In 1966, when the Japanese government chose rural Narita as the
site for a new Tokyo international airport, local farmers protested
the loss of their land, livelihood, and very way of life. Leftist
militants politicized the struggle; violence escalated; the
Sanrizuka crossroads became "a metaphor of government oppression"
and heroic opposition; and, while the world blinked at monolithic,
conformist Japan in disarray, the airport was held up for more than
a decade - a single runway was opened in 1978, and the militants'
watchtowers still ring the site. This is the story that Apter and
Saws lay out in all its complexity - as an illustration of both the
social costs of Japan's economic success and of "the problem of
violent protest in democratic societies." (A third, subsidiary
theme is theoretical - the need to combine functional, structural,
and phenomenological approaches.) Readers, however, may take a more
limited view of the Sanrizuka movement - with no less interest.
"From the first, the confrontation. . . reminded farmers of their
radical inheritance" - dating back to pre-Meiji days, and resurgent
in the 1920s and '30s as "an authentic expression of
anti-commercial, anti-bourgeois, and anti-capitalist principles,"
with a feudal or rightist bias and roots in "both hamlet and
household defending themselves against outside interventions." The
militants, on the other hand, saw the Samrizuka struggle as a
sweeping attack on the state. "The airport is a symbol of Japanese
imperialism, created by the needs of Japanese expansionism and the
remilitarization that goes with it. Farmers are being driven off
the land to create an industrial reserve. . . ." Among the public,
when the movement began, there was "widespread concern about the
moral quality of Japanese life in relation to Japan's role in the
world." Against this background, Apter and Sawa trace the immediate
and spontaneous response; the mobilization of households on the
hamlet system; the emergence of leaders (the foremost, an atypical
Christian lay-preacher/artist, is a story in himself); direct
action tactics - and public notice; student involvement and the
enlistment of diverse leftist sects; pitched battles and arrests;
and the fall-off - with farmers capitulating to realism, individual
militants returning to society. Meanwhile: "The government's
strategy has been to wait for the deflation of principles. Most
officials now agree that it was confrontation that made the
alliance effective precisely by enabling principles to be
articulated." For students of Japan and students of protest
movements: an accessible, suggestive interweave of verite close-ups
and thematic probing. (Kirkus Reviews)
Reconstructing the dramatic struggle surrounding the building of
the New Tokyo (Narita) International Airport near Sanrizuka, this
scrutiny of modern protest politics dispels the myth of corporate
Japan's unassailable success. While sensitive to the specific
events they describe, the authors provide analyses of broader
contemporary issues-the sources of violence in an orderly society
and the problems of democratic theory in an institutional setting.
Narita Airport, the largest single government project in Japan, has
been the scene of intense conflict over what might be called the
unfinished business of Japan as number one. Since 1965, small
groups of farmers have been fighting to protect their land, first
from the bulldozers, then from the environmental damage of a modern
airport. They were joined in the battle by militants from New Left
sects, students, and other protesters representing peace,
antinuclear, and antipollution issues. Using field observation,
in-depth interviewing, and firsthand experience drawn from living
in the "fortresses" surrounding the airport, the authors examine
the conflict and violence that ensued. They describe the
confrontations from the point of view of each group of
participants, pinpointing weaknesses in the Japanese political and
bureaucratic systems that prolonged and heightened the struggle:
the lack of effective due process, inadequate consultative
mechanisms outside elite circles, and the failure of local
government to represent local issues. In a broad adaptation of
their findings, David Apter and Nagayo Sawa show that the problems
of the Narita situation are also endemic to other industrialized
countries. Their discussion of violent protest in advanced
societies explores how it evolves, who is caught up in it, and the
ways that governments respond. Finally, they identify the
limitations of contemporary social science theories in addressing
in human terms such volcanic eruptions. To overcome these
shortcomings they combine several approaches-structural,
experiential, and functional-and devise alternative ways to enter
the day-to-day lives of the people studied. Against the State in no
way diminishes the magnitude of Japan's accomplishments. However,
the authors find in the Narita protest evidence of that country's
still unfelt need to address its most abstract and pressing moral
concerns. Their book raises important questions about the nature of
extra-institutional protest and authority in modern states.
General
Imprint: |
Harvard University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
October 1986 |
First published: |
October 1986 |
Authors: |
David E. Apter
• Nagayo Sawa
|
Dimensions: |
234 x 156 x 15mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
283 |
Edition: |
New Ed |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-674-00921-9 |
Categories: |
Books >
Social sciences >
Politics & government >
General
|
LSN: |
0-674-00921-5 |
Barcode: |
9780674009219 |
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