Japan Airlines Flight 351
Encyclopedia
Japan Airlines Flight 351 was hijacked by nine members of the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction (a predecessor of 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...

) on March 31, 1970 while flying from Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 to Fukuoka
Fukuoka, Fukuoka
is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...

, in an incident usually referred to in Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 as the . The hijackers took 129 hostages (122 passengers and seven crew members), later releasing them at Fukuoka Airport
Fukuoka Airport
, formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located east of Hakata Station in Fukuoka, Japan. It is officially designated a second class airport. It is operating at full capacity, and cannot be further expanded. Flights stop at 10 p.m...

 and Seoul
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

's Kimpo Airport. They then proceeded to Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...

's Mirim Airport
Mirim Airport
Mirim Airport, sometimes referred to as Pyongyang East Airfield, is an airport in Pyongyang-si, North Korea.- Facilities :The airfield has a single concrete runway 09/27 measuring 4310 x 69 feet . It is sited along the Taedong River on the eastern edge of the capital city of Pyongyang...

, where they surrendered to North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

n authorities, who offered the whole group asylum
Right of asylum
Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...

. Yoshimi Tanaka was arrested in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 and repatriated to Japan in March 2000. However, the other hijackers remain at large, according to Japan's National Police Agency. The leader of the group, Takamaro Tamiya died in 1995 and Yoshida Kintaro before 1985. Takeshi Okamoto and his wife Fukudome Kimiko were probably killed trying to flee North Korea. Takahiro Konishi, Shiro Akagi, Kimihuro Uomoto, Moriaki Wakabayashi still reside in North Korea; all except Takeshi Okamoto were confirmed to have been alive when they were interviewed by Kyodo News
Kyodo News
is a nonprofit cooperative news agency based in Minato, Tokyo. It was established in November 1945 and it distributes news to almost all newspapers, and radio and television networks in Japan. The newspapers using its news have about 50 million subscribers. K. K. Kyodo News is Kyodo News' business...

. In June 2004, the remaining hijackers made a request to North Korean authorities that they be allowed to return to Japan.

Notable People

Moriaki Wakabayashi was an early member (bass player) in the long-running avant-garde rock band Les Rallizes Dénudés
Les Rallizes Denudes
Les Rallizes Dénudés were an influential, yet reclusive Japanese avant-garde band. They originally began in 1962 as a musical theatre troupe, however the formation of the band was not until 1967...

. The future Roman Catholic archbishop and cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao was one of the passengers on this flight. Japanese pop singer Mita Akira was also on this flight, as was Shigeaki Hinohara. Dr. Hinohara, at the age of 97 years and 4 months, is one of the world's longest-serving physicians and educators.

In a March 2010 interview with Kyodo News
Kyodo News
is a nonprofit cooperative news agency based in Minato, Tokyo. It was established in November 1945 and it distributes news to almost all newspapers, and radio and television networks in Japan. The newspapers using its news have about 50 million subscribers. K. K. Kyodo News is Kyodo News' business...

, Moriaki Wakabayashi stated that the hijacking was a "selfish and conceited" act. Wakabayashi added that he wished to return to Japan and was willing to face arrest and trial for his role in the hijacking.

The alleged mastermind of the hijacking, who did not take part in the actual operation, was Takaya Shiomi. Shiomi was arrested, convicted, and served 20 years in prison in Japan. After his release, suffering from poor health, Shiomi obtained a job as an attendant at a multi-level parking facility in Kiyose, Tokyo
Kiyose, Tokyo
is a city in Tokyo, Japan.-Demography:As of April 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 73,974 , the density of 7,222.87 persons per km² and there are 32,741 households in the city.-Geography:...

, where he was working as late as 2008. He mentioned that they were suppose to go to Cuba in the first place.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK