Kazutaka Komori (小森 一孝, Komori Kazutaka, May 25, 1943 – November 1971[ citation needed]) was a Japanese right-wing ultranationalist youth who attempted to assassinate Japanese journalist and magazine publisher Hōji Shimanaka in February 1961, in what became known as the Shimanaka Incident. [1] Komori sought retribution for a fictional story published in one of Shimanaka's magazines which featured a dream sequence in which the Emperor and Empress were beheaded by a guillotine. [2] Shimanaka was away from home at the time of Komori's assault, and he ended up stabbing Shimanaka's wife and murdering his housemaid. [3] Komori was 17 years old at the time of his attack. [3]
Komori was born in Nagazaki, Japan, on May 25, 1943. [4] His mother, Tatsu, committed suicide when he was a young boy. [4] His neighbors later described him as having been a "moody" child, and in high school he was once admitted to a mental hospital following a nervous breakdown. [4] After graduating from high school, he drifted around the country taking on various odd jobs. [4] On January 3, 1961, he joined prominent ultra-rightist Bin Akao's Greater Japan Patriotic Party, and withdrew from the party just hours before his attack on Shimanaka's household. [4] [3]
On February 1, 1961, at the age of 17, Komori went to the home of prominent Tokyo publisher Hōji Shimanaka with the intent to kill him in retribution for a fiction story by Shichirō Fukazawa printed in Shimanaka's magazine Chūō Kōron that described the overthrow and murder of the Japanese Imperial family. [1] The story, which satirized the recent Anpo protests, depicted a dream sequence in which the reigning emperor and empress were beheaded, along with the crown prince and princess. [5] Shimanaka was not at home but Komori murdered his 51-year-old maid and critically injured the publisher's wife. [3] Komori initially fled the scene, but later turned himself in to police. [3]
Komori was tried as an adult and sentenced to 15 years in prison. [6] [7] This murder and the assassination of Inejiro Asanuma by Otoya Yamaguchi led to the arrest of Bin Akao in 1961. [8] Komori died in prison in 1971.[ citation needed]
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