Anti-American Nationalism

Another crucial element that should be noted is the differences in terms of their attitude toward America. On the surface level, the majority of Japanese had a rather positive feeling against the US as a new authority that had replaced the prewar military dictatorship. It does not mean, however that anti-Americanism did not exist entirely. The experience of military defeat and occupation did engendered antagonism against America among both the right and the left. Particularly for the left, it was strengthened by the communist ideology of the Cold War. At the same time, the experience of occupation combined with economic devastation after the war generated ethnic nationalism not only among the right-wing nationalists but also among the left,

Thus, during the immediate post-war era and until the 1960s, a sentiment that resembles to anti-colonial nationalism in the Third World endured within the Japanese left. The combination of these two elements was expressed primarily through the slogan “anti-American patriotism (hanbei aikoku),” which was employed frequently by the JCP from the 1950s until the early 1960s. Because of this basic ideology against the US, in part Japanese lefts hesitated to create any ties even with Americans labor movements. Beheiren was arguably the first and a unique example that actively engaged in network building with American activists in post-war Japan. To be sure, it is misleading to assert that the Beheiren members did not have any antagonism against the US. Rather, many of the members clearly stated their experience and memory of suffering from air raid by the American air force had given strong impact upon forming their political thoughts. And not to mention, they were also fiercely against the US foreign policy against Indochina and that was why they formed the movement immediately after the escalation of the bombing toward North Vietnam in 1965. Nevertheless,

For example, before the JRA member came to the Middle East, Sekigun-ha even planned to create base in the US., although it failed without any attainment. Yet unlike Beheiren, the JRA members lacked profound personal experience or attachment to America other than as the country that defeated Japan and an imperialist that are suppressing people in the Third World. Thus, the JRA members’ attitude toward America in general remained within conventional framework of post war Japanese left. Instead of America, however, what seems to be remarkable as the JRA members’ biographical background was the interaction with racial minorities in Japan, which is less seen among Beheiren members. While minority politics only became political issue in Japanese social movement arena around 1969, many JRA members showed concern about the status of racial minorities considerably early than other activists at that time. For instance, through interactions with Koreans living in a village next to her neighborhood, the leader Shigenobu begun to show concern over minority issues and she wrote short novels about the lives of Koreans in Tokyo during her high school years. Another member also reminisce about interactions with a Korean friend and learning about the Ainu, an indigenous people of northern Japan, as well as about the severe working conditions of Chinese coal