anarcho-communists and anarcho-syndicalists joined, conscious of trying to mend their pre-war division. Many of the leading figures were the same as before the war, with both Sanshirō Ishikawa and Sakutarō Iwasa participating. Iwasa was elected chairman of the National Committee of the Federation, a chiefly organisational role. In June 1946, they began to publish a journal, named Heimin Shinbun after Kōtoku Shūsui's magazine. The organisation nonetheless failed to gain much support from the general public, due to a number of factors. Anarchists were discriminated against due to a policy of anti-communism pursued by the American-led Allied occupation force, and anarchists also faced opposition from the Japanese Communist Party and its strong trade union presence. Land reform instituted after the war also effectively eliminated the class of tenant farmers that had formed the core base of the pre-war anarchist movement. The anarchists within the JAF were also divided over their political strategy, quarrelling amongst themselves frequently. Idealism, rather than the practical considerations of the populace, became the focus of Heimin Shinbun, and this hindered their capacity to muster public support. Tensions between the 'pure' and syndicalist anarchists resurfaced due to their lack of success. In May 1950, a splitting organisation, the 'Anarcho-Syndicalist Group' (Anaruko Sanjikarisuto Gurūpu) formed. By October 1950, the organisation had firmly split, and was dissolved. In June 1951 the anarcho-communists created a 'Japan Anarchist Club' (Nihon Anakisuto Kurabu). Significantly, Sakutarō Iwasa followed the communists in joining the Club, depriving the Federation of a central figure. Refounding By 1956, the Japanese Anarchist Federation had been reformed, albeit without reuniting with the communist faction. In that year, the JAF started publishing a new journal, Kurohata ('Black Flag'), which was later renamed Jiyu-Rengo ('Libertarian Federation'). Within the latter, a new anarchist theorist named Ōsawa Masamichi began to rise to prominence. He advocated a more gradual revolution, focusing on the social and cultural rather than the political. His ideas were controversial, decried by some as 'revisionist', but he firmly established a more reformist strand within the anarchist movement. Direct action As an anarchist movement, the Federation supported direct action on multiple occasions through its lifespan. One of the most significant of these was the national opposition to the Japan-US Security Treaty in 1960. Huge demonstrations swept major cities, and the Sōhyō union and others staged strikes of around 4 to 6 million workers. Nonetheless, the treaty was accepted by the government. Disillusionment