Political Protest in Postwar Japan

Abstract

one exhibiting a consensus style of decision making, postwar era has revealed serious rents in political fabric.' Not only has Japanese left manifested its dissatisfaction with politics-as-usual in public arena by means of unconventional political tactics, but right-wing elements have also periodically made similar appearances in 1970s and thereafter. Especially politically aware Japanese student, in contrast to his prewar predecessors, has been particularly volatile and open in his dissent against mainstream status quo.2 Hence political protest phenomena have played an important recurrent role in contemporary Japanese life. Yet few empirical studies have systematically explored this salient dimension of Japanese politics.3 Of special interest are shifts in political protest phenomena across time.4 How have dissatisfied Japanese citizens changed in their numbers, instrumentality, tactics, issues, success, and like? Has political protest remained a predictable constant in all its relevant aspects across time, or has it displayed substantial variation from year to year? If such continuities and shifts can be empirically verified, what do they predict for future of Japanese politics? Protest demonstrations represent a useful barometer for measuring cleavages within a polity. Demonstrations the literature records as important conceptually . . . number among more frequently