1970s Bombing Suspect, Satoshi Kirishima, Possibly ID’d in Japanese Hospital; Deadly Attacks Hit Business Offices in Tokyo

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:44 JST, January 26, 2024

A man believed to be Satoshi Kirishima, 70, who is wanted for suspected involvement in a series of bomb incidents targeting companies in the 1970s, has been found staying in a hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture, according to sources of police.

The Metropolitan Police Department’s Public Safety Bureau believes there is a high possibility that the patient is Kirishima and is proceeding to confirm his identity.

Kirishima, a member of the extreme leftist group East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front, which was responsible for the series of bombings, is wanted on suspicion of violating the Explosives Control Law.

According to sources, the patient called himself “Satoshi Kirishima,” and his identifying details are said to match those of Kirishima.

The serial bombings targeted companies expanding overseas one after another from 1974 to 1975. A blast at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. building in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on Aug. 30, 1974, killed eight people and injured about 380 others.