ABSTRACT
The pressures of the "thought police," the emphasis on "dangerous thoughts," the government's push for total acceptance of a military driven public policy, the suppression of anti-imperialist speeches, the manipulation of nationalized unions and the male-dominated women's groups, all would appear to predict a totalitarian Japan. Suspicion of "dangerous thoughts," let alone a possible tie with the Communist Party USA, would be reason enough in the late thirties for an arrest. Kato Kanju expected his party to publicly oppose government policies, especially militarism, and to gain strength through cooperation with others who were left of center. Though dangerous, political activity was not illegal in 1936 as long as it did not include the illegal left, the Communist Party, and did not advocate "altering the kokutai" or "denying the system of private property," activities specified as illegal in the Peace Preservation Law of 1925.
