Sen Katayama
片山潜
Japanese communist founder who shook Plekhanov's hand and shaped Comintern East Asia strategy
Amsterdam, 1904. When the chair announced that the vice-chairs were the delegates of the two warring powers — Plekhanov and Katayama — the two rose and clasped hands in silence. The hall answered with a standing ovation.
Father of Japanese communism. Born in Okayama, he studied in the United States and founded Japan's first trade union and Social Democratic Party. As a Comintern Executive Committee member he shaped anti-imperialist strategy for East Asia, and was buried in the Kremlin Wall.
Career timeline
- 1884–1896Studied in US; Grinnell College and Yale Divinity; became Christian and socialist
- 1896–1901Returned; founded Iron Workers' Union, Labour World, Social Democratic Party
- 1904Amsterdam Second International; anti-war handshake with Plekhanov
- 1911–1912Led Tokyo streetcar strike; 9 months imprisonment
- 1914–1921Exiled to US; joined CPUSA; communist groups among Japanese workers
- 1921–1922Via Mexico to Soviet Russia; led founding of Japanese Communist Party
- 1922–1933ECCI member and Presidium; anti-imperialist and anti-war congresses