Jōtarō Kawakami (河上 丈太郎; 3 January 1889 – 3 December 1965) was a Japanese politician, academic, lawyer and Christian socialist. Born in Tokyo to a devout Christian family, he studied law at Tokyo Imperial University, taught at Rikkyō University and Kwansei Gakuin University, and was drawn into the labour and socialist movements under the influence of Christian pacifists such as Toyohiko Kagawa. In the 1928 general election, the first held under universal male suffrage, he was elected to the House of Representatives as one of only eight members from a proletarian party (Japan Labour-Farmer Party). He served almost continuously until his death, interrupted only by the postwar occupation purge for his wartime association with the Imperial Rule Assistance Association. After the purge was lifted he became the first chairman of the Right Socialist Party of Japan (1952–1955). In his acceptance speech he declared that "the chairmanship is a cross to me" and that he would bear it until death, earning the enduring nickname "Crucifix Chairman" (十字架委員長). He played a leading role in the 1955 reunification of the Japan Socialist Party and later served as its chairman (1961–1965). A centrist within the party, he advocated democratic socialism, structural reform suited to Japan's high-growth economy, and an active peace movement. He survived a right-wing assassination attempt in 1960 and resigned the chairmanship in 1965 for health reasons; he died later that year with a Bible at his bedside.
Source: “Jōtarō Kawakami”, English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), excerpt