New Left in Japan

[7] These developments led directly to the formation in 1957 of the Trotskyist Revolutionary Communist League (abbreviated Kakukyōdō in Japanese) by dissident student activists breaking free from the JCP, under the guidance of the charismatic half-blind philosopher Kan'ichi Kuroda.[11] The radical student activists were undeterred however, and in January 1960, organized a sit-in in Tokyo's Haneda Airport to try to physically block Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi from traveling to Washington, D.C. to sign the new treaty.[13] This time, however, they were met by hundreds of police armed with truncheons, who attempted to force them back out, precipitating a bloody struggle that lasted for many hours, long into the night.[15] The first open splits within Zengakuren occurred in the immediate aftermath, and thereafter the previously unified nationwide student federation rapidly disintegrated into numerous warring factions, paving the way for the rise of the radical New Left "sects" (sekuto) that would play a leading role in the 1968–69 Japanese university protests.[27] The New Left activists of 1968-1969 drew ideological inspiration from the works of Marxist theorists like Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky, French existentialist philosophers like Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, and the homegrown philosophy of the Japanese poet and critic Takaaki Yoshimoto.In 1969, the passage of the Act on Temporary Measures concerning University Management gave police the legal basis to smash through the barricades, enter campuses, and restore order, dealing a harsh blow to the New Left movement.[30] Together the twin defeats of the campus struggles in 1969 and the Anpo protests in 1970 led to a renewed round of recriminations and schisms, as New Left groups further split into dozens of warring factions amidst even more violent internal conflict.[30] The Japanese Red Army decamped to the Middle East and promptly embarked on a campaign of international terrorism that lasted well into the 1980s, beginning with the Lod Airport Massacre in 1972.[32] Together the Asama Mountain Lodge Incident and the Lod Airport Massacre have often been portrayed as an end point of Japan's New Left movement, as these extreme actions shocked the Japanese people and led to mass desertions from the remaining sects.
Zengakuren protestors in Tokyo, 1968
A scrum at the rostrum of the National Diet, as Japan Socialist Party Diet members attempt to prevent Speaker of the Lower House Ichirō Kiyose from calling for a vote on extending the Diet Session, while being restrained by police officers, May 19, 1960
leftistNew LeftJapanese Communist PartyJapan Socialist Party1960 Anpo protestsU.S.-Japan Security TreatyZenkyōtōbarricaded dozens of Japanese universities in 1968–1969terrorismZengakurenJapan Communist PartyJoseph Stalincommunist revolutionmountain village guerrilla squadsNikita KhrushchevStalinismOn the Cult of Personality and Its ConsequencesSecret SpeechHungarian RevolutionRevolutionary Communist LeagueKan'ichi KurodaCommunist LeagueAnpo protestsIchirō KiyoseNational DietNobusuke KishiMichiko KanbaDwight D. Eisenhower1968–69 Japanese university protestsShōjirō KasugaJapan Revolutionary Communist League, National Committee (Middle Core Faction)Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist Faction)Liberation FactionLuxemburgismBeheirenwar in VietnamShunsuke TsurumiCitizen's League for Peace in VietnamMitsuko TokoroAll-Campus Joint Struggle Committees1968–1969 Japanese university protestsworldwide protest cycle in 1968Shinjuku StationShinjuku riotMarxistKarl MarxLeon TrotskyJean-Paul SartreAlbert CamusTakaaki YoshimotoMasao Maruyamaself-negationself-criticismAct on Temporary Measures concerning University Management1970 Anpo protests1968-1969 university protestsEisaku SatōRed Army FactionJapan Airlines Flight 351Japanese Red ArmyShigenobu FusakoUnited Red ArmyTsuneo MoriHiroko NagataLod Airport MassacreAsama Mountain Lodge IncidentSanrizuka StruggleNarita AirportThe American Historical ReviewHarvard University PressRoutledgeFolk guerrilla concertsAsama-Sansō incidentBombing of the Soji-ji OssuaryBombing of the Fusetsu no Gunzo and Institute of Northern CulturesJapan Airlines Flight 4041974 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries bombing1974 French Embassy attack in The Hague1975 AIA building hostage crisisJapan Airlines Flight 472Makoto OdaRyū ŌtaFusako ShigenobuTakaya ShiomiMitsu TanakaEast Asia Anti-Japan Armed FrontJapan Socialist Youth League, Liberation FactionBeheiren (Citizen's League for Peace in Vietnam)Communist League (Japan)Japan Revolutionary Communist LeagueJapan Revolutionary Communist League, National Committee (Central Core Faction)Ainu Revolution TheoryAnti-imperialismAnti-JapaneseismMaoismPacifismTrotskyismAnti-AmericanismAnti-Stalinist leftOpposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam WarNight and Fog in JapanEcstasy of the AngelsChildren of the RevolutionHear the Wind SingNorwegian Wood