Letter from Tokyo

Japan’s Campus Turmoil

Japan’s student rebellion, like ours, is led by leftists opposed to American “militarist” positions in Asia and to traditional social and educational practices and institutions. The complexity of the problem, which in 1968-69 involved over a hundred colleges in violent disruption, is suggested by a somewhat baroque—or medieval —incident at Kyoto University. The administration there armed Communist students to enable them to confront the “radicals” (considered more leftist than the Reds). Sieges and countersieges ensued, with the various leftist factions (there are six) and the administration barricading each other in bewildering alternation.

DB

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David Brudnoy

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Japan’s Campus Turmoil

Japan’s student rebellion, like ours, is led by leftists opposed to American “militarist” positions in Asia and to traditional social and educational practices and institutions. The complexity of the problem, which in 1968-69 involved over a hundred colleges in violent disruption, is suggested by a somewhat baroque—or medieval —incident at Kyoto University. The administration there armed Communist students to enable them to confront the “radicals” (considered more leftist than the Reds). Sieges and countersieges ensued, with the various leftist factions (there are six) and the administration barricading each other in bewildering alternation.