Sōsenkyo no jittai [Facts on the general election] . Ed. by Rōyama Masamichi, Ukai Nobunari, Tsuji Kiyoaki, Kawahara Jikichirō, and Nakamura Kikuo. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1955. 9 + 207. 300 yen.

fallaciousness has been proved by the fact that the occupation-sponsored land reform has done away with the old landlord-tenant relationships without making the peasants into a democratic bourgeoisie. Furthermore, Ito points out that in the postwar period it is the Labor-Farmer Faction whose position has been systematized, particularly by Ouchi Tsutomu, professor at Tokyo University, who has formulated the theoretical position on which the Left Socialists have modeled their agrarian program. The communist position, on the other hand, Ito explains with very specific examples, has been breaking up from within during the postwar period, particularly over the question of whether land reform has brought about a fundamental change or whether feudalistic relationships still survive in a new form. The Left Socialist position on this question is amplified in Takeuchi Takeshi's chapter on the agrarian movement. That the Labor-Farmer Faction's stand itself is not completely unified, however, may be seen by comparing chapters where different authors recount the same events. Especially clear examples may be found in Takasawa Torao's chapter, the only one not mentioned so far, on combatting conciliationism. Perhaps because of his emphasis on the struggle against the right wing instead of against the left, Takasawa evaluates the campaign for the abortive February 1, 1947 general strike as a great one and gives the Socialists credit for leading it (p. 225), whereas Yokoyama does not attempt to make an evaluation of it one way or the other (pp. 74-75) and Nonaka claims (with greater truth) that it was led by the Communists and then blames them for what he considers a tactical blunder, harmful to the interests of labor in Japan (pp. 116-119). This and other instances of contradictory opinion and interpretation, however, only make this book more representative, for the Japanese Socialists are not only deeply split into the so-called right and left even within the reunited party but are also fragmented into smaller fractions within each wing and faction. Being the viewpoint of one faction, even though not entirely unified, this book is without doubt a calculated attempt to support and influence the whole socialist movement and for this purpose it has slanted history so as to place the limelight on those who became the leaders of the Left Socialists. Even if they were unimportant members of some organization in the past, their names are singled out for mention while more important persons and antagonists are omitted. Thus, while in no sense a scholarly, accurate, or thorough history of the socialist movement in Japan, this book can serve as a reference for the basic outlook of the Left Socialists on their own past and present and therefore can give more than just a hint as to their future course even in a reunited Socialist Party.