For six years the Japanese Government has been planning to build a new interntional airport near Tokyo. To obtain the land for this airfield they planned to expropriate the peasants' holdings in the Sanrizuka and Shibayama regions. The peasants, however, have been extremely unwilling to give up this land. They have built their holdings up with great effort since the end of World War Two. If they had to move now it would mean virtually starting from scratch again somewhere else. The majority of land in this district is highly commercialized mainly vegetable production for the Tokyo market rather than rice. The peasants formed a Peasants' Union to fight the expropriations. (The Sanrizuka-Shibayama Kukohantia Domei -Peasants' Union against Construction of New Tokyo International Airport). At first the Communist Party had a fraction inside the Peasants' Union but in 1966/67 the C.P. was expelled after hard internal fights between the C.P. and non-C.P. fractions inside the Peasants' Union, for taking too conciliatory a line to the Japanese Government and the new Airport.
Around 300 families are in the Peasants' Union, which is a minority in the region but a minority which is very determined to defend the peasants' land. Two years delay in the opening of the airfield has already been caused. This year the Government and the corporation began to expropriate the land of peasants who were Peasants' Union members. Three very hard fights have taken place over three forced expropriations. When the peasants first created this Union they only wanted to defend their land. After establishing contact with the Left groups, however, and through its experience with the Government the Peasants' Union developed a more political consciousness. Now they express their solidarity with the Okinawan, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese people and several Peasants' Union leaders have visited China. They realise that the need to build extra airport space has a direct connextion with the amount of space already used at existing airfields for military purposes (one big military airbase at Yokota-Tachikawa west of Tokyo and half of the existing Tokyo International Airport used for military purposes), and with the increasing remilitarisation undertaken by the Japanese bourgeoisie itself. The Peasants' Union has developed a very good political consciousness. Now all tendencies are welcomed in the Peasants' Union provided that they are serious in their support of the P.U.'s struggle.
For the time being the Japanese Government is concentrating its efforts on building just one runway out of the three-the main runway. The Government hope to complete the building of this runway by the spring so that they can hold test flights then. The three expropriations which have taken place to date have been along the route of this runway. The first expropriation took place in February/March, the second which was smaller in June and the largest (see pictures) in September. All of these expropriations were accompanied by hard fights on the part of the peasants, who used molotov cocktails, bamboo sticks etc. against the police. The struggle is only at its starting point, however. Next spring the Peasants Union and the students and young workers who supported them hope to organise occupations of the main runway to stop the test flights from taking place.
From 1967 to 1969/70 the Peasants' Union felt a little politically isolated. Especially after the September action, however, about 1500 of the local population created special committees to keep a watch over the expropriations and to defend the Peasants' Union and students and young workers who supported them against police brutality. This is just the beginning of solidarity action. The Government and corporation will have to build several supplementary facilitiespipelines, transport systems, etc. The Peasants' Union has the possibility of mobilising large numbers of people who are on the route of the pipelines or who are worried about the noise problem that the airport will create. The Peasants' Union is steadily winning fresh political forces over to its side and surrounding the airport. In Japan itself the political climate is favourable to their struggle. A widespread radicalisation has taken place in the last few years and political issues such as pollution have already been taken up. In several places anti-pollution movements have caused the peasants to invade the factories to stop the machines which have been causing the pollution. The peasants' struggle against the airport can exercise a very good radicalising influence in this climate, by generalising the anti-pollution movement. Last Autumn the Peasants' Union organised a national conference to coordinate these various struggles and another at the beginning of this year.
During the struggle this September, the Japanese Government used the Kidotai (specially armed police with clubs and poison gas). Not only students but also young workers took part in the struggle. Our comrades in Yon Toro (the Japanese Section of the Fourth International) mobilised about 400 people to help fight with the peasants about 200 of which were young workers. Several students had been with the peasants fairly continuously since the first battles in February/March helping them defend and cultivate their land. Political trust and relations with the Peasants' Union are very good. During the September struggle towers and tunnels for defence were built under the leadership of our comrades. In preparation for the struggle about 1000 students young workers and High schoolers were organised to help the peasants in their farms. Some semi-military training was undertaken for the battle After the battle 2000 were wounded and 980 arrested (60 of our comrades). One student is very seriously ill at the present time and three policemen were killed.
The Peasants' Union feels confident, however. They feel that they now have a real chance of stopping the building of the airport going through. The Government has not yet finished one runway and on the other two runways members of the Peasants' Union have a lot of land, all of which will be bitterly contested. The Government has a very real problem in stopping the Peasants Union getting wider support from the population. At the end of September 800 people gathered at a mass meeting in Tokyo in solidarity with the peasants at which the leaders of the peasants attended. The struggle of the peasants is a very real factor in the awakening of political consciousness throughout Japan. The strength of the Japanese Left is a very real factor in hampering the designs of a resurgent Japanese imperialism.
SOLIDARITY WITH THE SANRIZUKA-SHIBAYAMA PEASANTS' UNION!
LONG LIVE YON TORO, JAPANESE SECTION OF THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL!
LONG LIVE THE JAPANESE REVOLUTION!
AGAINST THE RESURGENCE OF JAPANESE IMPERIALISM!
-Daniel Rose EREREERONE CK• АХОНЬКУЕВО