Politics · Japan · 5 hrs ago
Mothers urged restraint during Tokyo University protests in 1968
In November 1968, mothers intervened during protests at the University of Tokyo in Tokyo.
The protests included barricades at Yasuda Auditorium and other parts of the Hongo campus.
At the university’s main gate, mothers posted poems addressed to students.
One poem mourned that students had not put violence aside, despite the quiet campus and falling ginkgo leaves.
The mothers also handed out boxes of caramel and urged restraint.
The poem was later recorded in a collection of poems from 1968–69 as a work by an unknown author, based on a mother’s poem posted at the gate.
Mothers of University of Tokyo students urged them to show restraint during campus protests in 1968.
On November 21, 1968, mothers appeared at the main gate of the university’s Hongo campus, where barricades remained in place.
They posted poems on a sign and handed boxes of caramel to students.
One poem lamented that the students had not abandoned violence despite the quiet campus and falling ginkgo leaves.
- Who
- Mothers of University of Tokyo students and the protesting students.
- What
- The mothers urged the students to show restraint, posting poems and handing out caramel.
- When
- November 21, 1968.
- Where
- The main gate of the University of Tokyo’s Hongo campus in Tokyo.
- Why
- The mothers appealed to students amid continuing barricades and violence.
University of Tokyo students involved in the protests
Mothers urging restraint
Campus protest
University of Tokyo students involved in the protests
Students maintained barricades at Yasuda Auditorium and elsewhere on campus.
Mothers urging restraint
The mothers appealed to students to give up violence and show restraint.
Mothers appeared at the University of Tokyo’s Hongo campus gate while barricades remained in place.
The mothers posted poems on a sign and distributed boxes of caramel to students.
A poem attributed to an unknown author and based on a mother’s verse at the university gate appeared in volume 15 of the Showa Manyoshu collection.
- Date
- November 21, 1968
- Location
- University of Tokyo’s Hongo campus main gate
- Barricades
- Yasuda Auditorium and other parts of campus remained barricaded
- Mothers’ appeal
- Show restraint and give up violence
- Gesture
- Mothers distributed boxes of caramel to students
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What people are saying
Though ginkgo leaves fall on the quiet university grounds, how sad you are, still clinging to violence