Latest news with #Sekihotai
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Man in Japan arrested over suspected attempt to repeat 1987 attack on reporters
Police in Japan have arrested a man over a parcel containing threats sent to a news outlet in a suspected copycat attempt of the most serious attack on the media in the country's modern history. Kazuhiro Muto, 38, was arrested at his home in the city of Fuji, Shizuoka prefecture, on June 3, a month after a parcel allegedly from him was delivered to an office of the Asahi Shimbun in Nishinomiya, the newspaper reported. The parcel arrived just after the anniversary of the May 3, 1987 attack in the same office, in which an Asahi reporter was shot dead and another seriously injured. A group calling itself 'Sekihotai' in a statement claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed 29-year-old Tomohiro Kojiri and severely wounded his colleague, Hyoe Inukai, then 42. A letter purportedly sent by the group carried the message: 'We do not accept anyone who betrays Japan. We sentence all Asahi Shimbun employees to death.' The gunman was never identified, and the statute of limitations in the case expired in 2002. The parcel that allegedly involved Muto contained photographs of Asahi reporters that had been defaced, a toy gun and a statement that quoted the original claim of responsibility for the 1987 attack. The statement was signed 'Reiwa Sekihotai', with Reiwa being the name of the present imperial era of Japan.
Asahi Shimbun
23-04-2025
- Asahi Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun Hanshin Bureau to pay tribute to slain reporter
A photograph of slain reporter Tomohiro Kojiri is on display in the archive room at The Asahi Shimbun's Hanshin Bureau in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on May 3, 2024. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) NISHINOMIYA, Hyogo Prefecture—A special altar will be set up in The Asahi Shimbun's Hanshin Bureau here on May 3 on the 38th anniversary of a deadly attack that took the life of a young reporter. The event will commemorate slain reporter Tomohiro Kojiri, 29. The public can visit the special altar on the first floor of the bureau, which is located near Hanshin Nishinomiya Station, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the day. It will also make a notebook available for the public to write down their thoughts. The archive room documenting the case, located on the bureau's third floor, will be open to the public on the day. The incident occurred on Constitution Day in 1987. At around 8:15 p.m., a masked man armed with a shotgun entered the editorial office on the second floor of the bureau and fired two shots, killing Kojiri and seriously wounding another reporter, Hyoe Inukai, who was 42 at the time. An extremist group calling itself 'Sekihotai' claimed responsibility for the attack, but the culprits have never been found. The case remained unsolved and the statute of limitations for prosecution expired in May 2002. There were eight incidents involving people claiming to be Sekihotai members from the late 1980s to 1990. They include a shooting at The Asahi Shimbun's Tokyo Headquarters in January 1987; an attack on The Asahi Shimbun's Nagoya Headquarters' dormitory in September 1987; and the attempted bombing of The Asahi Shimbun's Shizuoka Bureau in March 1988. The National Police Agency conducted a wide investigation, but the statute of limitations expired on all these cases by March 2003.
