October 26, 2010:
Japanese police recently raided fifteen locations used by radical leftist group Kakurokyo. The group is violently opposed to the presence of American troops in Japan, and is suspected of firing improvised mortar projectiles at U.S. bases and off-base housing. Kakurokyo has not killed many people, most of the fatalities (less than five) were members killed during internal disputes. But the group is seen as a potential threat. Its heyday was in the 1970s, when it had about 70,000 members and held lots of rowdy demonstrations against just about everything (the emperor, capitalism, Americans, war and whatever else was fashionable at the time.) Now there are only a few thousand members, but a much larger percentage of them are very radical, and police fear that violent attacks will become more frequent. The recent raids did not arrest anyone, but lots of documents and equipment was seized.