From 1959 to 1960, the struggle against the Japan-U.S. security treaty stormed across the country. Demonstrators, made up of students and other citizens, surrounded the parliament building, and Michiko Kanba, a student at the University of Tokyo, was crushed to death in the clashes. This movement also spread to high schools.
Having lost my father in the war, I think my feelings of anti-authoritarianism and my desire for peace were stronger than those of others. But I just could not bring myself to join the protesters. I was consistently cool toward the student movements and the violence that came with them.
