The return of homegrown terrorism.

last updated 8 January 2015

Japan

Editorial

Terrorism has come again to Japan, said Tokyo’s Asahi Shimbun in an editorial. An arsonist recently burned down the family home of lawmaker Koichi Kato, former secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. It’s a lucky accident that Kato’s 97-year-old mother, who gave birth to him in that house, was out at the time. Kato has made no secret of his opposition to fellow party member Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi over the visits to shrines that honor Japanese war criminals. The suspect in the arson, who “attempted hara-kiri ritual suicide” after lighting the fire, is a member of a right-wing group that supports maintaining the shrine and even rehabilitating the imperialists who laid waste to much of Asia. Badly burned and wounded in the abdomen, the suspect can’t speak, but we can “assume this was an act of terrorism against Kato’s remarks.” The act conjures up black memories for Japan, of the prewar period, when terrorists routinely assassinated political leaders, and again of the 1970s, when militant groups from both left and right attracted followers throughout the country. “We never want Japan to retreat to such a dark age again. Terrorism must be contained.”