Tag Archives: Student movement

Police arrest two Zengakuren activists for entering university campus in Tokyo to distribute political materials

Posted on Nov 6, 2018 by William Andrews

Tokyo Metropolitan Police officers arrested two activists from the left-wing student group Zengakuren on 4 November on suspicion of entering a university campus to distribute political publications without permission. The activists were nabbed in central Tokyo as they made their … Continue reading →

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Changing of the guard for Zengakuren as University of Tokyo student activist becomes chair

Posted on Oct 8, 2018 by William Andrews

It was the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, as Ikuma Saitō handed over the reigns of the left-wing student activist group Zengakuren to Kyōhei Takahara in early September at the 79th Zengakuren National Congress. … Continue reading →

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Zengakuren reaches milestone (and new viewers) with tongue-in-cheek and self-aware political YouTube video series

Posted on Jun 17, 2018 by William Andrews

Zengakuren is not only an organisation of left-wing student activists; it is also a group of YouTubers. Perhaps the most unlikely Japanese Internet hit of recent months, Zenshin Channel is named after the main newspaper of the Zengakuren parent organisation, … Continue reading →

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New academic year begins with student activists and Hōsei University staff clashing at campus entrance

Posted on Apr 15, 2018 by William Andrews

In Japan, April is far from the cruellest month and perhaps rather the most optimistic, not least because it heralds the cherry blossom and the start of the new fiscal and academic year. I recently had the somewhat unnerving experience … Continue reading →

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Kyoto University students protest closure of Yoshida Dormitory and restrictions on campus signboards

Posted on Feb 16, 2018 by William Andrews

When Kyoto University announced on 19 December 2017 that the famously ramshackle Yoshida Dormitory could no longer accept tenants and that current occupants must vacate the facility by the end of September 2018, it raised many eyebrows among nostalgists who … Continue reading →

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