The Other “Post-1968”: A Socio-Historical Analysis of the Resurgence of the Conservatives in Japan’s Long 1960s

Abstract

Economic growth in the 1960s prompted a massive internal migration from provincial to metropolitan areas in Japan. This migration and urbanisation led to the rise of social movements and a decline in the percentage of votes for the ruling conservative LDP party. In response, the government introduced an industrial dispersal policy, shifting factories from metropolitan to provincial areas. Additionally, in 1971, the government started the “Model Community Project”, which strengthened local resident organisations that cooperated with local administrations and the conservative party. This reorganisation of the citizenry became the social background for the containment of social movements and the conservative resurgence of politics. This combination
of industry dispersion and reorganisation of the citizenry, resulting in the conservative resurgence, characterised “the long 1960s” in Japan.