In 1959, Japan Socialist Party (JSP) member Inejiro Asanuma returns from a delegation to China, soon making a speech in which Asanuma states that "American imperialism is an enemy for both China and Japan."

In 1960, Asanuma, now chairman of JSP, helps lead opposition efforts against the US-Japan Security Treaty. Later that year, he is assassinated on live television while giving a speech at a political debate. His 17-year old assassin, Otoya Yamaguchi, rushes the stage and stabs him to death with a sword (pictured above). Yamaguchi is immediately arrested, but later hangs himself in his jail cell.

I first learned of this in late 1999, when I opened up Bruce Bernard's Century, an 1,100 page book full of photos of the past 100 years. The above photo was the biggest attention grabber. The photo's caption: Socialist Party of Japan chairman Asanuma assassinated by right-wing extremist on live television in 1960.

So I went searching the Internet for stuff about Asanuma. But I came up empty, only finding sites that said what Century had already told me. Desperate, I realised that the CIA must have something on the assassination. After all, this Inejiro fellow had called the US an imperialist nation (not exactly a compliment), and his death must've been considered an important event. So I had to figure out how to ask the CIA for the info it had gathered on the murder.

Sometime in 2000, I stumbled across the ACLU's "Using the Freedom of Information Act" webpage . Using the ACLU's examples, I wrote the CIA the following:

December 4, 2000

Information and Privacy Coordinator
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C. 20505

Dear Coordinator:

Under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. subsection 552, I am requesting information or records on: the 1960 assassination of Japanese Chairman Inejiro Asanuma, the possible motivation behind his killer(s), possible supporters of the killer(s), Japanese and foreign national surveillance of Asanuma, and foreign national involvement with the assassination. I only wish to see the related documents from between the years 1955 through 1975. ...

About a month later, I recieved a response. The CIA had accepted my request.

Then, on May 24, 2001, I returned home to find the results.

Dear Mr. Ku:

This is a final response to your 4 December 2000 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for records pertaining to the 1960 assassination of Japanese Chariman Inejiro Asanuma. Your request was processed in accordance with the FOIA, 5 USC 552, as amended, and the CIA Information Act, 50 USC 431. Our processing included a search for records in existence as of and through the date of our acceptance letter, 19 December 2000.

We have completed a thorough search for records responsive to your request and located material which we have determined is properly classified and must be denied in its entirety on the basis of FOIA exemptions (b)(1) and (b)(3). An explanation of exemptions in enclosed.

You have the right to appeal this decision by addressing your appeal to the Agency Release Panel within 45 days from the date of this letter, in my care. Should you choose to do this, please explain the basis of your appeal.

We appreciate your patience during the period required to process this request.

Sincerly,
Kathryn I. Dyer
Information and Privacy Coordinator

Exemption explanations (b)(1) and (b)(3) were defined on an enclosed page as follows:

(b)(1)

Applies to material which is properly classified pursuant to an Executive order in the interest of national defense or foreign policy;

(b)(3)

Applies to information pertaining to the CIA Director's statutory obligations to protect from disclosure intelligence sources and methods, as well as the organization, functions, names, official titles, salaries or numbers of personnel employed by the Agency, in accordance with the National Security Act of 1947 and/or the CIA Act of 1949;

The idea that the CIA might have something to do with the assassination of Asanuma had always been in the back of my head. That possibility was always there, but I had thought it more likely that Asanuma was a victim of a conspiracy born within his own nation of Japan. But now I was not so sure.

Why would the US classify information in its entirety, for "national defense", that it had on an assassination of a foreign political leader? An assassination that occurred 40 years ago?

I had expected some documents to be released. Anything, really. I expected to see documents from field agents, reporting on the situation. Sensitive info, such as the agent's methods and identity, would be blacked out, I assumed. But instead, I got nothing.

Maybe this is a typical action for the CIA to take. I e-mailed William Blum, author of Killing Hope, for advice and info. Blum had no info on the Asanuma case, but his advice told me that the CIA's action here was not all that special and that it was a way of delaying things. I would have to appeal their decision, and if that fails, file suit.

---

I have found very little info on Asanuma, the assassination, and Japanese politics of the time. The most info I've been able to pick up has been from Britannica.com, an online encyclopedia. It describes how labour and student movements were very active at the time, and how at one point "gigantic public demonstrations, largely composed of students, shook Tokyo" in opposition to the 1960 renewal of the US-Japan Security Treaty. Apparently, public opposition was so strong that US President Eisenhower's visit to Japan was cancelled, and Japan's prime minister, Kishi Nobusuke, resigned in July of 1960. (Nobusuke served in Tojo's cabinet during WW2, and was later named a war criminal. How Nobusuke was able to achieve power, I do not know.)

Another helpful source came from a Japanese cemetary's website, apparently describing the lives of the people who were buried there. Asanuma was one of them. I used the various research tools available at my unversity, but came up empty there, too. I plan on asking professors dealing with Japanese politics and history about the subject as soon as possible.

Please consider helping me gather info on this case. If you have a department at your college that deals with Japanese history/politics, consider asking the professors there about the situation. Or scour the Internet for info that I wasn't able to find. E-mail me any info you find at jerryku@earthlink.net

and of course, i will update this page as i gather more info

---

update: July 16, 2002

The CIA got my appeal letter and replied on June 20th, 2001. They've accepted the appeal, but they said they've got about 350 appeals to deal with before they get to mine.

In September, I made an appointment with ACLU Houston and talked with attorney Greg Gladden. I wanted to know what options I had if the CIA denied my appeal, which I was expecting. Greg told me to expect the CIA's decision in a month or two, and that if I wanted to take this to court with him as my lawyer, it would cost me $2000+. Finding out that I was neither Japanese nor related to Asanuma, Mr. Gladden advised I simply forget about this. I found this odd, since he had just stated that victory in court was likely, as the CIA would likely give up some documents, even if they were largely meaningless. With victory, the court would order the losing defendant to pay for my lawyer fees.

In October '01, Attorney General Ashcroft said that the Justice Dept will back up any federal agency that wishes to keep info away from FOIA requests so long as it's legally sound. Previous FOIA policy was that all info should be released so long as the info released is not dangerous to US National Security. In other words, my FOIA request concerning Inejiro Asanuma may be doomed to failure. It could be years before FOIA policy loosens up. But I still wish to file a federal complaint against the CIA, as Mr. Blum suggested. This only costs $100 and would usually have a moderate chance of success.

In November '01, I wrote the CIA again, asking about the status of my appeal. April 29 2002, the CIA writes back saying that they recieved my November 19 letter on April 25th. They say the delay in response is due to an anthrax-tained mail issue, but that my appeal is still on track for consideration by the Agency Release Panel.

Now it's July 16, more than a year since my appeal was accepted, and still no word.

update: July 18

I have also been told that the Asanuma event is well written about in Japanese, but that there is virtually nothing about it in English. I am currently searching the Bay Area for someone who can read Japanese and who can help me dig up the history of this all. The universities of Stanford and Berkeley have large Japanese archives... so that's the next stop!

 

Jerry Ku
jerryku@earthlink.net
AIM JerryKu7
ICQ 24866836