Introduction

The “long 1960s”, beginning in the mid-1950s and continuing into the mid-1970s, was an epoch defined by its social and political upheavals and international scope that challenged established orders all over the globe. The period exhibited its full disruptive and transforma- tive potential in Italy and Japan. These countries both experienced recovery from traumatic destruction during the wartime and social disruption from postwar generational change even as they faced challenges coming to terms with their national pasts and integrating into the postwar international order. These mirrored contexts produced massive social and political movements, provoked intense reactions from established elites, and sparked pitched con- flicts that shook both countries to their cores. This volume brings together 8 historians from Italy and Japan to compare and contrast the long 1960s in each country and produce a new vision of shared history.