Episode 569 – The Revolutionary, Part 4

March 14, 2025 Leave a comment

This week: Miyazaki Manabu goes from the Sodai struggle at Waseda to an active participant in the violent clashes of the late 1960s student movement, as a part of the “action corps” of the Communist Party. We’ll take an up close and personal look to see: what was it like to be a radical student in the 1960s?

Sources

Andrews, William. Dissenting Japan: A History of Japanese Radicalism and Counterculture from 1945 to Fukushima.

Miyazaki, Manabu. Toppamono: Outlaw,, Radical, Suspect. My Life in Japan’s Underworld. Trans. Robert Whiting.

Images

Student radicals during the Todai struggle. You can see the “gewaruto bo” piled up in the front of the frame.
Another photo of the library battle.
A photo of the clash over the library of Tokyo University in November, 1968, where Miyazaki directed the communist “troops.”
Armed students occupying a building on the Tokyo University Hongo campus. Unfortunately, I can’t read the signs well enough to see which faction.
One of the odd stories I didn’t have time for: Mishima Yukio actually went to Tokyo University during the occupation to have what turned out to be a pretty respectful debate with the students! Here’s a photo from the discussion.

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