Last month, for the first time in 16 years, the Japanese Communist Party met to revise its basic political program. Part of the reason was that the party hopes a change of rhetoric, at least, will make it easier to form an opposition coalition to challenge the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition in the next general election.
But with media polls showing the JCP with weak support nationally, and given recent losses locally by the JCP and opposition-backed candidates, there is something of a "communist allergy" overshadowing the formal coalition talks.
Here are some questions about the JCP's quest to unify Japan's shattered opposition parties.