Japanese Red Army (JRA)

Japan and Lebanon.

The JRA had two main goals. The first was to overthrow the Japanese monarchy; the second goal was to foment an international communist revolution. In pursuing both objectives, JRA approved of the use of violent tactics, including kidnapping, hijacking and armed attacks.

The group is believed inactive. JRA had as many as 40 core members during its most active period in the 1970s and 1980s.

JRA historically had ties to insurgent groups in Lebanon and Palestine, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). JRA also created a front or a close affiliate group in Algiers in 1986 during meetings with representatives of the PFLP. This group was called the Anti-Imperialist International Brigade (AIIB). Within Japan, JRA may have worked with a leftist group called the Anti-War Democratic Front.

The Japanese Red Army conducted a series of attacks that were not only spectacularly bold but also extremely lethal. The success of the group in hostage-taking, obtaining ransoms and hijacking stemmed from its audaciousness. JRA grew from a local group to an international player.

The Japanese Red Army (JRA) was originally formed as a splinter group of the Red Army Faction, a military arm of the Japanese Communist League. These groups developed from the anti-Vietnam War activities in the 1960s. JRA's actions escalated dramatically from the student protests to some of the bloodiest terrorist actions of the 1970s and 1980s.
 
The group was founded in 1971 in Lebanon by leader Fusako Shigenobu, a former member of the Red Army Faction. It is unclear whether JRA actually existed in 1970, but in March of that year terrorist members of either the Red Army Faction or the JRA hijacked a Japan Airlines Boeing 727. The flight was directed to Seoul, South Korea, where all passengers were released, and then to North Korea, where the terrorists defected.
 
A series of similar actions followed. The bloodiest of these took place in May 1972, when JRA launched a machine-gun and grenade attack on Israel's Tel Aviv airport, leaving 26 dead. Through 1988, JRA conducted several spectacular aircraft hijackings, often including the taking of hostages. JRA then successfully bargained with national governments, including Japan and France, trading the hostages for money, for the release of JRA members who had been arrested, or to gain passage overseas including entry to Syria and Libya.
 
With the cooperation of the PFLP, the Japanese Red Army established training facilities in Lebanon, where it set up its main base of operations. The group also reportedly sought to set up operations in Cuba, North Korea, the Philippines and Singapore. JRA seemed to have little difficulty in placing its operatives worldwide, including the Netherlands, India, Italy, Malaysia and the United States.
 
Between 1987 and 2000, security forces progressively apprehended key JRA leaders, leading to a decline in the organization's activities. JRA was the first Japanese group to be listed by the U.S. State Dept. as a terrorist group.

1970
March: A small group of JRA (or Red Army Faction) members armed with samurai swords hijacked a Japan Airlines flight with 131 passengers and seven crew aboard. The flight was eventually diverted to Pyongyang, North Korea, where the JRA members defected. Passengers had been released during a stop in South Korea.
 
1971
A few members of the Japanese Communist League Red Army Faction established a base in the Syrian-controlled area of Lebanon. JRA leader Fusako Shigenobu was among the group, which was assisted by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
 
1972
May: JRA members attacked the Lod Airport (later Ben Gurion Airport) in Tel Aviv, Israel. The terrorists used machine guns and grenades during the attack, leaving 26 persons dead, including two Red Army members. About 80 other persons were injured.
 
1973
July: Members of JRA and PFLP guerrillas hijacked a Japan Airlines (JAL) flight over the Netherlands. During a three-day saga, the flight made stops at Dubai and Damascus, Syria. The flight eventually landed in Libya where the passengers and crew were released. The hijackers then blew up the aircraft.
 
1974
January: Two Japanese members of JRA and two Arab PFLP members attempted to blow up a Shell Oil refinery in Singapore, but succeeded only in setting fire to a storage tank. The terrorists took eight hostages and threatened to kill the hostages and commit suicide unless they were given free passage to an Arab country. All five hostages were freed unharmed.
 
February: Five PFLP members took over the Japanese Embassy in Kuwait and demanded that their colleagues in Singapore be provided passage to Kuwait. A Japan Air Lines plane took the Singapore contingent to Kuwait, picked up the PFLP terrorists and took the JAR and PFLP members to Aden, in Yemen, where they were freed. The hostages were released before the flight left Kuwait.
 
September: Members of JRA seized 11 hostages at the French Embassy at the Hague in the Netherlands. During the attack, two Dutch police personnel were wounded. After several days, officials acceded to the terrorist demands and released a JRA member who had been jailed. The terrorists also received $300,000 and were provided air transport first to Yemen, where they were not accepted, and then to Syria. In return, the hostages at the Hague were released.
 
1975
August 1975: JRA members infiltrated a diplomatic compound in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The building housed personnel from several countries and the hostages included the U.S. consul and the Swedish charge d'affaires. The terrorists gained the release of five imprisoned colleagues and escaped with them to Libya.
 
1977
September: The Japanese Red Army hijacked a Japan Air Lines plane over India and forced it to land in Dhaka, Bangladesh. During a five-day period, the hijacked plane was taken to Bangladesh, Kuwait, Syria and Algeria. The Japanese government eventually paid a $6 million ransom and freed six imprisoned JRA members.

December: A suspected lone member of the JRA hijacked a Malaysian Air Lines plane en route to Singapore. On board were several Malaysian government officials and the Cuban ambassador to Japan. The aircraft crashed, killing all on board. It is uncertain if the hijacker shot the pilots.
 
1983
JRA leader Fusako Shigenobu told the Japanese press that his group had "left the way of absolute terror." Nevertheless, the JRA continued to plan and execute attacks during the 1980s, although on a much smaller scale.
 
1986
May 1986: The Red Army fired mortar rounds at the embassies of Japan, Canada and the United States in Jakarta, Indonesia.
 
1987
June: JAR launched attacks on the British and United States embassies in Rome, Italy. While keeping its primary base in Lebanon, the group also sought to expand its bases beyond the Middle East.
 
November: The Japanese government launched a concerted campaign against the terrorist group and arrested JRA operative Osamu Maruoka. Security forces learned that the group was apparently organizing cells in Asian cities, including Manila and Singapore.
 
1988
April 12: Authorities apprehended JRA operative Yu Kikumura in the United States on the New Jersey Turnpike. Kikumura was in possession of explosives, likely designed for a coordinated attack with a bombing that occurred two days later in Italy. Kikumura was convicted and sentenced to prison in the U.S.
 
April 14: Using a car bomb, JRA members kill five people in an attack on a U.S. servicemen's club in Naples, Italy. While a "Jihad Brigade" claimed responsibility for the incident, the Italian government said it was carried out by two members of the JRA.
 
1990
JRA activities declined during the 1990s following a Japanese government crackdown.
 
2000
November: The Japanese government arrested JRA leader Fusako Shigenobu on charges of terrorism and passport fraud.
 
2001
April: JRA leader Shigenobu issued a statement indicating that JRA was disbanding. She also declared that she intended to pursue her goals through legitimate political means rather than violence.
 
October: The U.S. State Dept. removed JRA from its list of foreign terrorist organizations. 
 
2007
JRA remained on the State Dept.'s "watch" list.
 
March 30: Former JRA member Jun Nishikawa was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1977 Japan Airlines hijacking and the 1974 French Embassy seizure in the Netherlands.
 
April: Kikumura was deported to Japan after completing a 20-year prison term. Japanese police arrested Kikumura at Tokyo's Narita International Airport as he arrived from the United States.