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| Radical left wing students protesting the construction of the New Tokyo International Airport, March 31, 1968. (Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images) |
In the 1960’s the decision was made that Japan needed a juggernaut of an airport, slated the largest public works project in Japanese history. The final site chosen lay over farming land in Chiba Prefecture, covering several agricultural areas. The most famous of these sites was to become the symbol of the protest movement to resist the airport: Sanrizuka.
But in its haste, the state overlooked the tenacity of the spurned farmers, who they assumed they could buy off without consulting before announcing the site. The farmers were mortified, as were local officials, who had likewise been sidelined by the state authorities. What erupted next was a gestated, bitter decade-long campaign to stop the airport being built.
The farmers joined together and engaged in legal obfuscations to stop the forcible purchase of land. But what really made an impact was how these motley country bumpkins were prepared to fight physically if needs be, and they were not alone. Sanrizuka became a cause célèbre that attracted the support of the student movement, then at its peak in Japan, and other New Left radical groups.
Sources:
Sanrizuka: The Struggle to Stop Narita Airport, by William Andrews. Throw Out Your Books. (Feb 11, 2014)
These intense pictures of Japanese anarchists rioting in the 1960s show chaos in the streets, by Rian Dundon, Timeline.com (Jun 29, 2017)
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