Attempted assassination of the Mayor of Shiraoi
8 March 1974 stabbing of Asari Giichi, mayor of Shiraoi, Hokkaido
On 8 March 1974, a 22-year-old ethnically Japanese man called Yagi Tatsumi tried to kill the mayor of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, Asari Giichi (浅利義市) in the mayor's office,[1] managing to stab him in the neck.[2] According to Tatsumi, the murder attempt was done to protest what he considered to be the mistreatment of the indigenous Ainu people of Hokkaido. The incident occured amidst a larger of anti-Japanese terrorist attacks performed by pro-Ainu organizations like the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front.
Giichi survived the attempt, and Tsatsumi was stopped. However, far-left violence in Japan failed to cease. A similarly-intentioned arson attack in the September of that same year in Shiraoi.[3]