The , usually abbreviated Kaihо̄-ha ("Liberation Faction"), was a Japanese radical Marxist group active in the 1960s and 1970s as part of the

Japanese New Left The in Japan refers to a 1960s Japanese movement that adopted the radical political thought of the Western New Left, breaking from the established Old Left of the Japanese Communist Party and Japan Socialist Party. In the 1970s the Japanese New ...

. Kaihо̄-ha had a young workers wing and a student wing. Their student wing was called the "Anti-Imperialist Student Council" (反帝学生評議会, ''Hantei Gakusei Hyо̄gikai''). They wore blue helmets when engaging with hand-to-hand combat with other radical groups or the police. Kaihо̄-ha played a major role in several of the protest movements of the era, including the 1968-69 Japanese university protests and the

Sanrizuka Struggle The Sanrizuka Struggle (三里塚闘争, ''Sanrizuka tōsō'') refers to a civil conflict and riots involving the Japanese government and the agricultural community of Sanrizuka, comprising organised opposition by farmers, local residents, and ...

against the construction of

Narita Airport Narita International Airport ( ja, 成田国際空港, Narita Kokusai Kūkō) , also known as Tokyo-Narita, formerly and originally known as , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Haneda Airport ...

Prehistory

In 1960, the

Zengakuren Zengakuren is a league of university student associations founded in 1948 in Japan. The word is an abridgement of which literally means "All-Japan Federation of Student Self-Government Associations." Notable for organizing protests and marches, ...

nationwide student federation dissolved in a series of schisms arising from contentious debates over who was to blame for the failure of the massive Anpo protests to prevent passage of the

U.S.-Japan Security Treaty The , more commonly known as the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty in English and as the or just in Japanese, is a treaty that permits the presence of U.S. military bases on Japanese soil, and commits the two nations to defend each other if one or th ...

. Hoping to capture a slice of the splintering student movement in Japan, the

Japan Socialist Party The was a socialist and progressive political party in Japan that existed from 1945 to 1996. The party was founded as the Social Democratic Party of Japan by members of several proletarian parties that existed before World War II, including ...

(JSP) established a new party youth wing, the " Japan Socialist Youth League" (日本社会主義青年同盟解放派, ''Nihon Shakaishugi Seinen Dо̄mei'', usually abbreviated ''Shaseidо̄'') to institutionalize the piece of

controlled by JSP-affiliated student activists. Thereafter, the "Shaseidо̄ Zengakuren" was one of several Zengakurens competing for the title of the "true" Zengakuren. In 1964, however, Shaseidо̄ itself experienced a schism over the JSP's party platform of "Structural Reform," which some of the radical youth activists felt was too gradualist. Those activists who favored immediate push for socialist revolution broke away to form the Shaseidо̄ "Liberation Faction" in 1965, under the slogan "immediate worldwide proletarian revolution." This was the origin of Kaihо̄-ha.

Activities

In 1966, Kaihо̄-ha joined with two other radical student sects,

Chūkaku-Ha Japan Revolutionary Communist League, National Committee (革命的共産主義者同盟全国委員会 ''Kakumeiteki Kyōsanshugisha Dōmei, Zenkoku Iinkai'' ?) is a Japanese far-left revolutionary group, often referred to as Chūkaku-ha (中 ...

and Second Bund to form the "Three-Faction Zengakuren" (''Sanpa Zengakuren'') in order to pursue immediate revolution through violent direct action. On October 17, 1967, Kaihо̄-ha participated in an effort by the Sanpa Zengakuren to physically prevent Prime Minister

Eisaku Satō was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister from 1964 to 1972. He is the third-longest serving Prime Minister, and ranks second in longest uninterrupted service as Prime Minister. Satō entered the National Diet in 1949 as a membe ...

from traveling to the United States to meet with U.S. president

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

, leading to a violent struggle with police in which one student activist was killed. In 1968 and 1969, Kaihо̄-ha participated in the 1968-69 Japanese university protests on various campuses around Japan. Beginning in 1968 and lasting into the 1980s, Kaihо̄-ha participated the violent

against the construction of

. In 1971, the JSP severed all ties with Kaihо̄-ha and evicted its members from the party. Kaihо̄-ha had an intense, long-running conflict with rival New Left group

Kakumaru-ha The Japan Revolutionary Communist League (Revolutionary Marxist Faction) ( ja, 日本革命的共産主義者同盟革命的マルクス主義派, Nihon Kakumeiteki Kyōsanshugisha Dōmei, Kakumeiteki Marukusu Shugiha) is a Japanese Trotskyist ...

. By 1980, Kaihо̄-ha had killed around 20 members of Kakumaru-ha.

Schism

In 1981, Kaihо̄-ha splintered into the "

Revolutionary Workers' Association A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

" (革命的労働者協会) and the "

Liberation Faction National Council Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * Liberation (film series), ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * Liberation (The Flash), "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * Liberatio ...

" (解放派全国協議会).

References

{{New Left in Japan 1965 establishments in Japan Anti-imperialism in Asia Socialism in Japan Far-left politics in Japan Left-wing militant groups in Japan Terrorism in Japan