On 12 October 1960, Inejirō Asanuma (浅沼 稲次郎, Asanuma Inejirō), chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, was assassinated at Hibiya Public Hall in Tokyo. During a televised debate, 17-year-old Otoya Yamaguchi, an extreme anti-communist activist, charged onto the stage and fatally stabbed Asanuma with a wakizashi, a type of traditional short sword.
The assassination weakened the Japan Socialist Party, inspired a series of copycat crimes, and made Yamaguchi an enduring hero and subsequently a martyr to various Japanese far-right groups, including the Greater Japan Patriotic Party of which Yamaguchi had been a member.
Background
Inejirō Asanuma was a prominent Japanese politician and chairman of the Japan Socialist Party. Known for his energetic campaigning style and working-class appeal, he was affectionately called "Numa-san" and the "Human Locomotive" by supporters. In 1959, Asanuma caused controversy in Japan by visiting the People's Republic of China and delivering a speech in Beijing in which he declared American imperialism a "common enemy" of China and Japan. He stated that Taiwan was part of China and Okinawa part of Japan, attributing their separation from their respective mainlands to American imperialism, and called for the removal of foreign military bases and nuclear disarmament in Asia. He also advocated Japanese independence from the United States and proposed an Asian peace and security system involving Japan, China, the Soviet Union, and the United States. In the conclusion of his speech, Asanuma linked these goals to socialism, arguing that humanity's true nature lay not in conflict between people, classes, or nations, but in resolving such conflicts and collectively struggling against "great Nature." He presented contemporary China as an example of this ideal in practice. In spite of the strong backlash from conservatives and right-wing groups, Asanuma refused suggestions from those around him to accept a bodyguard. He replied, "I am a socialist. It is not necessary," and expressed firm confidence that "the masses believe in me" and "no one would try to kill me."
Asanuma was a democratic socialist who led the right-leaning faction of the Japan Socialist Party and was ideologically distinct from the Japanese Communist Party. In a speech criticizing the conservative government's policies, Asanuma warned:
"The Yoshida Cabinet has completely failed to respond to the passionate feelings of the people. Instead, it blindly follows America in foreign policy, while in domestic policy it races full speed ahead on a reactionary and reverse course. This has given rise to fascist reactionary politics that drive progressive citizens to despair. At the same time, it has created openings for the Communist Party to run rampant, opened the path to both left-wing and right-wing totalitarianism, and placed our homeland and democracy in grave crisis."
Despite his left-wing politics, Asanuma was known for his personal reverence for the Emperor. He maintained a kamidana in his modest apartment and performed daily rituals there. At the founding convention of the Japan Socialist Party on 2 November 1945, Asanuma called on attendees to stand and perform remote worship toward the Imperial Palace; more than half reportedly joined him, while some participants protested. Asanuma also advocated maintaining the kokutai and, together with Toyohiko Kagawa and others, participated in a threefold cry of "Tenno Heika Banzai!" On one occasion, he became furious and loudly reprimanded a journalist who made mocking remarks about the Emperor during an informal conversation.
After returning to Japan, Asanuma, in his role as leader of the Japan Socialist Party (日本社会党, Nihon Shakai-tō; JSP), became one of the key leaders and main public faces of the massive Anpo protests, a series of protests against the 1960 revision of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty (known as "Anpo" in Japanese).
Asanuma and the JSP led a number of mass marches on the Japanese National Diet. Most notable, as referenced in Yamaguchi's writings, was the June 15th incident, where on 15 June 1960, anti-treaty protestors stormed the National Diet compound. This led to a brawl with police and counter-protestors, resulting in severe injuries.
Right-wing groups and individuals, such as Bin Akao and his Greater Japan Patriotic Party (大日本愛国党, Dai Nippon Aikoku Tō), were doubly upset with Asanuma for portraying the U.S. as Japan's main enemy on his trip to China and for actively opposing the Security Treaty. The massive left-wing protests convinced Akao, his party, and many other right-wing groups that Japan was on the verge of a communist revolution. The aforementioned began staging and participating in protests, counter-protests, and other political activities. Akao gave numerous public speeches, notably mentioning the important role of the youth in resisting their political rivals. One of these speeches attracted the attention of 17-year-old Otoya Yamaguchi, who would resultingly join the party, participate in their activities, and later assassinate Asanuma.
Perpetrator
Yamaguchi was born on 22 February 1943 in Yanaka, Taitō ward, Tokyo, the son of a high-ranking officer in the Imperial Japanese Army. Beginning in early childhood, Yamaguchi began reading newspapers. Angered by what he read, he became vehemently critical of politicians and later interested in nationalist movements. Through his older brother's influence, he began attending speeches and participating in right-wing protests and counter-protests. At age 16, he formally joined Bin Akao's ultranationalist Greater Japan Patriotic Party.
Yamaguchi participated in the Anpo counter-protests, and was arrested and released 10 times over the course of 1959 and 1960.
Ideological influences
Although Otoya Yamaguchi was influenced by right-wing ultranationalist groups, he was also shaped 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, Asanuma himself supported the founder of this movement, Masaharu Taniguchi. Taniguchi affirmed that Seichō no Ie was neither opposed to the Socialist Party nor aligned with the Liberal Democratic Party.
A further motivational factor may have been Akao's personal view of Asanuma. Akao, who had known Asanuma since their time on Miyake-jima, once described him as "a good person, which makes it regrettable to deal with him" (善人だから始末に悪い), a comment some sources suggest influenced Yamaguchi's motives alongside Asanuma's statement labeling American imperialism as the common enemy of Japan and China, as recorded in Yamaguchi's Memorial of Severing the Traitor.
Over the course of the Anpo protests, Yamaguchi became disillusioned with Akao's leadership, and later resigned from the party. In his testimony given to police, 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."
Assassination
On 12 October 1960, Asanuma was participating in a televised election debate at Hibiya Public Hall in central Tokyo, featuring the leaders of the three major political parties. Also scheduled to participate were Suehiro Nishio of the Democratic Socialist Party and prime minister Hayato Ikeda of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The debate was sponsored by the Japanese Elections Commission, the Alliance for Clean Elections and national broadcaster NHK, which was also televising the event. There was also an audience of 2,500 people in the hall.
Nishio spoke first, and at 3:00 p.m., Asanuma advanced to the podium and began his speech. Immediately, right-wing groups in the audience began loudly heckling him, and the television microphones and reporters sitting in the front row could not hear him, forcing the NHK moderator to interrupt and call for calm. At 3:05 p.m., the audience finally calmed down. As Asanuma said "During elections, they keep policies that would be unpopular with the public a secret, and then once they have won a majority in the election, they will..." ("選挙の際は、国民に評判の悪い政策は、全部伏せておいて、選挙で多数を占むると..."), Yamaguchi rushed onto the stage and made a deep thrust into Asanuma's left flank with a 33-centimetre (13 in) samurai short sword (wakizashi) that he had stolen from his father. Yamaguchi then attempted to stab Asanuma a second time before being swarmed and detained by bystanders.
Bin Akao, who was present, reportedly remarked to someone nearby upon noticing the limited bleeding, "Little boy, did you miss your chance?" (坊や、やりそこなったかな). Newsreel footage from "Mainichi News" captured him praising the act with "The little boy did well, he's great" (坊やがよくやったもんだ、偉いもんだ) and welcoming a girl who had traveled to Tokyo intending to assassinate the Japan Teachers' Union chairman.
Autopsy later confirmed that Yamaguchi's thrust had punctured Asanuma's aorta, causing rapid and massive internal hemorrhage with virtually no external bleeding, which is why initial observers believed the wound was not immediately fatal. Asanuma was immediately rushed out of the hall and to a nearby hospital, but died minutes before arriving.
Content of Asanuma's last speech
Asanuma’s address (titled in effect "Our party’s attitude toward the coming general election") had already covered several major themes before the interruption: criticism of the Ikeda cabinet's Income Doubling Plan (inflation outpacing wage gains, unemployment risks from trade liberalization, "cutting off" small farmers, inadequate social security and tax relief, special tax breaks for large corporations, and flaws in the forthcoming National Pension Law); opposition to the revised U.S.–Japan Security Treaty (foreign bases as extraterritorial enclaves, loss of sovereignty, heightened war danger—quoting Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that "the existence of foreign bases within a country means that foreign powers have entered into its very heart, and they always carry the scent of war"— and the need for active neutrality plus a four-power security framework involving Japan, the United States, the Soviet Union and China); the urgency of normalizing relations with the People's Republic of China; and a defense of parliamentary democracy against the practice of concealing unpopular policies during elections and then forcing them through by numerical majority afterward. In the course of the speech he also referred positively to moderate figures within the Liberal Democratic Party, noting that even within the LDP there were people such as former Prime Minister Tanzan Ishibashi and Kenzo Matsumura who possessed common sense and a good outlook.
The precise last words spoken, after the moderator restored order, were: "During elections, they keep policies that would be unpopular with the public a secret, and then once they have won a majority in the election, they will..." (選挙のさいは国民に評判の悪いものは全部捨てておいて、選挙で多数を占むると...)
According to the published draft, he intended to continue: "push through anything using the power of the majority. What is the point of elections or a Diet if this is allowed? This is the majority party digging its own grave for parliamentary democracy." (どんな無茶なことでも国会の多数にものをいわせて押し通すというのでは、いったい何のために選挙をやり、何のために国会があるのか、わかりません。これでは多数派の政党がみずから議会政治の墓穴を掘ることになります。)
The undelivered conclusion went on to condemn the May 1960 forced passage of the Security Treaty, call for major issues affecting peace and democracy to be put to the electorate, denounce "money politics," and pledge that a Socialist-centered "constitution-protecting, democratic, neutral" government would restore clean parliamentary practice, prioritize China relations and constitutional defense, and guarantee hope for youth, jobs, and security for the elderly.