[1] In the meantime, Tokoro continued to work toward a doctoral degree in Biology, and was an expert on the kōji mold used in Japan in fermentation processes to make alcohol, soy sauce, and miso.
"[2] Following the failure of the Anpo protests, Tokoro steeped herself in the writings of Japanese political theorists, activists, and feminists such as Takaaki Yoshimoto, Gan Tanigawa.
From her readings and her own personal experiences, Tokoro concluded that the failure of the 1960 Anpo protests lay in the overly hierarchical, repressive, and bureaucratic nature of the Japan Communist Party and other "Old Left" organizations.
Her fellow students and New Left activists gathered to pay their final respects in a solemn ceremony on January 29, laying the red flag of the Tokyo University Anti-Vietnam War Committee over her coffin.
[1] Following her death, Tokoro's essays were published in a posthumous collection titled My Love and Rebellion (我が愛と反逆, Waga ai to hangyaku), which became a bible of sorts to the Zenkyōtō and other New Left activist groups.