Dissenting Japan: A History of Japanese Radicalism and Counterculture, from 1945 to Fukushima by William Andrews

Author:William Andrews
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2016-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

9

THE WOLF, THE SCORPION AND THE FANGS

30 August 1974 must have seemed just like any ordinary working day in the heart of Japan’s economic powerhouse, Ōtemachi-Marunouchi. Largely owned by Mitsubishi, the Tokyo Station area is the centre of Japan’s finance and business. Many major corporations have their headquarters there, along with several big newspapers and overseas companies. Ginza is within walking distance, as are the lush grounds of the Imperial Palace.

It was lunchtime so the streets were busy with workers popping out of their offices to eat during the break. It had been cloudy since the morning and there was no wind, making for a humid temperature of over 30 degrees Celsius. Masashi Daidōji had left the magazine sales company in Yushima where he worked at 11.45. He had gone to a coffee shop near Ochanomizu Station and ordered a drink. Right on time, Toshiaki Kataoka pulled up in Daidōji’s car, and he waited. Daidōji got in and Kataoka began to drive on. After a little while Kataoka parked the car and they got out.

Daidōji took two pails from the boot, wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. They looked like two large cans of cinema projection film, only an English word was written on the paper: ‘Danger’. Inside these heavy but inconspicuous drums were 40 kilograms of explosives. The two men now performed their final preparations by pulling out the safety pins. Then they went out on to the main road and waited. They still had time. At 12.10 they hailed a passing taxi and directed it to Marunouchi. They rode in the car with their packages. As the taxi approached the headquarters of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, they instructed the driver to pull up. Masashi Daidōji got out. They were two minutes ahead of schedule. It was 12.23.

A co-conspirator, Ayako Daidōji, Masashi’s wife, was waiting in front of the building by some flowerpots. She was supposed to give them a hand signal if there was any reason to abort. There was no hand signal. Kataoka saw someone about to come and take their taxi. He feared this might mean the driver would remember where their journey had ended, so he acted quickly. He stayed in the car and asked to be taken to Tokyo Station, which was just around the corner. ‘I’ve remembered another thing to do,’ he told Masashi, who consented and let him go. He was left alone to finish what they came to do. He took his two pails to the flowerpots, conscious of being spotted by security guards at any moment. With a practised casualness he placed the two cans down by the flowerpots and then entered the Mitsubishi building. He passed through and out the other side. He walked to Tokyo Station and took a train back to Ochanomizu. He was back at his office an hour after leaving. All had gone to schedule.

Ayako stayed watching the flowerpots. The security guard in the Mitsubishi building did not seem to notice the objects, perhaps because the shadow of the flowerpots shielded them.

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