J apan, Student Movements

Abstract

As in most of the world, the 1960s marked a period of intense social struggle and resistance in Japan. By 1968 the New Left student movements were in a period of ascendancy, having instigated and maintained long periods of sometimes violent struggle in the universities, communities, and on the streets. While the student movements of the 1960s commenced in reaction to the Japan‐US Joint Security (ANPO) Treaty and widespread anti‐Vietnam War and anti‐US imperialism sentiment, by 1968 students in Japan had long since begun to challenge the university system itself – not just its leadership, but the ideological premises on which the university system was structured and its relation to the capitalist state and elitist hierarchies. Further, the student movements, particularly the Zenkyoto movement, were instrumental in challenging what many considered to be a myth of economic growth and social ascendancy, as well as monolithic notions of development. Animated by massive campus revolts, violent street fights, and seemingly unwavering militancy, increasing numbers joined the student movements and the wider New Left movements.