DNA Test Increases Likelihood of Deceased Man Being ‘70s Bombing Suspect Satoshi Kirishima; Tokyo Police Conduct Search on Man’s Home

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:32 JST, February 2, 2024

A DNA typing on the recently deceased man who claimed to be Satoshi Kirishima, wanted in connection with serial bombings in the 1970s, revealed that his DNA type is consistent with that of Kirishima’s relatives, according to investigative sources.

The Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Security Bureau determined that the result increased the possibility of the man being Kirishima and searched the man’s home in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Friday.

The man had been working as a live-in employee at a civil engineering company in Fujisawa under the alias of Hiroshi Uchida for several decades. He was admitted to a hospital in Kamakura in the prefecture and claimed his real name was Satoshi Kirishima on Jan. 25, according to investigators. He had terminal stomach cancer and died at the hospital on Jan. 29.

Kirishima was a member of the extreme left-wing group East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front. He was wanted by police for his involvement in the April 1975 bombing of a building in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, one in a series of corporate bombings in the 1970s.

The police received samples from Kirishima’s relatives and conducted DNA testing in order to identify the man. The MPD searched his home from 10 a.m. Friday for any evidence related to the case and to elucidate the circumstances of Kirishima’s life on the run.