Japanese Red Army

Japanese Red Army
日本赤軍
Leader(s) Fusako Shigenobu
Dates of operation 1971–2002
Motives Proletarian revolution in Japan, World Revolution
Active region(s) Japan, Southeast Asia and Middle East
Ideology Communism,
Marxism–Leninism,
Anti-imperialism,
Anti-Zionism
Notable attacks Lod Airport massacre
Japan Airlines Flight 351
Malaysian Airline System Flight 653 (suspected)
Status Defunct, now replaced by Movement Rentai

The Japanese Red Army (日本赤軍 Nihon Sekigun, JRA) was a communist militant group founded by Fusako Shigenobu early in 1971 in Lebanon. After the Lod airport massacre, it sometimes called itself Arab-JRA. The JRA's stated goals were to overthrow the Japanese government and the monarchy, as well as 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.

Red Army Faction in Japan

Shigenobu had been a leading member of the Red Army Faction (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 quickly arrested many of them, including founder and intellectual leader Takaya Shiomi, who was in jail by 1970. The Sekigun lost about 200 members, and the remnants merged with a Maoist group to form the Rengo Sekigun or United Red Army in July, 1971. This group became notable during the Asama-Sanso incident, when it purged twelve of its members in a training camp hideout on Mount Haruna, before a week-long siege involving hundreds of police. 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.[1] 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.[2] A 2011 NPR reported Tsutomi Shirosaki, a member of this group was imprisoned in a highly restrictive Communication Management Unit in the American Midwest.[3]

The JRA was the only terrorist group to publicly claim responsibility for the September 11 attacks . Al-Jazeera and AFP both received anonymous phone calls from callers claiming responsibility for the 9/11 attacks in the name of the Red Army.

The National Police Agency publicly stated that a successor group to the JRA was founded called Movement Rentai.[4]

Known members

Activities

During the 1970s and 1980s, JRA carried out a series of attacks in Japan and around the world, including:

Films

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.

See also

References

  1. Japanese Red Army (JRA) Profile The National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism Terrorism Knowledge Base (online)
  2. Court uploads 20-yr prison term for ex-Japan Red Army head Shigenobu+. Retrieved on November 17, 2008.
  3. DATA & GRAPHICS: Population Of The Communications Management Units, Margot Williams and Alyson Hurt, NPR, 3-3-11, retrieved 2011 03 04 from npr.org
  4. "Movements of the Japanese Red Army and the "Yodo-go" Group". Japanese National Police Agency. Retrieved September 7, 2011.
  5. Kyodo News, "Ex-Red Army member Maruoka dies", Japan Times, May 30, 2011, p. 2.
  6. "Yu Kikumura." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on January 6, 2010.
  7. "Naharnet — Lebanon's leading news destination". Naharnet. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  8. "Death row inmate apologizes to victims of 1974 bombing.". Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  9. Man linked to Red Army Faction arrested upon return from Pyongyang. Retrieved on June 9, 2007.
  10. "Alleged terrorist deported, tied to Olympic plot". Retrieved February 19, 2012.
  11. Terrorism and guerrilla warfare: forecasts and remedies, page 171.
  12. "Wanted radical Kunio Bando was in Philippines in 2000: sources.". Retrieved May 23, 2015.
  13. "Movements of the Japanese Red Army and the "Yodo-go" Group"" (PDF). National Police Agency, Japan. 2003. Retrieved March 15, 2007.
  14. "In what became known as the Lod Airport Massacre three members of the terrorist group, Japanese Red Army, arrived at the airport aboard Air France Flight 132 from Rome. Once inside the airport they grabbed automatic firearms from their carry-on cases and fired at airport staff and visitors. In the end, 26 people died and 80 people were injured." CBC News, The Fifth Estate, "Fasten Your Seatbelts: Ben Gurion Airport in Israel", 2007. Retrieved June 2, 2008.
  15. Blood and Rage, The Story of the Japanese Red Army.
  16. "1967-1993: Major Terror Attacks". GxMSDev. Retrieved May 23, 2015.

Bibliography

External links

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