Japanese Political Commentator Minoru Morita Dies at 90

Tokyo, Feb. 8 (Jiji Press)--Japanese political commentator Minoru Morita, called a "living witness of (Japan's) postwar politics," died of malignant lymphoma at a hospital in Tokyo's Koto Ward on Tuesday. He was 90.

As a student at the University of Tokyo, Morita was involved in campus activism. He joined the Japanese Communist Party and, as a senior figure of All-Japan Federation of Students' Self-Governing Associations, or Zengakuren, led the so-called Sunagawa Struggle protest movement against the expansion of a U.S. military base in western Tokyo.

He was expelled from the JCP, however, for his opposition to "far-left adventurism."

After working for a publishing company, Morita became an independent political commentator in 1973. He has since been known for his cutting political commentary for half a century, appearing on radio and television and giving lectures.

He steadfastly advocated pacifism and criticized the enactment of national security legislation under the administration of the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]