Student Movement in Japan

2022年11月04日

第二次世界大戦後の経済の疲弊から復活した頃です。食べることにも困らなくなった学生たちが、なぜ働くのか、この国家体制は正しいのかを考え出した。今から約50年前、学生運動が盛んだったのは1960年から1970年です。学生運動から始まって、新左翼派と呼ばれる国際的過激、テロリスト集団、日本赤軍が結成された頃です。日本で最初に起きた学生運動は、大正デモクラシーがそれに相当します。大正時代は、もう100年位前の話です。大正デモクラシーは、明治時代を過ぎて、先進工業国化していった日本で国民の中で自然と発生してきました。(English) It was a time when the economy was recovering from the exhaustion of the post-World War II economy. Students, who no longer had to worry about eating, began to think about why they worked and whether this national system was exemplary. About 50 years ago the student movement was active from 1960 to 1970. It was when the international radical and terrorist group called the New Leftists and the Japanese Red Army were formed, starting from the student movement. The first student movement in Japan was the equivalent of the Taisho Democracy. The Taisho era is now about 100 years old. The Taisho democracy arose spontaneously among the people in Japan, which had become an advanced industrialized country after the Meiji Era.

Student Movement in Japan

Meiji period (1868-1912)

Taisho period (1912-1926)

Showa period (1926-1989)

Meiji Restoration: 1868-1889

The Meiji Restoration was a modernization reform that overthrew the shogunate system in Japan, formed a centralized, unified state with the emperor at the top, and shifted from a feudal society to a capitalist society.

Taisho Democracy: 1910-1920

In Japan, it is a general term for developing democratic principles, liberal movements, and trends in politics, society, and culture.

It was a time of recovery from economic exhaustion after World War II.

Students, who no longer had to worry about eating, began to think about why they worked and whether this national system was exemplary.

About 50 years ago the student movement was active from 1960 to 1970.

This was when the international radical and terrorist group known as the New Leftists, the Japanese Red Army, was formed, starting with the student movement.

The Taisho Democracy was the equivalent of the first student movement in Japan.

The Taisho era is now about 100 years old.

The Taisho democracy arose spontaneously among the people in Japan, which had become an advanced industrialized country after the Meiji Era.

We want women to have the right to vote.

We want to speak our thoughts freely.

We want to hold meetings freely.

We want to stop the overseas deployment of troops, like the Russo-Japanese War, which is a heavy burden on the Japanese people.

We want to create a society where men and women are equal.

These are the kinds of movements that demand freedom and equality.

After all, it seems that when people become somewhat economically stable, they are more likely to generate a desire for a better society.

The student movement that arose in the Taisho Democracy was followed by the control of speech by the Security Law for the war effort.

By the time the country entered World War II, it was completely dismantled.

Then, on August 15, 1945, the war ended.

Japan would rise from the burnt ruins.

After World War II, the student movement would soon come back to life.

However, its thinking was dominated by communism, not democracy or liberalism.

There are various theories about why the student movement of the time leaned toward communism.

But in fact, Japan was originally a country with strong communist ideas.

Of course, Japan is a democratic country with a national system.

Everyone has to be together.

The stakes are high.

"Those who do wrong are ostracized and bullied."

The underlying idea is that "we should all be together."

"Let's all be rich together."

This communistic way of thinking holds up the ideal of "together."

Confucianism was widespread not only in Japan but also in the Asian region.

The Asian bloc initially tends to have a strong tendency toward such ideas as "the village is important," "the country is important," and "group peace is more important than the individual."

*What is Confucianism?

It is a system of thought developed by Chinese instructors.

It has influenced East Asia for over 2000 years.

It teaches the importance of civility and consideration for others.

The ideology of "let's serve others" gradually changed to "the individual should sacrifice for the good of all."

It may have been convenient for rulers to control the people.

The idea that "the village is important" and "the group is more important than the individual" is not the idea of individualism (liberalism).

Liberalism, on the contrary, is individualism.

"One can do whatever one wants if it doesn't bother others."

If a competent person becomes wealthy alone in this context, it is individual freedom as long as they are not doing anything illegal.

But in Japan, some people have that kind of money and people who want to be "all together" with "the stakes" being "the same."

10)

There, after World War II, individualism and liberalism were imposed by the US.

There must have been something inevitably repulsive to the students at that time regarding their sensibilities.

Even now, it is doubtful whether the idea of individualism has fully penetrated Japan.

11)

In the U.S., where individualism is the norm, people feel a sense of respect for those who have succeeded in some business venture and become rich, saying "how talented" and "how smart" they are.

In Japan, rather than feeling respect for the talent of a successful person, some people are cynical, hope that they will fall someday, and plan to beat them when they have the opportunity.

It means that communism or the old-fashioned way of thinking that "everyone must be the same" remains.

12)

Understandably, people at the time were confused when individualism and liberalism were suddenly imposed on them.

Those who were in the student movement may have leaned toward communism in reaction to the individualism from the U.S.

13)

However, within that student movement, a group called the New Left faction was created, a group that was willing to use violence to bring about a communist revolution.

One faction of this new leftist faction was the Japanese Red Army, of which Fusako Shigenobu, who was released this time, was a top leader.

It is said that many of these young people had a strong sense of justice as well as communist views.

14)

For example, students in the student movement often argued against the Vietnam War.

Vietnam war was a civil war in Vietnam that lasted 20 years, starting in 1955.

It was a war fought between communist North Vietnam and capitalist South Vietnam.

15)

Those were the days of the Cold War, with the Soviet Union and the United States at the center.

Both the Soviet and American sides wanted as many allies as possible.

Therefore, the Soviet Union supported North Vietnam, and the U.S. helped South Vietnam.

As a result, North Vietnam won, and Vietnam became a communist country.

16)

The student activists opposed the war because they thought it was not a good idea for the U.S., which had nothing to do with the war, to get involved in Vietnam's civil war and intensify it.

The more outside countries get involved, the more weapons are supplied and the more casualties there will be.

Moreover, the U.S. military directly participated in the Vietnam War, and the anti-war movement in the U.S. was intense.

17)

Japan was in the American camp, so the prime minister then visited South Vietnam and expressed his support for the U.S. and South Vietnam.

Students in the student movement, who believed that war was not a good idea, were very much against it.

18)

Others thought they opposed the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty that was concluded with the U.S. at that time.

Some thought that it was wrong to continue to follow the U.S., which had been an enemy of the war not long before.

Besides, the Security Treaty was a treaty in which both the U.S. and Japan would cooperate in the event of an attack by another country.

Japan will have to go to war if the U.S. starts a war.

Those who were against the war also opposed the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.

19)

Only 20 years have passed since World War II.

The people had fresh memories of the war.

It must have occurred to the people that there would never be another war.

20)

Also, with the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, U.S. military bases will continue to exist in Japan.

The law that military personnel on those U.S. bases would not be charged with crimes in Japan was also criticized.

In addition, the LDP, which has the majority in the Diet, forced the Diet to adopt the law amidst various objections.

This also led to protests as to where democracy had gone.

21)

It is also said, perhaps indirectly, that what happened in neighboring China also influenced the students in the student movement.

In 1959, Mao Zedong, who had been ousted once before, was back in power and promoting China's communication.

Moreover, he was stirring up the radicals at that time by saying, "there are no rebels without reasons."

22)

When I say "there are no rebels without reasons," I mean that those who campaign against the government have their reasons for doing so.

It was a self-justifying excuse for the extremists to resort to violence.

Of course, no matter what the reason, committing violence or killing people is never a good idea.

23)

Moreover, this Mao Zedong is also suspected as a leader since he killed hundreds of Chinese people if we look back at history later.

China then had a movement to deny and destroy all the traditional things of the past by saying, "There are no rebels without reasons."

Upon learning of this, those involved in the student movement may have thought, "Let's have a similar revolution in Japan, just as we did in China."

24)

Moreover, the students seemed to think, "If we keep raising a small fire, it will eventually become a big fire, and we will be able to start a revolution."

Of course, when the radicals were gradually cornered, they seemed to despair, "Were we the only ones who wanted to start a revolution?" They appeared to be dismayed.

A young man with a strong sense of justice thought everyone else must have felt the same way.

25)

And as the student movement became more and more radicalized, even radicals who were not college students but were not involved in the student movement began to join the student movement.

Many student movements were radicalized.

For example, in 1967, 2,500 students gathered at the airport to oppose the then-prime minister's visit to South Vietnam.

They clashed with riot police at the airport and engaged in a massive brawl equipped with helmets and horns.

26)

At the time, images of clashes between riot police and students were frequently seen.

In another incident, the aircraft carrier Enterprise, deployed in the Vietnam War, made a port call at the port of Sasebo.

Students who opposed it gathered at the port of Sasebo from all over Japan and clashed with riot police.

The University of Tokyo also experienced the famous Yasuda Auditorium stand-in incident in 1969.

27)

The student movement spread across the country at more than 100 universities.

There was no end to the number of incidents.

Moreover, it was still enough to express one's opinion or march with a placard.

In those days, people threw rocks at riot police, Molotov cocktails, and even sulfuric acid bottles.

28)

Molotov cocktails and sulfuric acid burned many riot police.

A student threw a chunk of concrete from the top of a building, and a police officer died when the piece hit him in the head.

At first, the student movement had good reasons, such as opposition to the war.

But as it became more radical, it lost support from the public.

In fact, of the 768 people arrested in the Yasuda Auditorium stand-in incident at the University of Tokyo that I mentioned earlier, only 38 were students from the University of Tokyo.

Many of them were student activists from all over the country.

There is no doubt that there were radicals among them.

29)

As the movement became more radical, ordinary students left, saying, "Something is different."

Only those with the radical view that "violence is acceptable for the sake of justice" remained."

The New Leftists were born out of this student movement.

They are known as the Japanese Red Army, the United Red Army, and the New Revolutionary Faction, which repeatedly committed terrorist acts in Japan and abroad.

30)

Fusako Shigenobu, released from prison in May 2022, wrote in her memoirs.

She wrote in her memoirs, "I had reached a dead end in my activities and had come to think that it would be okay to commit violence."

"The peaceful student movement, up to now, has not been able to change anything."

"So, if this happened, my mind may have been driven to the point where I was willing to revolutionize with violence."

31)

I hope this article will allow you to think about why the student movement was so active in Japan, along with the historical background of the time.

Nevertheless, criminal acts such as violence, threats of taking hostages, and standoffs are unacceptable.

I want to conclude by emphasizing once again that if crime and violence are used as a means, even the most correct ideas become just terrorism.