Sword-loving man planned crusade

Yomiuri Shimbun/December 20, 2003

Kokuzoku Seibatsu-tai (traitor punishment corps), which claimed responsibility for a string of shootings that targeted Aum Supreme Truth cult facilities and an office building of Hiroshima Prefecture's teachers union, turned out to be a group of Japanese sword enthusiasts from Gifu Prefecture and Yokohama.

Ichiro Murakami, 54, chairman of the Token Tomo no Kai group who was arrested Friday, had expressed anticommunist and anti-U.S. sentiments on his Web site. When he was arrested, he stated: "I will devote myself to my beloved nation."

Murakami also led a mission to the Senkaku Islands, which are the subject of a territorial dispute among Japan, China and Taiwan.

In May 2001, he traveled to the islands with senior members of a rightist group. Murakami also has written a book on the territorial issue.

He became the president of cutlery sales company Nihon Rejin, owned by his wife's family, in 1985. However, he gave the stepped down in favor of his wife the following year, took the post of chairman and gave up day-to-day running of the business.

Murakami organized the sword enthusiasts group from among the customers of Nihon Rejin. In a group newsletter, he wrote, "We shall march into battle under the banner of anticommunism, anti-Americanism and antisocialism." He described the members as "modern-day samurai."

A source close to Murakami said, "He began to act and speak violently about three years ago, writing like right-winger."

The six people arrested are all members of the sword enthusiasts group. One of them, Takahiro Azabu, 38, was one of Murakami's closest aides and also worked for him as a secretary. Fumio Nonoyama, 52, who dealt in antique Japanese swords, also was close to Murakami through business deals.

Link with gun established

Police have discovered that the gun used in the three attacks, which they believe involved Murakami, was the same as that used in attacks on the Niigata headquarters building of the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) and another anti-North Korean attack, sources close to the police said Friday.

The police plan to further investigate Murakami's involvement in the attacks.

One of the cases under investigation occurred on July 29, when a gun was fired at Chongryon's front gate. The other case concerns an incident when a gun was fired at the front door of Chogin Nishi Credit Union in Okayama, a pro-Pyongyang financial institution, on Aug. 23.

The police said the bullets were .38-caliber and bore marks identical to the bullets recovered from the three attacks on Aum Supreme Truth cult's facilities in Tokyo and Osaka and the office building of Hiroshima Prefecture teachers union, the sources said.

After the shooting in Niigata, a man who claimed to be a member of Kenkoku Giyugun called news agencies and claimed responsibility for the attack.

After the Okayama shooting, a man who said he was part of Kenkoku Giyugun Chosen Seibatsu-tai (nation-building volunteer corps to punish Koreans) called The Yomiuri Shimbun and said the group was behind the attack.

The police have concluded that the same gun was used in all five incidents, the sources said. They plan to further investigate other cases claimed by the Seibatsu-tai group.

Minshuto politician denies link

Token Tomo no Kai described House of Representatives member Shingo Nishimura as its highest adviser. Nishimura belongs to Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan).

For the election held in November, Murakami contributed 1 million yen to the party branch office headed by Nishimura.

"We thought Murakami was one of our supporters, but we will return all the money to avoid any possible misunderstanding," the lawmaker's office said.

About 30 officers from the Metropolitan Police Department entered Murakami's house in Gifu at about 8:40 a.m.

They led him out of the house shortly after 9:15 a.m. Dressed in a dark blue suit and brown coat he got into a police car and left without saying a word.

At about the same time, seven to eight police officers arrived in two cars at Nonoyama's apartment building in Yokohama. They entered his room on the third floor but did not find the man they were looking for. The officers were seen using cardboard boxes to remove a variety of items from the house.