BY MARK FRIEDMAN
HIROSHIMA, Japan - As our delegation of socialist
workers and young socialists flew here from Los Angeles for
the 50th anniversary commemorations of the atom bombings of
Japan, flight attendants on the plane talked with us about
the trip. One flight attendant said she was studying about
Cuba and had just bought a number of books at the Harvard
University bookstore. She showed us two Pathfinder titles,
How Far We Slaves Have Come! by Fidel Castro and Nelson
Mandela and Cuba for Beginners by Rius. She then bought a
copy of the Militant to add to her reading materials.
Once our team got to Japan we were able to set up Pathfinder displays at several conferences and rallies in the week leading up to and during the August 6 international commemorative actions.
The response to Pathfinder books reflected the political discussions taking place among antiwar activists in Japan and other countries. More than $1,000 of literature was sold, including more than 40 Pathfinder catalogs. Young people and students were the most interested, whether they hailed from Japan, Russia, Germany, or the Dominican Republic.
eiko, a research assistant at Hiroshima University who is studying women in the labor movement, including in the United States, purchased The Struggle for Socialism in the "American Century" by James P. Cannon, Teamster Rebellion by Farrell Dobbs, and several other books. She took an extra catalog for her library and promised to help get Pathfinder books ordered there.
Anton, a young Russian antinuclear activist, spent hours at the table talking with Young Socialists member Jean Tuomey and members of the Socialist Workers Party. Since high school he has been active in the fight against radioactive contamination of the Altai region, resulting from years of atmospheric and underground nuclear tests. Although he said he was short on funds, Anton bought Lenin's Final Fight and New International no. 10 featuring the article "Imperialism's March toward Fascism and War." He also bought copies of The History of the Russian Revolution and The Revolution Betrayed by Leon Trotsky. The activist said he needed to "learn more about politics and real Marxism and socialism."
Young Japanese women were particularly interested in Pathfinder titles like Problems of Women's Liberation by Evelyn Reed and Women's Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle by Thomas Sankara.
There were a few trade unionists at the conferences. Kenji had been part of his teachers union delegation to a recent May Day march in Havana. He started with a Militant and a Pathfinder catalog, but came back several times to talk about Cuba and the international crisis of capitalism. Later he bought several Pathfinder titles on the Cuban revolution.
One young Dominican who is temporarily living in Japan was part of the Fellowship of Reconciliation delegation from the United States. He was surprised to see a table with revolutionary literature and bought a number of books about the Cuban revolution. His friend, a Japanese youth who had studied Spanish in Honduras, bought a subscription to Perspectiva Mundial and a catalog. A young Cuban studying mathematics in Japan was also excited to meet us and see our literature. Members of other international delegations from Germany, Australia, New Zealand, India, Britain, and elsewhere purchased books.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the deepening crisis of Stalinism worldwide, there was interest in the books by Marx and Lenin printed by Pathfinder. Three copies of Lenin's Final Fight were sold, including one to the head of the Communist Party's youth group, Democratic Youth, at Tokyo University.
A couple of copies of Why is Mark Curtis Still in Prison? were sold, and scores of conference participants received brochures about the defense case. Several activists plan to send letters urging parole for Curtis.
The Pathfinder table was a center of political discussion and debate at the various conferences and actions. Protectionism, the economic situation facing workers in Japan and the United States, the fight for women's equality, and the escalating war threats by the U.S. government and other imperialist powers were among the topics discussed. Debates on strategy for the antinuclear movement that were part of the plenaries and workshops often continued at the Pathfinder table.
Pathfinder sales representatives visited the International Peace Library at the Peace Memorial Park, as well as a couple of the major bookstore chains. Contact was made as well with the Hiroshima University Library. A number of students plan to help distribute Pathfinder titles to their libraries and local bookstores. In a gesture of solidarity, Pathfinder representatives contributed a copy of Out Now!: A Participant's Account of the Movement in the United States against the Vietnam War by Fred Halstead to the International Peace Library for their collection of international titles.