Workers of Japan’s national railways, as public employees, were not allowed to strike. Their unions pressed their demands with junpō tōsō, a struggle by obeying the rules. Trains ran strictly by the regulations, and therefore slowly.
On March 13, 1973, about 5,000 passengers waiting at Ageo Station on the Takasaki Line in Saitama Prefecture rioted. They broke the windows of a driver’s cab and burst into the stationmaster’s office. Ninety-two people were injured, and seven were arrested.