Violence, Free Speech, and the State in Post-1960 Japan
Fri Jun 10 2022 4:30PM – 6:00PM
Event Description:
This talk examines the impact of the massive 1960 protests in Japan against the US-Japan security treaty on Japanese society. Although the protests ultimately failed to prevent passage of a revised version of the treaty, they did grow to become the largest popular protests in Japanese history and brought about the downfall of Japan’s conservative government. Although the protests had some positive outcomes, in this talk I will focus on the ways—both obvious and more subtle—that freedom of expression came to be increasingly constrained in the aftermath of the protest movement. In particular, I will examine the impact of the protests on the Japanese media, pending Supreme Court cases on freedom of assembly, policing tactics and strategy, and the reemergence of right-wing ultranationalism and rightist violence.