Otoya Yamaguchi

Otoya Yamaguchi (山口 二矢, Yamaguchi Otoya; 22 February 1943 – 2 November 1960) was a Japanese right-wing ultranationalist youth who assassinated Inejirō Asanuma, chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, on 12 October 1960.

Yamaguchi rushed the stage and stabbed Asanuma with a wakizashi-like short sword while Asanuma was participating in a televised election debate at Hibiya Public Hall in Tokyo. Yamaguchi, who was 17 years of age at the time, had been a member of Bin Akao's far-right Greater Japan Patriotic Party, but had resigned earlier that year, just prior to the assassination.^[1] After being arrested and interrogated, Yamaguchi committed suicide while in a detention facility.

Yamaguchi became a hero and a martyr to Japanese far-right groups, who as of 2022,^[2] have continued to hold commemorations to this day.^[3] Yamaguchi's actions inspired a number of copycat crimes, including the Shimanaka incident in 1961, and inspired Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kenzaburō Ōe's novellas Seventeen and Death of a Political Youth.^[4][5] A photograph of the assassination taken by Japanese photojournalist Yasushi Nagao won World Press Photo of the Year for 1960 and the 1961 Pulitzer Prize.^[6][7]

Yamaguchi was born on 22 February 1943 in Yanaka, Taitō ward, Tokyo. He was the second son of Shinpei Yamaguchi, who by 1960 would become a high-ranking officer in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and was the maternal grandson of the famous writer Namiroku Murakami, well known for his violent novels glorifying the chivalric code of Japanese organized crime syndicates known as the yakuza.^[8]

Yamaguchi began reading newspapers starting in his early childhood. Angered by what he read, he became interested in nationalist movements and vehemently critical of politicians. Due to his father's job, he lived in Sapporo, Hokkaido for much of his childhood. In 1958, he was accepted into Tamagawa High School in Tokyo, however his father transferred him to Sapporo Kōsei, a local Catholic school in Sapporo. Yamaguchi then decided to move to Tokyo to live with his brother, and transferred back to Tamagawa High School.^[9]

Yamaguchi exhibited intense xenophobia from childhood, harboring deep revulsion toward foreigners, particularly Koreans and Chinese whom he perceived as "domineering" over Japan, fueling his early nationalist resentments.^[10] He also developed profound hatred for left-wing groups, including communists, socialists, and labor unions (such as Nikkyoso), associating them with post-war incidents like the Mitaka, Shimoyama, Shiratori, and Matsukawa cases, which he viewed as existential threats to Japan's national integrity.^[10]

Described as contrarian and rebellious from a young age, often arguing the opposite of others (for exemple: insisting "left" if someone said "right"), Yamaguchi frequently clashed with teachers over ideological differences and felt alienated in school environments, contributing to frequent school transfers and general isolation.^[10][11]He was portrayed as a lonely youth who ignored parental and school advice, ultimately dropping out of high school to dedicate himself fully to extremist activities.^[10] Through the influence of his brother, he began attending speeches and participating in protests and counter-protests organized by various right-wing groups.^[8]

On 10 May 1959, at age 16, he heard a speech by right-wing ultranationalist Bin Akao declaring that Japan was on the verge of a revolution, and that the youth must begin resisting the actions of left-wing groups. This speech had a profound impact on him. After the speech, while Akao was planning to go to the next location, Yamaguchi told Akao that he wanted to go along with him, but Akao gently declined. Following this, he formally joined Akao's Greater Japan Patriotic Party (大日本愛国党, Dai Nippon Aikokutō).^[8][9]

Akao was virulently anti-communist and strongly pro-United States. Thus when left-wing protesters, led by Asanuma and the Japan Socialist Party, staged the massive Anpo protests against the 1960 revision of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty (known as "Anpo" in Japanese), Akao became convinced that Japan was on the verge of a communist revolution and mobilized his followers to stage counter-protests.^[12] Yamaguchi participated in these counter-protest activities, and was arrested and released 10 times over the course of 1959 and 1960, within his first six months since joining Akao's party.^[9][12]

Yamaguchi's involvement with the Greater Japan Patriotic Party involved aggressive anti-communist actions, including disrupting left-wing events with propaganda, which led to repeated arrests (at least 10–17 documented incidents in 1959–1960) for offenses such as assault (throwing glue at opponents, striking individuals), obstruction of public duties, property damage, violence, and power abuse.^[10] Examples include driving propaganda vehicles into venues (causing injuries), physical clashes with leftists and police during Anpo protests, and repeated violations despite parental and party leader warnings to curb aggression.^[10] Due to this chronic pattern of violence, he was placed under four years of protective observation, indicating a disregard for legal consequences.^[10]

Over the course of his participation in the Anpo protests, Yamaguchi became further disillusioned with Akao's leadership, which he felt was not radical enough.^[13] In his testimony to the police after the assassination of Asanuma, Yamaguchi stated that Akao was always talking about taking out left-wing leaders, but was only interested in protests and media coverage, and that Akao would stop him if he ever tried to act on his words. Later in the interview, he stated that he had resigned from Akao's party in order to "lay [his] hands on a weapon" and be free to take more "decisive action".^[13]

On 12 October 1960, Yamaguchi was in the large crowd of 2,500 spectators at a televised election debate held in Hibiya Public Hall in Hibiya Park in central Tokyo, featuring Suehiro Nishio of the Democratic Socialist Party, Inejirō Asanuma of the Japan Socialist Party, and Hayato Ikeda of the Liberal Democratic Party. Asanuma was the second to speak, and took the stage at 3:00 p.m.

At 3:05 p.m., Yamaguchi rushed onto the stage and made a deep thrust into Asanuma's left flank with the 33-centimeter replica "wakizashi" he had stolen from his father.^{[note 3]} He was then swarmed and detained by bystanders. Asanuma then died within minutes from massive internal bleeding.

At the time of his arrest at the scene of the murder, Yamaguchi had a notebook in his pocket describing Asanuma's actions as unforgivable, as well as detailing his motivations for the attack.

In this note, he made mention of political controversy surrounding Asanuma's support for the then recently proclaimed People's Republic of China, the June 15th Incident during the Anpo Protests, as well as concerns over Japan potentially becoming communist.^[2]

Although Otoya Yamaguchi was influenced by the doctrine of the religious movement Seichō no Ie, particularly through founder Masaharu Taniguchi's writings such as Tennō Zettai-ron to Sono Eikyō (Absolute Theory of the Emperor and Its Influence), which Yamaguchi credited in his interrogation records with helping him overcome personal hesitation and embrace selfless loyalty to commit the act,^[15][16] Asanuma himself supported the founder of this movement, Masaharu Taniguchi.^[17] Taniguchi affirmed that Seichō no Ie was neither opposed to the Socialist Party nor aligned with the Liberal Democratic Party.^[18]

In the days following the assassination, an imperial envoy visited Asanuma's home in Shirakawa Town, Kōtō Ward, to deliver a sacrificial offering (saishiryō) from Emperor Hirohito,^[19]Hirohito publicly appealed for public order and obedience to the law. In a speech opening a special session of the National Diet on 18 October 1960, the emperor urged the Japanese people to "esteem the principle of obeying the laws" and to "shun violence", remarks widely understood as alluding to the killing of Asanuma and the unrest that followed. Contemporary observers described the address as the emperor's closest approach to intervening in a matter of grave national political concern since his renunciation of divinity in 1946.^[20]

The loss of Asanuma's adroit leadership and the new leadership that followed caused the party to head in a more centrist direction, and deprived the JSP of its ability to present a cohesive message, leading to severe infighting within the party.^[21] As a result, the number of seats the socialists held in the Diet continued to decline until the party's extinction in 1996.^[22]

In his November 1960 police confession, Yamaguchi compiled a list of primary targets for assassination to curb what he saw as Japan's slide toward communism, including figures like Iwao Kobayashi (Nikkyoso chairman), Sanzo Nosaka (Japanese Communist Party leader), Inejirō Asanuma (his victim), Ichiro Kono, Tanzan Ishibashi, and Koichiro Matsumoto.^[10]He extended criticism to Prince Mikasa, brother of Emperor Hirohito, including him on a broader target list. Yamaguchi accused the prince of opposing Kigen-setsu (Japan's National Foundation Day), making statements that denied the imperial family's role, and allowing himself to be "used by the left wing". He expressed a desire to seek the prince's "reflection by some means", interpreted in context as implying potential confrontation or violence, due to Mikasa's liberal and pacifist views, including criticisms of Japan's actions in the Greater East Asia War.^[10][11]No evidence indicates Yamaguchi acted on plans beyond Asanuma before his arrest and suicide.^[11]

Following the assassination, Yamaguchi was arrested and imprisoned awaiting trial. Throughout his incarceration, Yamaguchi remained calm and composed and freely gave extensive testimony to police. He spoke of goals pertaining to causing the restriction of behavior for future left-wing leaders, as well as a desire to negatively influence public perception of left-wing leaders and their ideology.

Yamaguchi spoke of Akao respectfully, referring to him using the honorific sensei (先生, master), however, also stating that Akao was more interested in "media attention" and "agitation", as opposed to actively putting his words and ideals to practice. Yamaguchi told police that Akao would have prevented him from carrying out the assassination had he known of his intentions, as well as consistently maintaining that he had acted alone and without any direction from others, stating the inaction on Akao's part as a component of his motivation and reasoning for resigning from the party and committing the offense.

Less than three weeks after the assassination, on 2 November, Yamaguchi mixed a small amount of toothpaste with water and wrote on his cell wall "Seven lives to serve the country (七生報国, shichishō hōkoku), Long live the Emperor" (天皇陛下万才, tennōheika banzai), the former part a reference to the famous last words of fourteenth-century samurai Kusunoki Masashige.^[3][2] Yamaguchi then knotted strips of his bedsheet into a makeshift rope and used it to hang himself from a light fixture.^[3][24]

On November 3, the day after Yamaguchi's suicide, Kyōko Asanuma, widow of Inejirō Asanuma, held a press conference to address the news. She stated that she had learned of Yamaguchi's death from the morning newspapers and expressed pity for the young man rather than hatred, while directing strong condemnation toward the influences that had radicalized him: "I learned of young Yamaguchi's suicide for the first time this morning in the newspapers. Rather than hating him, I feel more pity for him. Against the forces behind the scenes that instilled such ideas in a 17-year-old boy and drove him to assassination, a deep and burning hatred rises again from the bottom of my heart." She implicitly referenced the principle of "hating the crime but not the person", noting its difficulty in full application.^[25][26]

Right-wing groups celebrated Yamaguchi as a martyr; they gave a burial coat, kimono, and belt to his parents and performed a memorial service for him.^[27] His ashes were interred in Aoyama Cemetery.^[28]

A photograph taken by Yasushi Nagao immediately after Yamaguchi withdrew his sword from Asanuma won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize,^[29] and the 1960 World Press Photo award.^[7] Footage of the incident was also captured.^[30]

On 15 December 1960, just weeks after Yamaguchi's suicide, a nationwide coalition of Japanese right-wing groups held a "National Memorial Service for Our Martyred Brother Yamaguchi Otoya" in the same Hibya Public Hall in Tokyo where Yamaguchi had assassinated Asanuma.^[3] Since then, right-wing groups have held an annual commemoration of Yamaguchi's death anniversary each year on 2 November.^[3] In October 2010, right-wing groups staged a large-scale celebration of the 50th anniversary of Yamaguchi's assassination of Asanuma in Hibiya Park.^[27]

Yamaguchi's actions and the massive publicity they received inspired a rash of copycat crimes, as a number of political figures became targets of assassination plots and attempts over the next few years.^[3] Of the notable crimes inspired by Yamaguchi's attack, one was the Shimanaka Incident of 1 February 1961. In this incident, Kazutaka Komori, a 17-year-old member of the Greater Japan Patriotic Party, attempted to assassinate the president of Chūō Kōron magazine for publishing a graphic dream sequence depicting the beheading of the emperor and his family. This played a role in establishing what came to be known as the Chrysanthemum taboo.^[31][32]

Japanese author Kenzaburō Ōe based his 1961 novellas Seventeen and Death of a Political Youth on Yamaguchi.^[5]

Yamaguchi's assassination and suicide have been critiqued in Japanese sources as heinous terrorism that contributed to perceptions of increasing "brutalization" in post-war juvenile delinquency.^[11]His extremism made "patriotism" appear frightening to the public, associating right-wing ideology with violence and evoking fears similar to those of organized crime.^[11]

The case inspired ongoing controversy and threats, such as those against author Kenzaburō Ōe for fictional works inspired by the event, perpetuating cycles of intimidation and societal division.^[11]

Below is the original, untranslated transcriptions from various statements made by the subject of this article.

• Kapur, Nick (2018). Japan at the Crossroads: Conflict and Compromise after Anpo. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674984424.