Japanese Red Army
Encyclopedia
The was a Communist terrorist
group founded by Fusako Shigenobu
early in 1971 in Lebanon. It sometimes called itself Arab-JRA after the Lod airport massacre
. The JRA's stated goals were to overthrow the Japanese government and monarchy
and to start a world revolution
.
The group was also known as the Anti-Imperialist International Brigade (AIIB), Holy War Brigade, and the Anti-War Democratic Front.
(Sekigun-ha) in Japan, whose roots lay in the militant new-left Communist League. Advocating imminent revolution, they set up their own group, declaring war on the state in September 1969. The police arrested many of them very soon, its founder and intellectual leader Takaya Shiomi was in jail in 1970. The Sekigun lost about 200 members and the very few left merged with a maoist group to form the Rengo Sekigun or United Red Army
in July, 1971. This group grew notable because its members slaughtered twelve of their own in its training camp hideout in the Mount Haruna
in the winter of that year. A weeklong siege by hundreds of police, the Asama-Sanso incident
ended this fiasco. The Red Army in Japan was finished. Fusako Shigenobu had left Japan with only a handful of dedicated people, but her group is said to have had about 40 members at its height and was from the Lod airport massacre
on one of the best-known armed leftist groups in the world. The Japanese Red Army, Nihon Sekigun from 1971 had very close ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP). By 1972 the United Red Army in Japan was finished and the Shigenobu group dependent on the PFLP for financing, training and weaponry.
In April 2001, Shigenobu issued a statement from detention declaring the Japanese Red Army had disbanded. A 2011 NPR
report claimed some of the people associated with this group were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit
.
The National Police Agency publicly stated that a successor group to the JRA was founded called Movement Rentai.
Communist terrorism
Communist terrorism are actions carried out by groups which adhere to a Marxist-Leninist or Maoist ideology which have been described as terrorism. State actions carried out by the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, North Korea and the actions of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia have all been...
group founded by Fusako Shigenobu
Fusako Shigenobu
is the founder and former leader of the now disbanded Japanese Red Army.-Early life:Shigenobu was born on September 28, 1945 in the Setagaya Ward of Tokyo...
early in 1971 in Lebanon. It sometimes called itself Arab-JRA after the Lod airport massacre
Lod Airport massacre
The Lod Airport massacre was a terrorist attack that occurred on May 30, 1972, in which three members of the Japanese Red Army, on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , killed 26 people and injured 80 others at Tel Aviv's Lod airport...
. The JRA's stated goals were to overthrow the Japanese government and monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
and to start a world revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
.
The group was also known as the Anti-Imperialist International Brigade (AIIB), Holy War Brigade, and the Anti-War Democratic Front.
Red Army Faction in Japan
Shigenobu had been a leading member of the Red Army FactionRed Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
(Sekigun-ha) in Japan, whose roots lay in the militant new-left Communist League. Advocating imminent revolution, they set up their own group, declaring war on the state in September 1969. The police arrested many of them very soon, its founder and intellectual leader Takaya Shiomi was in jail in 1970. The Sekigun lost about 200 members and the very few left merged with a maoist group to form the Rengo Sekigun or United Red Army
United Red Army
The was a Japanese revolutionary armed group, established on 15 July 1971. It united the Red Army Faction, led in 1971 by Tsuneo Mori and the Maoist Revolutionary Left Wing of the Japanese Communist Party, led by Hiroko Nagata...
in July, 1971. This group grew notable because its members slaughtered twelve of their own in its training camp hideout in the Mount Haruna
Mount Haruna
is a dormant stratovolcano in Gunma, eastern Honshū, Japan.- Outline :Mount Haruna has many peaks and the tallest one, Mount Kamonga is 1,449 m high. It appeared about 300,000 years ago and the last known eruption was c. 550. The volcano has a summit caldera containing the symmetrical cone of...
in the winter of that year. A weeklong siege by hundreds of police, the Asama-Sanso incident
Asama-Sanso incident
The was a hostage crisis and police siege in a mountain lodge near Karuizawa, Nagano prefecture, Japan that lasted from February 19, 1972 to February 28, 1972...
ended this fiasco. The Red Army in Japan was finished. Fusako Shigenobu had left Japan with only a handful of dedicated people, but her group is said to have had about 40 members at its height and was from the Lod airport massacre
Lod Airport massacre
The Lod Airport massacre was a terrorist attack that occurred on May 30, 1972, in which three members of the Japanese Red Army, on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , killed 26 people and injured 80 others at Tel Aviv's Lod airport...
on one of the best-known armed leftist groups in the world. The Japanese Red Army, Nihon Sekigun from 1971 had very close ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is a Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organisation founded in 1967. It has consistently been the second-largest of the groups forming the Palestine Liberation Organization , the largest being Fatah...
(PFLP). By 1972 the United Red Army in Japan was finished and the Shigenobu group dependent on the PFLP for financing, training and weaponry.
In April 2001, Shigenobu issued a statement from detention declaring the Japanese Red Army had disbanded. A 2011 NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
report claimed some of the people associated with this group were imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit
Communication Management Unit
Communication Management Unit is a recent designation for a self-contained group within a facility in the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons that severely restricts, manages and monitors all outside communication of inmates in the unit.-Origins:As part of the Bush Administration's War on...
.
The National Police Agency publicly stated that a successor group to the JRA was founded called Movement Rentai.
Known Members
- Fusako ShigenobuFusako Shigenobuis the founder and former leader of the now disbanded Japanese Red Army.-Early life:Shigenobu was born on September 28, 1945 in the Setagaya Ward of Tokyo...
, founder and leader, arrested in Osaka, Japan, November 2000. This surprised many people since she was thought to live in LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
. Shigenobu is accused of orchestrating attacks, kidnappingKidnappingIn criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
s and hijackings. At one time labeled by critics as "the most feared female terrorist in the world", she helped plan the 1972 attack at Lod AirportLod Airport massacreThe Lod Airport massacre was a terrorist attack that occurred on May 30, 1972, in which three members of the Japanese Red Army, on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , killed 26 people and injured 80 others at Tel Aviv's Lod airport...
. A court in Tokyo sentenced her in February 2006 to serve 20 years in prison. - Haruo WakōHaruo Wakowas a member of the armed militant group, the Japanese Red Army.Haruo Wakō and two other members of the JRA were involved in the seizure of the French Embassy in The Hague in 1974. The ambassador and ten other people were taken hostage and a Dutch policewoman, Hanke Remmerswaal, was shot in the...
, former leader, arrested February 1997. - Osamu Maruoka, former leader, arrested November 1987 in Tokyo after entering Japan on a forged passport. Given a life sentence, he died in prison on 29 May 2011.
- Yū KikumuraYu Kikumurawas allegedly a member of the Japanese Red Army, an armed militant organization.Police arrested Kikumura in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam in 1986 when they found him carrying a bomb in his luggage...
was arrested with explosives on the New Jersey TurnpikeNew Jersey TurnpikeThe New Jersey Turnpike is a toll road in New Jersey, maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. According to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the Turnpike is the nation's sixth-busiest toll road and is among one of the most heavily traveled highways in the United...
in 1988 and served a long prison sentence in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In April 2007 Kikumura was released from US incarceration and immediately arrested upon his return to Japan. He was released in October 2007. http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&6FAA2A763CE1415DC225737F003F7B01 - Yoshimi Tanaka, was sentenced to 12 years for the Yodo-go hijacking that ended in North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
. - Yukiko Ekida, a long-time JRA leader, was arrested in March 1995 in RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
and subsequently deportedDeportationDeportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
to Japan. She received a sentence of 20 years for attempted murderMurderMurder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and violating the explosives law in a series of bombings targeting large companies in 1974 and 1975. The trial of Ekita was originally started in 1975 but was suspended when she was released from prison in 1977. Her release was part of a deal with the Japanese Red Army during the hijacking of a Japanese airliner to BangladeshBangladeshBangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. - Kōzō OkamotoKozo Okamotowas a 24-year-old botany student from a respectable middle-class family when he was recruited to the Japanese Red Army . He was later detained in Lebanon. During his stay in Lebanon, Okamoto converted to Islam in what was seen as an attempt to avoid being returned to Japan...
is the only survivor of the group of three guerilleros attacking the IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i LodLodLod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
airport in 1972, now called Ben Gurion International AirportBen Gurion International AirportBen Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...
. He was jailed in Israel, but in May 1985, Okamoto was set free in an exchange of prisoners between Israeli and Palestinian forces. Subsequently, he was imprisoned in LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
for three years for forgingForgeryForgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
visasVisa (document)A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
and passportPassportA passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
s. The Lebanese authorities granted Okamoto asylumRefugeeA refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
in 1999 because he was alleged to have been tortured in prison in Israel. At his stay in Lebanon, Okamoto converted to IslamIslamIslam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
to prevent being sent home. - Masao AdachiMasao AdachiMasao Adachi is a Japanese screenwriter and director who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
, Kazuo Tohira, Haruo WakōHaruo Wakowas a member of the armed militant group, the Japanese Red Army.Haruo Wakō and two other members of the JRA were involved in the seizure of the French Embassy in The Hague in 1974. The ambassador and ten other people were taken hostage and a Dutch policewoman, Hanke Remmerswaal, was shot in the...
, and Mariko Yamamoto were also imprisoned in Lebanon on charges of forgery yet were sent to JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
. As the Jordanian authorities refused to allow them into Jordan, they were handed over to Japan. In January 2005, Yamamoto shoplifted dried cuttlefishCuttlefishCuttlefish are marine animals of the order Sepiida. They belong to the class Cephalopoda . Despite their name, cuttlefish are not fish but molluscs....
(a Japanese popular relish taken with beer) at a supermarket in Tokyo and was arrested. - Kuniya Akagi, a collaborator of the JRA, was arrested after returning to Osaka from Pyongyang via Beijing in order to be questioned over the kidnapping of three Japanese nationals in Europe by North Korean spies in the 1980s. He is linked to Shirō Akagi, who took part in the Yodo-go hijacking (See also: Japan Airlines Flight 351Japan Airlines Flight 351Japan Airlines Flight 351 was hijacked by nine members of the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction on March 31, 1970 while flying from Tokyo to Fukuoka, in an incident usually referred to in Japanese as the...
).
Activities
During the 1970s and 1980s, JRA carried out a series of attacks around the world and in Japan, including:- March 31, 1970: Nine members of the JRA's predecessor, the Red Army Faction (whose leaders had been a part, but were thrown out of the Communist League), conducted Japan's most infamous hijacking, that of Japan Airlines Flight 351Japan Airlines Flight 351Japan Airlines Flight 351 was hijacked by nine members of the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction on March 31, 1970 while flying from Tokyo to Fukuoka, in an incident usually referred to in Japanese as the...
, a domestic Japan Airlines Boeing 727Boeing 727The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
carrying 129 people at Tokyo International AirportTokyo International Airport, commonly known as , is one of the two primary airports that serve the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. It is located in Ōta, Tokyo, south of Tokyo Station....
. Wielding katanaKatanaA Japanese sword, or , is one of the traditional bladed weapons of Japan. There are several types of Japanese swords, according to size, field of application and method of manufacture.-Description:...
s and a bomb, they forced the plane to fly to FukuokaFukuoka Airport, formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located east of Hakata Station in Fukuoka, Japan. It is officially designated a second class airport. It is operating at full capacity, and cannot be further expanded. Flights stop at 10 p.m...
and later Gimpo Airport in SeoulSeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, where all the passengers were freed. It then flew to North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, where the hijackers abandoned the plane and the crewmembers were released. Tanaka was the only one to be convicted. Three of Tanaka's alleged accomplices later died in North Korea and five remain there. According to Japan's National Police Agency, another accomplice may also have died in North Korea. - May 30, 1972: The Lod Airport massacreLod Airport massacreThe Lod Airport massacre was a terrorist attack that occurred on May 30, 1972, in which three members of the Japanese Red Army, on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine , killed 26 people and injured 80 others at Tel Aviv's Lod airport...
: an assault rifleAssault rifleAn assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...
(Sa vz.58) and grenadeGrenadeA grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
attack on IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
's Lod Airport in Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, now Ben Gurion International AirportBen Gurion International AirportBen Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...
, killed 26 people; about 80 others were injured. One of the three attackers then killed themselves with a grenade, although some believe this to be an accident. Another was shot in the crossfire of the only surviving attacker Kōzō Okamoto. It has been claimed that the PFLP was behind the attack. - July 1973: Red Army members led a hijackingJapan Air Lines Flight 404Japan Air Lines Flight 404 was an airliner hijacked by Palestinian and Japanese terrorists on July 23, 1973.The flight departed Amsterdam-Schiphol International Airport, Netherlands, on July 23, 1973, en route to Tokyo International Airport , Japan, via Anchorage International Airport, Alaska. The...
of Japan Airlines (JAL) plane over the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The passengers and crew were released in LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, where hijackers blew up the plane. - January 1974: Laju incidentLaju incidentThe Laju Incident occurred on 31 January 1974 in Singapore, when four armed men attacked the Shell oil refinery complex on Pulau Bukom and later hijacked the ferryboat Laju.- Overview :...
: Red Army attacked a ShellRoyal Dutch ShellRoyal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
facility in SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and took five hostageHostageA hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
s; simultaneously, the PFLP seized the JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese embassy in KuwaitKuwaitThe State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
. The hostages were exchanged for a ransomRansomRansom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
and safe passage to South Yemen in a Japan AirlinesJapan Airlinesis an airline headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. It is the flag carrier of Japan and its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport , as well as Nagoya's Chūbu Centrair International Airport and Osaka's Kansai International Airport...
plane. - September 13, 1974: The FrenchFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Embassy in The HagueThe HagueThe Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, Netherlands was stormed. The ambassador and ten other people were taken hostage and a DutchNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
policewoman, Hanke Remmerswaal, was shot in the back, puncturing a lungLungThe lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...
. After lengthy negotiatons, the hostages were freed in exchange for the release of a jailed Red Army member (Yatsuka Furuya), $300,000 and the use of a plane. The plane flew the hostage-takers first to AdenAdenAden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
, South Yemen, where they were not accepted and then to SyriaSyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. Syria did not consider hostage taking for money revolutionary, and forced them to give up their ransom. - August 1975: The Red Army took more than 50 hostages at the AIA building housing several embassies in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The hostages included the US consul and the SwedishSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
chargé d'affaires. The gunmen won the release of five imprisoned comrades and flew with them to LibyaLibyaLibya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
. - September 1977: The Red Army hijacked Japan Airlines Flight 472Japan Airlines Flight 472Japan Airlines Flight 472 was an aircraft hijacking carried out by the Japanese Red Army on September 28, 1977.-Incident:The Douglas DC-8, en route from Paris to Haneda Airport in Tokyo with 156 people on board, stopped in Mumbai, India...
over IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and forced it to land in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Japanese Government freed six imprisoned members of the group and allegedly paid a $6M ransom. - December 1977: A suspected lone member of the army hijacked Malaysia Airlines Flight 653Malaysia Airlines Flight 653Malaysia Airlines Flight 653 , a Boeing 737-2H6 aircraft registered as , crashed at Tanjung Kupang, Johor, in Malaysia on the evening of 4 December 1977. It was the deadliest and first fatal accident for Malaysia Airlines, with all 93 passengers and 7 crew killed instantly. The flight was...
. The flight was carrying the Cuban ambassador to Tokyo, Mario Garcia. The Boeing 737 then crashed killing all onboard after he shot both pilots and himself. - May 1986: The Red Army fired mortarMortar (weapon)A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
rounds at the embassies of Japan, CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States in Jakarta, Indonesia. - June 1987: A similar attack was launched on the BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and United States embassies in Rome, Italy. - April 1988: Red Army members bombed the US military recreational (USOUnited Service OrganizationsThe United Service Organizations Inc. is a private, nonprofit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the U.S. military, with programs in 160 centers worldwide. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of Defense , and has provided support and...
) club in Naples, Italy, killing five. - In the same month, JRA operative Yū KikumuraYu Kikumurawas allegedly a member of the Japanese Red Army, an armed militant organization.Police arrested Kikumura in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam in 1986 when they found him carrying a bomb in his luggage...
was arrested with explosives on the New Jersey TurnpikeNew Jersey TurnpikeThe New Jersey Turnpike is a toll road in New Jersey, maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. According to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the Turnpike is the nation's sixth-busiest toll road and is among one of the most heavily traveled highways in the United...
highway, apparently to coincide with the USO bombing. He was convicted of these charges and served time in a United States prison until his release in April 2007. Upon his return to Japan he was immediately arrested on suspicion of using fraudulent travel documents. - The JRA launched a series of 17 bombings on buildings belonging to large corporationCorporationA corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s, including Mitsui & Co.Mitsuiis one of the largest corporate conglomerates in Japan and one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world.-History:Founded by Mitsui Takatoshi , who was the fourth son of a shopkeeper in Matsusaka, in what is now today's Mie prefecture...
and Taisei Corp., injuring 20 people. Eight people were killed in the 1974 bombing of MitsubishiMitsubishiThe Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
Heavy Industries Ltd.'s head office building in TokyoTokyo, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
.
Films
- Sekigun - PFLP. Sekai Sensō Sengen, Red Army - PFLP: Declaration of World War, 1971, shot on location in Lebanon, produced by Kōji WakamatsuKoji Wakamatsuis a Japanese film director who directed such pinku eiga films as and . He also produced Nagisa Ōshima's controversial film In the Realm of the Senses...
. Patricia Steinhoff translates its title Manifesto for World Revolution which makes perhaps more sense. A propaganda film for the Red Army sympathisers in Japan.
- One of the people showing the film around Japan with the producer was Mieko Toyama, a close friend of Fusako Shigenobu. She was murdered in the winter training camp massacre.
- Jitsuroku Rengō Sekigun, Asama sansō e no michi, United Red Army (The Way to Asama Mountain Lodge), 2007, shows the horrors of the United Red ArmyUnited Red ArmyThe was a Japanese revolutionary armed group, established on 15 July 1971. It united the Red Army Faction, led in 1971 by Tsuneo Mori and the Maoist Revolutionary Left Wing of the Japanese Communist Party, led by Hiroko Nagata...
winter camp, but also the history of the militant Japanese student movement. See also United Red Army (film)United Red Army (film)is an award-winning 2007 film written, directed and produced by Kōji Wakamatsu. It stars Akie Namiki as Hiroko Nagata and Go Jibiki as Tsuneo Mori, the leaders of Japan's leftist paramilitary group the United Red Army... - Suatu Ketika... Soldadu Merah (Once Upon A Time... Red Soldier), an 8 episode Malaysian TV drama series based on the Japanese Red Army attack in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 1975. Produced by NSK Productions (Malaysia), the series was shot in 2009 and currently airs on Malaysia's local cable channel, ASTRO Citra 131. Read Hostage Drama article by TheStar newspapers.
- In 2010, Fusako ShigenobuFusako Shigenobuis the founder and former leader of the now disbanded Japanese Red Army.-Early life:Shigenobu was born on September 28, 1945 in the Setagaya Ward of Tokyo...
and Masao AdachiMasao AdachiMasao Adachi is a Japanese screenwriter and director who was most active in the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
were featured in the documentary Children of the Revolution, which tells the story of Shigenobu and the Japanese Red Army through the eyes of Mei ShigenobuMei Shigenobuis the daughter of Japanese Red Army communist Fusako Shigenobu and of a Palestinian guerilla fighter who was reportedly the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Some news agencies have given her name as May Shigenobu.-Early life:...
. - In the 2010 French TV Film Carlos members of the Japanese Red Army feature when they stormed the French Embassy in the Hague and associating with the PFLP and the German Revolutionary Cells
- Jitsuroku Rengō Sekigun, Asama sansō e no michi, United Red Army (The Way to Asama Mountain Lodge), 2007, shows the horrors of the United Red Army