Crab Canning Ship

The Spring 2009 issue of Rebel Youth caries a special article on the youth struggle in Japan by RY writer Chevy Philips. The recent re-publication of 80-year-old novel Kani Kosen (Crab-canning Ship, by Marxist author Takiji Kobayashi) has received a great deal of press attention recently as this ‘proletarian novel’ of resistance has skyrocketed to the top of the Japanese bestseller lists. 

Kani Kosen tells the story of a group of crab fishermen trying to survive on poverty wages and their fight against this impoverishment.  It is a vivid portrayal of the worker's struggle.   The fact that its author (only 30 at the time) was tortured and killed for his communist beliefs by the fascist regime of the 1930s has struck a chord with young workers in modern Japan who are now facing a struggles reminiscent of three generations ago. According to Shinchosha, the publisher of the work, the book has been a real hit with those in the prime of their working lives, the 18-49 age group.

Here we present a rought translation of Chapter one of the novel.