On this day, 19 January 1969, students in Tokyo fought pitched battles with police who were attempting to evict protesters occupying the Yasuda auditorium clock tower in a long-running dispute over enforced free labour for medical students.
Most of the students had been on strike since October and had clashed with members of the Japanese Communist Party who opposed the action.
Over the course of the eviction 653 police were injured and 819 students were arrested.
Following the eviction students at nearly 200 universities across Japan organised themselves and went on strike.
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