Tag Archives: Kakukyodo

The curious disappearance of Kōichi Kishi, leading activist in the Sanrizuka protests

Posted on Oct 29, 2017 by William Andrews

Speak no ill of the dead, as the philosophers say. Haruhiko Daishima’s documentary The Fall of Icarus: Narita Stories about the Sanrizuka protest movement against Narita Airport was released in September. I had rather mixed feelings about the predecessor, The … Continue reading →

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Zengakuren student activists continue fight against anti-conspiracy law ahead of expected crackdown

Posted on Jun 28, 2017 by William Andrews

The buzz in 2015 about SEALDs missed an important point about the student movement in Japan: you can praise its “revival” all you want — and there is a revival, as witnessed in post-SEALDs groups like T-nsSOWL, Aequitas, Public for … Continue reading →

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A Short History of Trotskyism in Japan

Posted on Mar 10, 2015 by William Andrews

“Trotskyist” is a word rarely heard in Japanese leftist circles these days and not so long ago it was commonly used as an insult. This was especially the case with the Japanese Communist Party (JCP), which employed the term to … Continue reading →

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Ghosts of the Radical Past in the Toshima and Shinjuku Landscape

Posted on Nov 2, 2014 by William Andrews

In The Move, playwright and novelist Minoru Betsuyaku, the Japanese Samuel Beckett, displayed his typical eye for the absurdity underlying the state of the nation. The play, which premiered in 1973, depicts an unnamed family constantly in motion, inexplicably forever … Continue reading →

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A Short History of Kakukyōdō (Japan Revolutionary Communist League) and its Schisms

Posted on Aug 10, 2014 by William Andrews

Any attempt to learn about the New Left or student movement in Japan immediately runs into trouble unless you can get your head around the complex skein of factions and their various genealogical branches. One major “family” in the pantheon … Continue reading →

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