The"Political Shift"of the Japanese Trade Unions in Recent Years
In recent years,changes in international situation,coupled with the impact of such uncertain factors as the COVID-19 epidemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict,class contradictions in Japan have become increasingly fierce.However,the Japanese Trade Union Confederation(RENGO),the largest labor organization in Japan,has gradually distanced itself from its traditional left-wing allies,and turned to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party which represents the capitalists.This has seriously affected the Japanese left-wing activities.The political shift of the RENGO reflects the major changes in the Japanese labor movement in recent years,and can be explained from three aspects:the divergent lines of the trade unions,the transformation of the nature of the trade unions,and the lack of effective response from the left-wing parties to workers'demands.Tracing back to its origin this phenomenon not only reflects the pressure over the left-wing forces represented by the RENGO under the general conservative right-wing tendencies in Japanese society,but also exposes the enormous limitation of the Japanese left-wing that has been eroded by neoliberalism.