friendship.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech at the Political Consultative Conference Hall, Beijing, 12 March 1959
“Moreover, to expand these bases, Japanese are forced to shed blood against Japanese. For example, Tachikawa Air Base is currently an American base. To expand this American base, they try to seize the land of farmers in Sunagawa. The Sunagawa farmers resist. Then the Procurement Agency officials call in the police to suppress them. Behind the farmers stand the people who seek complete independence for Japan and support them. In this way, they glare at each other and shed blood. It is no exaggeration to say that this ‘independence’ is a contradictory independence in which Japanese blood must be spilled in order to expand American enclaves.”
Inejirō Asanuma (1898–1960) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Final speech at Hibiya Public Hall, 12 October 1960