Gendai No Riron

Gendai no Riron (現代の理論, "Contemporary Theory") is a Japanese left-wing general-interest journal of theoretical and political writing. It was first launched in May 1959 by Ōtsuki Shoten and is regarded as a journal of the structural-reform (kōzō kaikaku) tendency within the postwar Japanese left. The first series was short-lived, ceasing publication after only five issues in September 1959 under pressure from the leadership of the Japanese Communist Party. A second series began in January 1964 under Gendai no Riron Sha and ran for more than two decades, mostly as a monthly, until it suspended publication in December 1989. A third series appeared in 2004 as a quarterly, edited by the Gendai no Riron Editorial Committee and initially published with the Genron NPO and distributed by Akashi Shoten, but it ended in 2012 after 30 issues. Since 2014 the journal has continued as a digital quarterly, and the editorial committee has also been involved in a prolonged legal dispute over the title with a rival print publication that was ordered to change its name in 2024. The journal's editorial stance is explicitly oppositional. Its stated aim is to revive theoretical thinking based on genuine intellect and to regenerate the ideas and theories of social change, opposing what it describes as the spread of right-wing discourse, nationalism, and scandal-driven mass media. It seeks to serve as a "public space for discourse" in which diverse theories and ideas can interact. Over its history it has published writing on peaceful coexistence, state-monopoly capitalism, critiques of Stalinism, Marx studies, environmental questions, civil society, Eurocommunism, and practical movements such as labor, anti-nuclear, and student activism. The publication is not a commercial mass-market magazine but a small, movement-linked journal with a committed readership. Its editorial committee has been the continuous editorial body across the third and fourth series, and the digital edition is published directly by the committee. The journal's history is often described as a witness to half a century of theoretical and intellectual debate in Japan.

The history of Gendai no Riron is usually divided into four series. The first series was launched in May 1959 by Ōtsuki Shoten. Its opening essay was written by Satō Noboru, with contributions from Fuwa Tetsuzō, Imai Noriyoshi, Taguchi Fukuji, Hidaka Rokurō and others. It was seen as a journal of the structural-reform faction and was subjected to pressure from the leadership of the Japanese Communist Party; it ceased publication after its fifth issue in September 1959. The background lay in the postwar debates within the Japanese Communist Party, shaken by the 1956 criticism of Stalin and by the programmatic disputes of the late 1950s and early 1960s over whether the immediate revolution in Japan was socialist or a two-stage national-democratic then socialist revolution. The second series was founded in January 1964 by Gendai no Riron Sha. In its inaugural editorial note it declared that the revival was not a mere restoration but a rebirth at the present moment of 1964, explicitly stating its inheritance from the first series. Centered on figures such as Ikumi Takuichi, Nagasu Kazuji, Satō Noboru and Andō Nihei, it gathered a wide range of contributors. It addressed peaceful coexistence under the Cold War, state-monopoly capitalism as an analysis of Japanese capitalism, criticism of Stalinism, Marx studies, environmental theory, civil society theory, and the introduction of Eurocommunism. It devoted many pages to practical movements including labor, the anti-nuclear movement, and the student movement, and at times serialized fiction such as that of Shibata Shō. Except for a four-and-a-half-year quarterly period, it was published monthly for more than twenty years until it suspended publication in December 1989. The suspension notice in issue 268 cited declining circulation and financial difficulties. The third series was prompted by Okinoura Kazumitsu, a central figure of the second series, who at a reunion-like gathering urged former members of the Zenkyōtō generation to revive Gendai no Riron. People who had some connection to the journal discussed the matter and decided to publish again. A quarterly, it produced a preparatory issue in June 2004 and a first issue in October 2004. The editorial body was the Gendai no Riron Editorial Committee; the publisher was the Genron NPO / Gendai no Riron, and bookstore sales were entrusted to Akashi Shoten. From July 2007, with issue 12, Akashi Shoten became the publisher for financial reasons, but financial difficulties persisted and Akashi Shoten withdrew from management; the journal ended with issue 30 (spring 2012), published on 20 April 2012. The fourth series emerged from a split within the editorial body over the transfer of publishing to Akashi Shoten and the circumstances of the termination. One side launched a web quarterly, Gendai no Riron, on 1 May 2014, published by the Gendai no Riron Editorial Committee. The other side, which had been publishing FORUM OPINION since February 2008, renamed it from the summer 2016 issue as a print quarterly Gendai no Riron, published by the specified non-profit NPO Gendai no Riron / Social Forum and sold by Dōjidai Sha. A civil lawsuit was fought between the two over the journal title. Both the web and print versions claimed to inherit the first through third series and published under the name Gendai no Riron, but in July 2024 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff (the web edition's Gendai no Riron Editorial Committee), dismissing the appeal, and the defendant side (the print edition, NPO Gendai no Riron / Social Forum) announced that from the autumn 2024 issue it would change the print title to Genron Kūkan. The digital quarterly continues to be published by the editorial committee, with issue 45 released on 11 May 2026.

• First series of Gendai no Riron launched by Ōtsuki Shoten.

• First series ceased publication after issue 5 under pressure from the JCP leadership.

• Second series founded by Gendai no Riron Sha.

• Second series suspended publication with issue 268, citing declining circulation.

• Third series preparatory issue published.

• Third series first issue published as a quarterly.

• Akashi Shoten became publisher from issue 12 for financial reasons.

• Third series ended with issue 30 (spring 2012).

• Fourth series digital quarterly launched by the Gendai no Riron Editorial Committee.

• Rival print publication renamed FORUM OPINION to Gendai no Riron.

• Supreme Court ruled in favor of the online edition's editorial committee in the title dispute.

• Rival print publication announced title change to Genron Kūkan.

• Issue 45 of the digital quarterly published.

Left-wing theoretical and opinion journal; a public space for discourse aiming to revive critical theory and the ideas of social change.

• Gendai no Riron (quarterly journal)

  The main publication, issued as a digital quarterly by the editorial committee.

• Special issue: Series 'People Who Resist'

  A special issue published on 1 January 2023.

• Supplementary online articles

  Additional articles published online between regular issues, such as emergency contributions and statements.

1. 1季刊・現代の理論gendainoriron.jp
2. 2現代の理論とは ｜ 季刊・現代の理論gendainoriron.jp
3. 3現代の理論 - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org
4. 4Gendai No Rironsha - Wikidatawikidata.org