Tag Archives: Narita Airport protest

Nighttime land seizure at Narita Airport sparks fierce protests and memories of the past

Posted on Feb 16, 2023 by William Andrews

On the night of 15 February, a patch of land near one of the runways at Narita Airport was filled with the ranks of riot police facing off against an angry crowd of dozens of residents and activists. With the … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Ghosts of militant Sanrizuka movement resurrected with unexploded shell found at Narita Airport

Posted on Sep 14, 2018 by William Andrews

The Narita Airport protest movement, or the Sanrizuka struggle, is probably the longest social movement in Japan. Many believe it is consigned to the past, an iconic yet extinguished part of the radical militancy of the 1970s. That is wrong. … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in News | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Veteran Narita Airport protest leader Kōji Kitahara dies, aged 95

Posted on Aug 9, 2017 by William Andrews

Kōji Kitahara, the Narita Airport protest leader, has died, aged 95. He passed away in the afternoon of August 9th in a hospital in Tomisato, Chiba. A farmer and landowner, Kitahara was the official head of the Sanrizuka-Shibayama United Opposition … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Iconic Sanrizuka protest movement “solidarity hut” removed from Narita Airport

Posted on Jun 7, 2017 by William Andrews

If you are lucky, as your plane touches down you may be able to catch a glimpse from your window of a large homemade sign declaring, in Japanese, “Against Narita Airport”. Omotenashi indeed. The protest movement against Narita Airport is … Continue reading →

Posted in News | Tagged , | 2 Comments