Issue and Opponent: The opponent was the Japanese and American governments. The issue was the expansion of the Tachikawa Air Base strip into Sanagawa, which would require seizing farmland and evicting 140 families. The reason the strip expanded was to transport nuclear weapons, which required larger planes.
Dilemma Action: The commonly held assumption was that the government couldn’t take over citizens’ land and give it to a foreign government to use as they please. Some actions taken were the occupation of the farmland that was to be seized by owners, picketing, and rallies. The first known action was October 12th, 1956, when a demonstration took place in the village. An unknown number of people participated, but ultimately 260 were injured by police who responded violently. On the 13th of the same month, 4,000 people demonstrated against the expansion. To protect the demonstrators, socialist members of the Japanese Parliament, Secretary Sanzo Nosaka, and the councilor of the Communist party created a human chain to barricade protestors and prevent the land from being surveyed. Buddhist priests beat drums. Police responded with violence and attempted to forcibly retake land when protestors approached the base. Of the 4,000, 730 were injured by police on the 13th. Fifty elite men, counting an ex-Justice Minister, ex-Foreign Minister, ex-Premier, and a prominent lawyer launched a campaign titled “Defend Sunagawa”, deriding the expansion for several reasons, including the fact that parliament has not ratified the plan, the use of nuclear attacks was unconstitutional, and that the expansion was bad for citizens. A policeman protesting the government policy committed suicide days after the protest on the 13th. During the protest on the 15th, there were ten-thousand participants. This resulted in 1,000 incarcerations and 1,000 injuries. There is a gap in reporting, but the next known action was the “Sungawa riots” on July 8th, 1957, where protestors used their massive numbers to their advantage and forcibly entered the air base. This resulted in 23 arrests. The lose-lose of this is either the police respond violently to peaceful protestors, or they do nothing and allow the protest movement to grow in strength and recognition. Methods used were picketing, symbolic sounds, occupation, and blockades. The lose-lose of this scenario was to react violently to the non-violent protest of staying on land or allowing the reclaiming of stolen land.
Outcomes: The movement was well accepted within the country, evidenced by elite business and political leaders spearheading the “Defend Sunagawa” movement. Police responded violently and arrested protestors often. In the end, the US military stopped the planned expansion in 1957 due to protests. This dilemma action started a larger movement against US-air force bases in Japan.