In the early 1970s, when "Children Who Don't Know War" was released, the
United States of America found itself in the midst of the
Vietnam War. Though
Japan wasn't directly involved in the conflict, the country allowed the stationing of American troops on
Japanese soil, a decision which was met with internal criticism coming mainly from the country's intellectual elite, composed of
academics and
students, who upheld deep rooted
anti-war beliefs, mainly due to Japan's experience during World War II. Though the duo never bore any affiliation to the pacifist movement, the song, composed to express a mild anti-war message, but later regarded by Kitayama as a puerile effort to
satirize, and rebel against, the contempt felt by older generations who experienced World War II for younger people born in the post-war period – who were denounced for weak-mindedness and lack of self-discipline – became indelibly attached to the movement and its title an iconic expression, used in sports,
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