If you've visited Japan before, you've more than likely passed by one of the many police boxes scattered across the cities. If you're particularly observant or curious, you've probably seen these posters before. On the right are missing people
A visiting friend once commented to me about some of these faces. "It's amazing how even Japan has wanted posters," she said.
These people are wanted for a reason. Depending on your perspective, the people on these photos are either heroes destined for martyrdom or dangerous terrorists. These people aren't really a topic that I personally have had a chance to discuss, so I don't have the opportunity to get a gauge of the general population's feelings about these people. Media would have me believe that it is largely negative, although there is some tolerance for their sentiments.
The people you see on those wanted posters belong to a group called the Japanese Red Army. The JRA, founded in Lebanon in 1971, was an organization with the goal of dismantling the government and monarchy of the time. The group adopted a Marxist philosophy as they felt that the system if imperialism and capitalism made the rich richer, and the poor poorer.
Its leader, Fusako Shigenobu, is now behind bars, but as you can see in the posters, there are still a number of key members that are still free. There is speculation on their whereabouts, from local in Tokyo, to very difficult to reach places like North Korea. Arrests of these members have taken place in many parts of the world since their active days, such as the Philippines, Jordan, and Lebanon.
A quick look at their history, listed on Wikipedia, shows that they were responsible for quite a few terrorist attacks. They've bombed a US Military recreational club in Naples, Italy, stormed a French Embassy in the Netherlands, and hijacked a bunch of planes in the Eastern Hemisphere. Between their alleged thirty or so members, hundreds of people have been killed. Their actions are heavily related to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the group was a huge supporter of the Palestine side.
The daughter of the former leader, Mei Shigenobu, is now a journalist. She still supports Palestine's statehood and is now a major critic of Israel. At some point, Israel officials petitioned for her to stop her criticisms of the Israeli government, but the Japanese people sided with Mei, stating that she was a Japanese under Japan's freedom of speech. Mei fully believes in her mother, stating that in that era it was difficult to get her message across. It was a time when radical measures were necessary, whereas now there are more effective avenues of conveying a message. It seems then, as an outsider, there is support for the cause, but not the means of the group.
Now the members that are at large are seniors with Fusako, in particular, sitting in prison at the age of 74. The other members would likely be in the same age range as well if they are alive. Despite their age, the police still believe that they pose a threat to society.
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