The Yoka High School Incident of 1974 八鹿高校事件

Or, “Japanese leftist groups are horrible”.

June 30, 1974

A group of students calling themselves the “Buraku Liberation Study Group” request permission to form as a school club at Yoka High School, superseding the existing “Buraku Issues Study Group”. The reason for this name change is debated:

The Buraku Liberation League claims that the previous “study group” was ineffective at combating widespread bigotry and a new group was necessary.

The Japanese Communist Party claims that the Buraku Liberation League was pushing students to “come out” as burakumin and to engage in political activism within an official school club, which is illegal at Japanese public schools.

July 30, 1974

The “Buraku Liberation Study Group” is approved by the headmaster and vice headmaster, but not by the school. The reason for this disapproval is debated:

The Buraku Liberation League claims that the teachers at the school were universally opposed to the new group because of their bigotry.

The Japanese Communist Party claims that members of the “Buraku Liberation Study Group” were bullying other students, “impeaching” them, and making them confess to “crimes” against burakumin, and the teachers were opposed to a club that would facilitate this.

July-November

“Buraku Liberation Study Group” students hold over a dozen meetings with teachers.

November 18

“Buraku Liberation Study Group” students begin a sit-in in front of the teacher’s room.

The Japanese Communist Party claims that “Buraku Liberation Study Group” students were pressuring teachers to admit wrongdoing.

The Japanese Communist Party claims that the Buraku Liberation League filled six trucks with supporters and drove them inside the school gates to hold a demonstration.

The Buraku Liberation League claims that “concerned members of the League and PTA” were gathering at the school gate.

November 19

Teachers at Yoka High School move into group housing and begin carpooling to school in a shared bus.

The Buraku Liberation League claims that the Japanese Communist Party forced the teachers to move in together to prevent “defections”.

The Japanese Communist Party claims that members of the Buraku Liberation League were threatening teachers and they moved in together to ensure the safety of their families.

The Japanese Communist Party claims that police were informed about these threats but declined to act.

November 20

The Japanese Communist Party claims that the Buraku Liberation League occupied a school office and formed a “Joint Struggle Committee for the Impeachment of Discriminatory Education”, and “Buraku Liberation Study Group” students went through the school announcing the names of teachers who needed to be “impeached”.

The Japanese Communist Party claims that police were informed about these threats but declined to act.

November 21

The leader of the local branch of the Buraku Liberation League (Yoshiaki Maruo 丸尾良昭) enters the teacher’s room and threatens the teachers, then goes outside and tells the student body that he will never resort to violence. After this, he joins the entire League marching through the main streets of Yoka City in a show of strength.

The Buraku Liberation League’s account does not explain how this happened or what was going on during this time period.

November 22, 10:00AM

Classes are canceled and the teachers attempt to leave the school.

The Buraku Liberation League claims that teachers instructed students to yell “drop dead Buraku scum” at Buraku Liberation League activists standing outside the gates.

The Japanese Communist Party claims that no students said any such thing.

The Buraku Liberation League claims that there was a struggle, and “some on both sides” were injured.

The Japanese Communist Party claims that many teachers were injured, but no one from the Buraku Liberation League was taken to hospital.

November 22, 11:00AM

Remaining students flee the school.

The Japanese Communist Party claims that teachers who had not been beaten unconscious are at this point physically dragged back into the school.

The Buraku Liberation League claims that teachers had an extended dialogue outside the gates and were “persuaded” to return to the school.

The Buraku Liberation League claims that the Japanese Communist Party instructed teachers to leave the school, and that a memo was found instructing the teachers on how to behave.

The Japanese Communist Party claims that this memo was fabricated by the Buraku Liberation League.

November 22, 11:00AM-1:00AM

According to the findings of the Japanese Supreme Court, during this entire period of thirteen hours, the teachers of Yoka High School, including many women and old men, were confined to the clubroom of the unapproved “Buraku Liberation Study Group”, where instruments of torture had apparently been prepared for this day. They were verbally assaulted, beaten, strangled, had buckets of filth poured on their heads, had spoiled milk poured into their shirts, had their heads locked and punched, had tobacco butts put out on their faces, and were threatened with further violence and death.

The Buraku Liberation League’s account does not explain how this happened or what was going on during this time period.

November 22, roughly 11:00AM-12:30PM

The student council of Yoka High School enters the central office of the city police and reports a crime in progress. The police respond that they are uninterested in investigating.

The students confer, and apply for and receive a permit to protest on a section of riverbank in the center of the city from 1PM to 5PM.

November 22, 1:00PM

The roughly 1,000 students who had fled the school assemble on the riverbank and begin chanting, “Give us back our teachers!” and “Stop the violence!”

A black van owned by the Buraku Liberation League suddenly appears, playing the Liberation Anthem, and blasts through its megaphone that the protest is an act of ugly discrimination and racism. Students yell back at the van.

November 22, 3:00PM

The leader of the local branch of the Buraku Liberation League (Yoshiaki Maruo 丸尾良昭) personally appears at the protest and intimidates some of the students. The students ask him why he promised them no violence; he responds that some things just happen, and that anyway they brought the violence on themselves.

November 22, 5:00PM

Students stand on their permitted section of riverbank until 5PM, calling “Give us back our teachers!” and singing the school anthem. This area is now known to locals as the “Square of Courage”.

A “meeting” is held in the school gymnasium by members of the Buraku Liberation League to “impeach discriminatory education”.

Twenty-three teachers write self-criticisms at the request of the Buraku Liberation League.

November 23, 1:00AM

Sixty teachers arrive at the local hospital with injuries; forty-eight are seriously injured and are admitted for extended treatment. Masatoshi Katayama, the most seriously injured, has had his ribs and hips broken in several places.

The Buraku Liberation League’s account does not explain how this happened or what was going on during this time period.

It is not clear what the city police were doing at this time.

December 1

Thirteen members of the Buraku Liberation League are arrested.

17,500 residents of Yoka City hold a meeting to discuss how the city and school can prevent further violence by Yoshiaki Maruo and his gang.

1975

The Japanese Communist Party’s favored candidate for mayor wins election in Yoka City.

Students allied with the “Buraku Liberation Study Group”, who are continuing to meet in their clubroom despite lack of official approval, inform the Buraku Liberation League that they are not experiencing any active discrimination at school, but that teachers sometimes glare at them and this makes them feel uncomfortable.

1975-1995

The wheels of Japanese justice churn. Slowly.

1996

The thirteen arrested League members lose their Supreme Court appeal and are ordered to pay 30 million yen ($300,000) to the injured teachers.

2007

Yoshiaki Maruo founds a “Buraku Liberation and Human Rights Network” in Hyogo Prefecture.

Posted: February 12th, 2012 | Politics 3 Comments »


3 Comments on “The Yoka High School Incident of 1974 八鹿高校事件”

  1. 1 Azulina said at 12:43 am on July 23rd, 2012:

    Very interesting. I have family connected to this incident and have heard at least two versions of it. I have been told that more than one teacher was killed. It would be interesting to hear the version of one or more of the students who were there.

  2. 2 Avery said at 2:49 am on July 26th, 2012:

    Hi @92fe67ac0e370222c8e0ff9d1864bee1:disqus ! There was an article about this in a recent issue of Bunshun;
    上原善広「誰も書かなかった「同和教育」 3タブー・八鹿高校事件」、「文藝春秋」2012年2月号. The author interviewed the culprit, who is an utterly horrible person. He insists that he did nothing wrong and has even erected a statue near the school in his own honor (it is frequently vandalized by residents). It does not seem that the author interviewed the students. I am deeply moved by their heroism and I hope someone will tell their story.

  3. 3 Avery Morrow's Internet Fancy » Norman Mikine Dezaki and the culture of critique said at 1:24 am on February 24th, 2013:

    […] we really take the culture of critique seriously, even violence can be approved, as the Japanese police approved 13 hours of torture at Yoka High School in 1974. Or, indeed, how murder is being approved […]