In Japan, the period of the Vietnam War brought to the surface a large wave of social protest, culminating in the late 1960’s with student-led activism. Some of these students chose to carry their interest in Vietnam beyond a symbolic level, and to engage in actual research on this country. By examining the academic careers of this group, we attempt to understand how this generation successfully integrated themselves into an institutional system dominated by a Japanese state profoundly hostile to them and their efforts. We also try to explain how this generation brought considerable changes to the academic field of Vietnamese studies in Japan.