Fusako Shigenobu
Encyclopedia
is the founder and former leader of the now disbanded Japanese Red Army
.
Her father was a teacher at Terakoya
or temple schools (寺子屋 terakoya) open for poor village children at temples in the Kyushu region south of Japan after the First World War. He later became a Major
in the Imperial Japanese Army
dispatched to Manchuria
, which was under Japanese control before and during the Second World War.
receiving a BA in Political Economy and a BA in History. She joined the student movement that was protesting the increase of tuition fees, and this led her to activism in the student leftist movement of the 1960s. She rose up the ranks of the movement until she became one of the top leaders.
. The Red Army went on to link up with the Maoist Revolutionary Left Wing of the Japanese Communist Party to form the United Red Army
. Upon hearing about the internal purge the United Red Army carried out in the winter of 1971-1972, Shigenobu recalls her shock and sorrow. She and Okudaira wrote My Love, My Revolution (わが愛わが革命) as a response.
She remained in the Middle East for more than 30 years. Her move was part of International Revolutionary Solidarity, with the idea that revolutionary movements should cooperate and eventually lead to a global socialist revolution. Her destination was Lebanon, and her aim was to support the Palestinian fight for freedom. She originally joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
as a volunteer, but eventually the Japanese Red Army
became an independent group. She mentions in several of her books "The mission's purpose was to consolidate the international revolutionary alliance against the imperialists of the world."
in November 2000 The Japanese citizens were startled to see a handcuffed middle-aged woman emerge from a train arriving in Tokyo. When she spotted the waiting cameras, she raised her hands and gave the thumbs-up sign, shouting at reporters: "I'll fight on!"
Fusako Shigenobu was sentenced to 20 years in prison on March 8, 2006 and received a final verdict from the Supreme Court in 2010 with the same sentence terms. The prosecution charged her on three counts, the use of forged passport, aiding another member in the Japanese Red Army
in obtaining a forged passport, and attempted manslaughter by planning and commanding the occupation and hostage taking at the French embassy in
Hague. Fusako Shigenobu pleaded guilty to the first two charges, but not guilty to the charge linking her to the 1974 French embassy hostage crisis in the Hague, the Netherlands. Among the witnesses that appeared in her court for the defense team was Leila Khaled
, who is known for the 1969 hijacking of TWA Flight 840 (1969)
, and who is now a member of the Palestinian National Council
. In his final verdict, the judge stated that there was no conclusive evidence of her involvement in the armed occupation of the French embassy that resulted with the injury of two policemen or in the intention of attempted manslaughter, but sentenced her for possibly conspiring with members of her group to occupy the embassy.
Shigenobu has said she regrets the violent means by which she sought revolution, but not the cause she espoused. At a press conference before the sentence in February 2006, her lawyers read a haiku she had composed: "The verdict is not the end. It is only the beginning. Strong will shall keep spreading."
In December 2008, Fusako was diagnosed with colon and intestinal cancer and underwent an operation in prison to remove them in January 2009. She is now receiving chemotherapy treatment.
She is the mother of Japanese
national Mei Shigenobu
.
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...
.
Early life
Shigenobu was born on September 28, 1945 in the Setagaya Ward of Tokyo. After high school, she went to work for the Kikkoman Corporation, and began to take college courses at night school at Meiji University.Her father was a teacher at Terakoya
Terakoya
Terakoya were private educational institutions that taught writing and reading to the children of Japanese commoners during the Edo period.-History:...
or temple schools (寺子屋 terakoya) open for poor village children at temples in the Kyushu region south of Japan after the First World War. He later became a Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
dispatched to Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
, which was under Japanese control before and during the Second World War.
Involvement in the Student Movement
Fusako Shigenobu attended Meiji UniversityMeiji University
is a private university in Tokyo and Kawasaki, founded in 1881 by three lawyers of the Meiji era, Kishimoto Tatsuo, Miyagi Kōzō, and Yashiro Misao. It is one of the largest and most prestigious Japanese universities in Tokyo, Japan....
receiving a BA in Political Economy and a BA in History. She joined the student movement that was protesting the increase of tuition fees, and this led her to activism in the student leftist movement of the 1960s. She rose up the ranks of the movement until she became one of the top leaders.
Japan Red Army
In February 1971, she and Tsuyoshi Okudaira went to the Middle East to make international contacts for the Japanese Red Army Faction. Upon arrival, she soon split with the Red Army Faction in Japan due to both geographical and ideological distance, as well as a personal conflict with the new leader, Tsuneo MoriTsuneo 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...
. The Red Army went on to link up with the Maoist Revolutionary Left Wing of the Japanese Communist Party to form the United Red Army
United Red Army
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...
. Upon hearing about the internal purge the United Red Army carried out in the winter of 1971-1972, Shigenobu recalls her shock and sorrow. She and Okudaira wrote My Love, My Revolution (わが愛わが革命) as a response.
She remained in the Middle East for more than 30 years. Her move was part of International Revolutionary Solidarity, with the idea that revolutionary movements should cooperate and eventually lead to a global socialist revolution. Her destination was Lebanon, and her aim was to support the Palestinian fight for freedom. She originally joined 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...
as a volunteer, but eventually the 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...
became an independent group. She mentions in several of her books "The mission's purpose was to consolidate the international revolutionary alliance against the imperialists of the world."
Arrest
She was arrested in OsakaOsaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
in November 2000 The Japanese citizens were startled to see a handcuffed middle-aged woman emerge from a train arriving in Tokyo. When she spotted the waiting cameras, she raised her hands and gave the thumbs-up sign, shouting at reporters: "I'll fight on!"
Fusako Shigenobu was sentenced to 20 years in prison on March 8, 2006 and received a final verdict from the Supreme Court in 2010 with the same sentence terms. The prosecution charged her on three counts, the use of forged passport, aiding another member in the 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...
in obtaining a forged passport, and attempted manslaughter by planning and commanding the occupation and hostage taking at the French embassy in
1974 French Embassy attack in The Hague
On September 13, 1974, three members of the Japanese Red Army stormed the French Embassy in The Hague allegedly on Fusaku Shigenobu's orders. The ambassador and ten other people were taken hostage and a Dutch policewoman, Hanke Remmerswaal, was shot in the back, puncturing a lung...
Hague. Fusako Shigenobu pleaded guilty to the first two charges, but not guilty to the charge linking her to the 1974 French embassy hostage crisis in the Hague, the Netherlands. Among the witnesses that appeared in her court for the defense team was Leila Khaled
Leila Khaled
Leila Khaled is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine . She is currently a member of the Palestinian National Council...
, who is known for the 1969 hijacking of TWA Flight 840 (1969)
TWA Flight 840 (1969)
TWA Flight 840 was a Trans World Airlines flight from Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport in Rome, Italy to Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, that was hijacked on 29 August 1969...
, and who is now a member of the Palestinian National Council
Palestinian National Council
The Palestinian National Council is the legislative body of the Palestine Liberation Organization and elects its Executive Committee, which assumes leadership of the organization between its sessions. The Council normally meets every two years. Resolutions are passed by a simple majority with a...
. In his final verdict, the judge stated that there was no conclusive evidence of her involvement in the armed occupation of the French embassy that resulted with the injury of two policemen or in the intention of attempted manslaughter, but sentenced her for possibly conspiring with members of her group to occupy the embassy.
Shigenobu has said she regrets the violent means by which she sought revolution, but not the cause she espoused. At a press conference before the sentence in February 2006, her lawyers read a haiku she had composed: "The verdict is not the end. It is only the beginning. Strong will shall keep spreading."
In December 2008, Fusako was diagnosed with colon and intestinal cancer and underwent an operation in prison to remove them in January 2009. She is now receiving chemotherapy treatment.
She is the mother of Japanese
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...
national Mei Shigenobu
Mei Shigenobu
is the daughter of Japanese Red Army communist Fusako Shigenobu and of a Palestinian guerilla fighter who was reportedly the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Some news agencies have given her name as May Shigenobu.-Early life:...
.
In Popular Culture
- Eileen MacDonald's 1991 book Shoot the Women FirstShoot the Women FirstShoot the Women First is a 1991 book by Eileen MacDonald.The book, a collection of interviews, is based on the author's encounters with female terrorists. Her book analyzes the subjects, their reasons, and their modus operandi...
mistakenly conflates Fusako Shigenobu with Hiroko NagataHiroko Nagata-Web:...
, attributing to Shigenobu the actions of Nagata at the United Red ArmyUnited Red ArmyThe 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...
purge of 1971-72. - The actress Anri Ban portrayed Shigenobu in the Kōji WakamatsuKoji Wakamatsuis 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...
film United Red ArmyUnited 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...
(2007). - In 2009, artist Anicka Yi and architect Maggie Peng created a perfume dedicated to Shigenobu, called Shigenobu Twilight.
- In 2010, Fusako Shigenobu and her daughter MayMei Shigenobuis the daughter of Japanese Red Army communist Fusako Shigenobu and of a Palestinian guerilla fighter who was reportedly the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Some news agencies have given her name as May Shigenobu.-Early life:...
were featured in the documentary Children of the Revolution (2010 film)Children of the Revolution (2010 film)Children of the Revolution is a 2010 documentary by Irish filmmaker Shane O'Sullivan about Ulrike Meinhof and Fusako Shigenobu, leaders of the German Red Army Faction and the Japanese Red Army....
, which premiered at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam.
Publications
- 1974: My Love, My Revolution『わが愛わが革命』 Kodansha. http://webcatplus-equal.nii.ac.jp/libportal/DocDetail?txt_docid=NCID%3ABN02343808
- 1983: 『十年目の眼差から』 話の特集、ISBN 4826400667
- 1984: If You Put Your Ear to the Earth, You Can Hear the Sound of Japan: Lessons from The Japanese Communist Movement 『大地に耳をつければ日本の音がする 日本共産主義運動の教訓』ウニタ書舗、ISBN 4750584096
- 1984: Beirut, Summer 1982 『ベイルート1982年夏』話の特集、ISBN 4826400829
- 1985: Materials: Reports from the Middle East 1 『資料・中東レポート』1（日本赤軍との共編著）、ウニタ書舗、http://webcatplus-equal.nii.ac.jp/libportal/DocDetail?txt_docid=NCID%3ABN05202176
- 1986: Materials: Reports from the Middle East 2 『資料・中東レポート』2（日本赤軍との共編著）、ウニタ書舗、http://webcatplus-equal.nii.ac.jp/libportal/DocDetail?txt_docid=jBKID%3AB8604287
- 2001: I Decided to Give Birth to You Under an Apple Tree 『りんごの木の下であなたを産もうと決めた』幻冬舎、ISBN 434400082X
- 2005: Jasmine in the Muzzle of a Gun: Collected Poems of Shigenobu Fusako 『ジャスミンを銃口に 重信房子歌集』幻冬舎、ISBN 4344010159
- 2009: A Personal History of the Japanese Red Army: Together with Palestine 『日本赤軍私史 パレスチナと共に』河出書房新社、ISBN 978-4309244662