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STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS AT WASEDA
About twenty persons were injured at Waseda University in Tokyo April 17? when club- ~swinging hired guards clashed with rockthrowing students.
During the previous night, as part of their efforts to block scheduled examinations, the students had roped together great piles . of chairs and desks to serve as barricades in front of the School of Political and Economic Sciences and the School of Education buildings. In the morning the guards clubbed the students and began dismantling the barricadés. The students retreated to the street where concrete blocks had been piled for construction purposes. Using these as missiles, they forced the guards to flee and then they rebuilt the barricades. University authorities were forced to cancel the examin- . ations, already postponed © a number of times.
Thé new flare-up was only the ‘latest ina long series that began last. January when the university -announced an increase in tuition and enrollment’ fees. Since then Waseda has stayed on the front page of the nation' Ss press.
With an administrative ‘and: ‘teaching staff of 3, 500 - _and a student enrollment of 435,000,° Waseda is one of Japan's oldest and most illustrious private universities (about seventy pen-cent of the universities in Japan are private). A degree from Waseda carries considerable Prestige.
The = trouble began when the administration announced that tuition fees were to be increased for literature students from 50,000 yen to 80, 000 yen and for science students from 80,000 yen to 120,000 yen [362 yen = $1] effective April 1. In addition, the students would not be permitted to manage a newly. built student hall. oe
On January 2O a movement began to boycott classes and - block examinations. Protest rallies and snake dances. were organized to publicize student demands.
At first the university. officials sought. to mobilize "loyal" students. These were beefed: up with members of the athletic club, hired, it is alleged, for the purpose. A squad of 300, some of whom wore steel helmets and carried clubs, attacked picketing students February 11. About 2,000: students rallied to the defense of the pickets and drove off their attackers. with showers of. stones.
The administration then shifted tactics, proposing acceptance of a "mediation" plan offered by alumni’ members. in the Diet. This included four points: (1) Cutting down the planned boost. in fees by 10,000 yen. (2) Student operation of the student hall. (4) Assurance that students involved in the dispute would not be expelled. (4) Increasing by: 200 the number of students eligible for scholarships.
The - plan’ was rejected by the students. ‘They demanded no
increase whatsoever in fees. To show their determination, they staged a rally involving about 1,000 students in front of the administration building February 20.
In reply Nobumoto Ohama, president of the university,. called the cops. On February 21 about 2,500 policemen invaded the campus... They evicted boycotting students, tore down their barricades, arrested one of the student headers, 23-year-old. Hiroshi. . Abe, and sought four more whom they called. "ringleaders. ", .
This | ‘was “the: first time since 1952 ‘that such a large "task force" had invaded the campus. Their mission accomplished, about © 1 » 900 police were withdrawn, leaving 1, 000 ‘to "guard" the. campus.
‘The students responded with a "sit- -in, om organized ‘that same _ night « ‘The police were ordered .in the next morning. They drove out. . 1,000 squatters and arrested 204% of them who ignored orders to. leave. This constituted a postwar record. During the big 1960 protest demonstrations against the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty which brought worldwide fame to the Zengakuren movement, the largest number arrested [June 15, 1960] was’193 persons of whon 143 were. students.
These two spectacular police raids in one of Japan’ s most famous centers of learning made.a big sensation, inspiring endless observations about the condition of the.educational system, particularly since the protest movement was spreading: to other schools. faced with similar problems.
Commenting on the prolonged strike, Mainichi Shimbun said: "The uncompromising attitude of both students and school authorities resemble those of the. United States and North Vietnam." The protest movement, said the big:Tokyo daily, was: touched off by the hikes in tuition tees, but the: cause of the student unrest goes much deeper. "The students deeply distrust the school administrators and are increasingly dissatisfied and disillusioned over conditions at the university. The students want a real education as human beings but this is denied them because every class is packed to the walls. Waseda was originally conceived as an independent entity to pursue , ultimate truth, but today, the students feel, it is only serving the wishes of industry. Students refuse to become mere commodities wanted by business circles. ‘Waseda's problem is a national problem. "
Several events connected with the conflict were highlighted by the press. An American missionary, 31, appeared at the university April 1?. “He said he expected trouble and he came with the intention of convincing students not to use force.
"T was hit by a stone in my head, " he later. told reporters. "I suffered a cut in my head which: required ‘five: stitches but ait is not serious. ar ;
“On February 21. a student named Kazuo Yamanaka, a sophomore , jumped off the roof of a ten-story building. But police could find no note, so they were not ‘sure if ‘the suicide had anything to do
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with the turmoil on the campus.
On the same day, a young police officer who took part in the operation on the Waseda University campus, Masaaki Goto, 22, went berserk. He was found brandishing a samurai sword on the third floor of an apartment building and shouting disgust at the Waseda students. Said Kazuo Kuroda in the February 26 Japan Times: "The mad police-. man's behavior certainly represents one type of national reaction."
CORPORAL PUNISHMENT, A FORM OF