Kiyotomo Ishido, who introduced the works of Marx and Lenin to Japan through his translations, died Saturday of old age at his home in Kiyose in the suburbs of Tokyo, his family said. He was 97.
Ishido, a native of Ishikawa Prefecture, studied English literature at the forerunner of the University of Tokyo after reading Marxism in his high school days.
He joined the Japanese Communist Party in December 1927 after graduating earlier that year, but was arrested in the March 15 Incident the following year. About 1,600 people were apprehended that day on suspicion of being communists.
After being released on bail in 1930, Ishido worked as an editor and an intelligence agent for the South Manchuria Railway Co., a Japanese government-run organization that spearheaded the expansion of Tokyo's interests in northeastern China.
However, he was arrested again in 1943 in a purge against leftists in the railway company's intelligence section. He was released in 1944 after receiving a suspended term.
After World War II, Ishido worked as a translator and introduced to Japan the philosophy of Antonio Gramsci, founder of the Italian Communist Party.
He continued writing until his later years, producing books on history and socialism. His "The Meaning of the 20th Century" was published in July.
Only his close relatives are to attend the funeral. The chief mourner will be Susumu Kamefuchi, Ishido's nephew, the family said.