November 23-25, 2025
The Democratic Youth League of Japan (DYLJ) held its 49th National Congress in Shizuoka’s Atami City on November 22-24.
DYLJ Chair Nishikawa Ryuhei reported that with 3,736 new members joining the DYLJ in the past year, its membership now numbers 8,000, up 1,600 from the last National Congress. As a goal for the next one year, he proposed to attract more than 4,000 new members to the DYLJ and to build a stronger organization with the actual membership of 10,000.
On the second day of the congress, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira delivered a speech in solidarity.
Koike raised the issue of “young people and students struggling financially.” As a major factor, he cited Japan’s excessively high university tuition fees, and said that in the background behind this lies cuts in government spending for universities. He pointed out, “What the government should do is to stop increasing the military budget at the United States’ behest and instead spend more for the youth and students who carry the future.”
Koike also referred to Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s instruction to begin discussions on the deregulation of working time.
He criticized PM Takaichi for issuing the instruction in line with the business circle’s desire to further exploit workers, and said, “The need is to put an end to the government dancing to the tune of the financial circles and large corporations all the time. It is also needed to work to realize higher wages and more free time for workers.”
The congress elected a new leadership, and re-elected Nishikawa as DYLJ Chair.
Past related article:
> Koike demands that PM Takaichi work for shorter working hours and wage hikes, not for deregulation of working hours [November 14, 2025]
DYLJ Chair Nishikawa Ryuhei reported that with 3,736 new members joining the DYLJ in the past year, its membership now numbers 8,000, up 1,600 from the last National Congress. As a goal for the next one year, he proposed to attract more than 4,000 new members to the DYLJ and to build a stronger organization with the actual membership of 10,000.
On the second day of the congress, Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Koike Akira delivered a speech in solidarity.
Koike raised the issue of “young people and students struggling financially.” As a major factor, he cited Japan’s excessively high university tuition fees, and said that in the background behind this lies cuts in government spending for universities. He pointed out, “What the government should do is to stop increasing the military budget at the United States’ behest and instead spend more for the youth and students who carry the future.”
Koike also referred to Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s instruction to begin discussions on the deregulation of working time.
He criticized PM Takaichi for issuing the instruction in line with the business circle’s desire to further exploit workers, and said, “The need is to put an end to the government dancing to the tune of the financial circles and large corporations all the time. It is also needed to work to realize higher wages and more free time for workers.”
The congress elected a new leadership, and re-elected Nishikawa as DYLJ Chair.
Past related article:
> Koike demands that PM Takaichi work for shorter working hours and wage hikes, not for deregulation of working hours [November 14, 2025]
