The Yasuda Auditorium Incident at the University of Tokyo (January 18, 1969)

Japan: January 18, 1969, Tokyo - Baton-wielding Japanese riot police, 8,000 strong, storm Hongo campus of Tokyo University, bringing a violent end to a seizure of Yasuda Hall by radical Zengakuren students on January 18, 1969. Under a deluge of rocks, Molotov cocktails, bottles of sulphuric acid and lengths of pipe, the police closed in on the main building on the campus. They tear gassed the defenders and trained water cannons at students on the roof. Using power saws, sledgehammers and blowtorches, the police battered and burned down the barricades while a police helicopter sprayed tear gas down on the building. Resistance ended the afternoon of the second day and the beaten Zengakuren were led off to jail. There were 631 arrests with only three students and two policemen were listed as seriously injured. (Photo by Fujifotos/AFLO) [3618]