Assassination of Inejirō Asanuma
| Assassination of Inejirō Asanuma | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Anpo counter-protests and far-right assassinations in post-war Japan | |
Yasushi Nagao's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of Yamaguchi attempting to stab Asanuma for a second time | |
| Location | Hibiya Public Hall, Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan |
| Date | October 12, 1960 3:05 p.m. (UTC+09:00) |
| Target | Inejirō Asanuma, Chairman of the Japan Socialist Party |
Attack type | Assassination by stabbing |
| Weapon | Wakizashi |
| Victim | Inejirō Asanuma |
| Perpetrator | Otoya Yamaguchi |
| Motive | Opposition and resentment towards Asanuma's words and actions during his visit to China and during the Anpo protests; deter the spread of left-wing movements in Japan |
On 12 October 1960, Inejirō Asanuma (浅沼 稲次郎, Asanuma Inejirō), chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, was assassinated at Hibiya Public Hall in Tokyo. During a televised debate, 17-year-old right-wing ultranationalist Otoya Yamaguchi charged onto the stage and fatally stabbed Asanuma with a wakizashi, a type of traditional short sword.
The assassination weakened the Japan Socialist Party, inspired a series of copycat crimes, and made Yamaguchi an enduring hero and subsequently a martyr to various Japanese far-right groups, including the Greater Japan Patriotic Party of which Yamaguchi had been a member.