Browse Cases

Showing 1-3 of 3 results

Chinese activist Feng Zhenghu occupies Tokyo airport, ends his own exile from China, 2009-2010

Country
Japan
China
Time period
4 November, 2009 to 2 February, 2010
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Iris Fang, 25/11/2012

Feng Zhenghu is a Chinese human rights activist who openly supported the pro-democracy movement that ended in the Tiananmen Square Crackdown of 1989. In the 1990s, Feng studied and worked in Japan. Upon his return to Shanghai in 2000, the Shanghai government sentenced him to 3 years in prison for “illegal business activities.” After leaving jail, Feng became a self-taught lawyer and advocate of the rule of law, offering legal assistance to underprivileged Shanghai residents.

Sunagawa farmers prevent expansion of Tachikawa Air Force Base, 1956-57

Country
Japan
Time period
October, 1956 to July, 1957
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Iris Fang, 23/09/2012

The Tachikawa Air Force Base (AFB) was a US airfield in western Tokyo. The US military and the Japanese government planned to use this airfield for transporting nuclear weapons. In order to accommodate for the larger aircraft needed to transport these weapons, the Tachikawa AFB needed to expand and lengthen the runway for longer landing and takeoff distances. However, that meant that the government would need to use the surrounding farmland for the expansion. The US military announced the plans for expansion in 1955.

Japanese protest security treaty with U.S. and unseat Prime Minister, 1959-1960

Country
Japan
Time period
March 28, 1959 to June 23, 1960
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Arielle Bernhardt, 26/03/2010

The political atmosphere in Japan in the 1950s was anything but calm. Still reeling from the Second World War, citizens were coming to terms with their newly democratic leaders—politicians who, before the war, had been ardently fascist. A growing nationalist movement was forming, as well as strong leftist political factions. These two movements opposed Japan’s strong ties with the United States, and disagreed with the American military presence in their country.