The was an anarchist organisation that existed in Japan from 1946 to 1968. Formed in May 1946, shortly following the Second World War, the JAF was plagued by disputes between anarcho-communists and anarcho-syndicalists. These divisions culminated in its dissolution in October 1950. By 1956, anarcho-syndicalists reconstituted the Anarchist Federation, while anarcho-communists formed their own Japan Anarchist Club. The JAF was involved in direct action in numerous forms, including anti-war agitation against the Korean War and Vietnam War, and protests against the 1960 Japan-US Security Treaty and the 1965 Japan-South Korea Treaty. While anarchism gained support within the Zengakuren and Zenkyoto student groups during the 1960s, the Japanese Anarchist Federation remained a small organisation with little direct influence, and resolved to dissolve itself in 1968. Another group calling itself the Anarchist Federation formed in October 1988. Context Anarchism in Japan has a long history, arguably having roots in the egalitarian structure of some communal villages during the Tokugawa era. Its modern form, however, originated in the political activities of Kōtoku Shūsui, an anarchist who edited the libertarian-socialist newspaper Heimin Shinbun in the early 20th century. He gained the permission of anarcho-communist writer Peter Kropotkin to translate his works into Japanese, which helped to steer the nascent anarchist movement in a communist direction. Others in the anarchist movement gravitated towards anarcho-syndicalism. Amongst these was Sanshirō Ishikawa, who had learned syndicalist organising methods from French unions while in Europe. In contrast, advocates of anarcho-communism such as Sakutarō Iwasa were strongly focused on the principles of communal solidarity and mutual aid espoused by Kropotkin. Their focus, and rejection of ideas they perceived to be antithetical to anarchism, led to anarcho-syndicalists giving their ideology the label of 'pure anarchism'. 'Pure anarchists' sharply criticised syndicalist methods and argued that - even if unions seized power, the fundamentally exploitative nature of capitalism would remain, as they argued had happened in the Soviet Union. In 1928, there was a split in the anarchist movement between these two factions, cementing their divide. As the Japanese state became more militaristic, repression of political movements such as anarchism intensified, particularly after the Manchurian Incident in 1931, and organised anarchist activism essentially became impossible until the end of the Second World War in 1945. History Founding and split Following the war, and the subsequent occupation of Japan by American forces, anarchists coalesced into a new Japanese Anarchist Federation in May 1946. Both