United Red Army
Encyclopedia
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
. The United Red Army had 29 members and lost 14 by killing them in less than a year.
Early in August, two defectors were lynched and their bodies buried in Inba numa marsh
, Chiba Prefecture
. In the winter of 1971–72 the United Red Army was hiding in the mountains in Gunma Prefecture
. They established camps and trained for military
purposes. The leaders of the United Red Army encouraged their fighters to examine their weaknesses in criticism and self-criticism, and these sessions turned into lynchings. The group purged itself one by one of members deemed not sufficiently revolutionary. Many of the twelve victims died tied to posts in the open, exposed to the elements, but others were beaten to death or slaughtered with knives. The first died on 31 December and the last on 12 February. The United Red Army leaders later did not admit that they had killed, but called it . In mid-February two men escaped, and the remaining paramilitaries decided to abandon their mountain base. But the police had already closed in on them. Tsuneo Mori and Hiroko Nagata were caught and then the others, but five militants escaped, took a woman hostage, and held out for nine days in a holiday lodge, in the Asama-Sanso incident
. By the end of the siege they had shot and killed two policemen and a civilian.
In 1977, the Red Army hijacked a plane and made it land in the old Dhaka Airport, at that time there was also an air force mutiny going on in Dhaka. After negotiations led by Vice President Sattar, the terrorists released 2/3 of the hostages and flew off to another location.
United Red Army leader Tsuneo Mori
killed himself in prison on 1 January 1973. The second in command, Hiroko Nagata
and Hiroshi Sakaguchi were sentenced to death. Nagata died on 5 February 2011 from brain cancer while still being held in a detention facility. Sakaguchi is still alive in prison.
Fusako Shigenobu
, the leader of the Lebanon based Japanese Red Army
was a member of the Red Army Faction. She left Japan to train with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
at the end of February, 1971. Her group conducted its most deadly assault, the Lod airport massacre
on 30 May 1972.
The group is the subject of the 2007 film United Red Army
, directed by Kōji Wakamatsu
.
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...
revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
armed group
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
, established on 15 July 1971. It united the Red Army Faction, led in 1971 by Tsuneo Mori
Tsuneo Mori
was a Japanese radical leftist. He was born in Osaka and entered the Osaka City University. After some members of the Red Army were arrested by the Japanese police while he escaped from them, several members of the group went to North Korea with Japan Airlines Flight 351 and some formed the...
and the Maoist Revolutionary Left Wing of the Japanese Communist Party, led by Hiroko Nagata
Hiroko Nagata
-Web:...
. The United Red Army had 29 members and lost 14 by killing them in less than a year.
Early in August, two defectors were lynched and their bodies buried in Inba numa marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
, Chiba Prefecture
Chiba Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region and the Greater Tokyo Area. Its capital is Chiba City.- History :Chiba Prefecture was established on June 15, 1873 with the merger of Kisarazu Prefecture and Inba Prefecture...
. In the winter of 1971–72 the United Red Army was hiding in the mountains in Gunma Prefecture
Gunma Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the northwest corner of the Kantō region on Honshu island. Its capital is Maebashi.- History :The remains of a Paleolithic man were found at Iwajuku, Gunma Prefecture, in the early 20th century and there is a public museum there.Japan was without horses until...
. They established camps and trained for military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
purposes. The leaders of the United Red Army encouraged their fighters to examine their weaknesses in criticism and self-criticism, and these sessions turned into lynchings. The group purged itself one by one of members deemed not sufficiently revolutionary. Many of the twelve victims died tied to posts in the open, exposed to the elements, but others were beaten to death or slaughtered with knives. The first died on 31 December and the last on 12 February. The United Red Army leaders later did not admit that they had killed, but called it . In mid-February two men escaped, and the remaining paramilitaries decided to abandon their mountain base. But the police had already closed in on them. Tsuneo Mori and Hiroko Nagata were caught and then the others, but five militants escaped, took a woman hostage, and held out for nine days in a holiday lodge, in 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...
. By the end of the siege they had shot and killed two policemen and a civilian.
In 1977, the Red Army hijacked a plane and made it land in the old Dhaka Airport, at that time there was also an air force mutiny going on in Dhaka. After negotiations led by Vice President Sattar, the terrorists released 2/3 of the hostages and flew off to another location.
United Red Army leader Tsuneo Mori
Tsuneo Mori
was a Japanese radical leftist. He was born in Osaka and entered the Osaka City University. After some members of the Red Army were arrested by the Japanese police while he escaped from them, several members of the group went to North Korea with Japan Airlines Flight 351 and some formed the...
killed himself in prison on 1 January 1973. The second in command, Hiroko Nagata
Hiroko Nagata
-Web:...
and Hiroshi Sakaguchi were sentenced to death. Nagata died on 5 February 2011 from brain cancer while still being held in a detention facility. Sakaguchi is still alive in prison.
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...
, the leader of the Lebanon based Japanese Red Army
Japanese Red Army
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...
was a member of the Red Army Faction. She left Japan to train with 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...
at the end of February, 1971. Her group conducted its most deadly assault, 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 30 May 1972.
The group is the subject of the 2007 film United Red Army
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...
, directed by Kōji Wakamatsu
Koji Wakamatsu
is 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...
.