Japanese Para-Military Groups
In post-war Japan, several left-wing militant groups emerged, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, driven by opposition to U.S. military presence, dissatisfaction with Japan's political system, and global ideological movements.
Though the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) is a legal political entity, in the early post-war period, violent factions aligned with or split from the party participated in anti-government and anti-U.S. activities. However, the JCP distanced itself from violence in the 1950s and embraced parliamentary politics, though it was linked with some violent incidents earlier in its history. The Zengakuren (All-Japan Federation of Student Self-Government Associations), founded in 1948, soon focused on anti-U.S. and anti-nuclear protests, Zengakuren became associated with radical student politics and violent protests during the 1960s and 1970s. Notable activities included mass protests against the renewal of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty (Anpo) in 1960. Members clashed with police during demonstrations against U.S. military bases and Japanese government policies. While not a terrorist group, Zengakuren's more radical factions engaged in violence and clashes with police.
The Chukaku-ha (Central Core Faction) was founded in 1957 as a far-left faction within the Japan Revolutionary Communist League with the goal to create a Marxist-Leninist revolution in Japan. Chukaku-ha engaged in violent protests, particularly in the 1960s and 1970s, including attacks on police and infrastructure such as railways. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Chukaku-ha continued violent activities, including attacks on Japanese companies and opposition to the construction of Narita International Airport. The group remains active, although its influence has waned significantly.
The Japanese Red Army (JRA) was founded in 1971 by Fusako Shigenobu. The JRA aimed to overthrow the Japanese government and spark global revolution through violence and terrorism. Notable activities in cluded the 1970 hijacking of a Japan Airlines flight to North Korea. In the 1972 Lod Airport Massacre in Tel Aviv, Israel, JRA members, worked with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), killed 26 people and wounded over 70. In 1977 the JRA hijacked another Japan Airlines flight, demanding the release of JRA prisoners and a large ransom. The group declined in the 1980s, and in 2001, leader Fusako Shigenobu was arrested, marking the effective end of the JRA as an organized force.
The United Red Army (URA) was founded 1971 from a merger of two radical leftist groups. The goal was to incite revolution in Japan by targeting the state and capitalists. The URA became infamous for the 1972 "Asama-Sanso Incident," a police standoff with URA members who had taken hostages in a mountain lodge. The incident ended with a police assault and the group's collapse. During its brief existence, URA also engaged in internal purges, resulting in the killing of several of its own members. The URA essentially dissolved after the Asama-Sanso Incident, with most leaders either dead or in custody.
The East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front emerged in the 1970s. This ultra-leftist group that sought to destroy Japanese imperialism and capitalism, linking it with historical grievances in Asia. It bBombed corporate targets and engaged in sabotage in Japan during the 1970s, notably targeting Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Tokyo in 1974, which resulted in eight deaths and 376 injuries. Several other splinter factions and small groups, often falling under the broader "New Left" banner, emerged in post-war Japan. These groups were inspired by anti-Vietnam War protests, opposition to the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, and global leftist movements. Many of these groups adopted violent tactics, engaging in bombings, assassinations, and other forms of domestic terrorism.
Extreme left-wing violent groups that aim to bring about a communist society through violent revolution still maintain clandestine organizations that act as execution forces for "terrorist and guerrilla attacks," and they are involved in mass and labor movements while concealing their violent and partisan nature in order to maintain and expand their organizations.
By 2018, far-left violent groups, while concealing their violent and partisan nature, campaigned against the passage of the bill on the establishment of related laws to promote work style reform, claiming that the bill would take away workers' rights, and called for the "overthrow of the government" and opposition to constitutional amendments. Similarly, they engaged in anti-war and anti-base movements, including the opposition to the relocation of Futenma Air Base to Henoko, Nago City in Okinawa Prefecture, as well as anti-nuclear power movements against the construction and restart of nuclear power plants, and sought to gain sympathizers and supporters through these activities.
The Revolutionary Marxist faction published a book compiling the speech records of the faction's founder, the late Kuroda Kanichi, and called for people to study the book, continuing to work on inheriting the theories advocated by the former chairman. In addition, the All Japan Railway Workers' Union Confederation (JR-Souren) and the East Japan Railway Workers' Union (JR East Union), in which the Revolutionary Marxist faction is thought to have significantly infiltrated, decided at their regular conventions to work on reconstructing their organizations based on the labor movement theory advocated by the late Matsuzaki Akira, former president of JR East Union and vice-chairman at the time of the faction's founding, in response to the withdrawal of over 30,000 union members from JR East Union.
The Chukaku-ha adhered to a "class-based labor movement line" that sought to expand its organization through the labor movement, and engaged in recruitment activities while intervening in labor disputes and mass movements. In addition, the Chukaku-ha-affiliated All Japan Student Self-Government Association Confederation (Zengakuren) focused on recruiting young people, and engaged in recruitment activities at universities around the country regardless of whether activists were enrolled there or not, and actively used social media and video sharing sites in its recruitment activities. In addition, Zengakuren established a new executive committee with a current student at the University of Tokyo as its chairman.
The mainstream faction of the Revolutionary Labor Union Association and the anti-mainstream faction of the Revolutionary Labor Union Association each published an appeal for the clandestine organization "Revolutionary Army" in their official newspapers at the beginning of 2018, calling for a leap forward and development in armed struggle.
While the influence of violent left-wing groups in Japan has diminished since their peak in the 1970s, some splinter groups remain active in limited ways, and Japan has retained a heightened sensitivity to domestic terrorism as a result of this era.
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