芒鈧揇estiny: The Secret Operations of the Yodog脜聧 Exiles芒鈧

October 19, 12:00pm - 1:15pm
Mānoa Campus, Kuykendall 409A

In 1970, nine members of a Japanese New Left group called the Red Army Faction hijacked a domestic airliner to North Korea with dreams of acquiring the military training to bring about a revolution in Japan. The North Korean government accepted the hijackers芒鈧漺ho became known in the media as the Yodog脜聧 group芒鈧漚nd two years later they announced their conversion to juche, North Korea芒鈧劉s new political ideology.

An example of superb investigative journalism, Destiny: The Secret Operations of the Yodog脜聧 Exiles offers K脜聧ji Takazawa芒鈧劉s powerful story of how he exposed the Yodog脜聧 group芒鈧劉s involvement in the kidnapping and luring of several young Japanese to North Korea, as well as the truth behind their Japanese wives芒鈧劉 presence in the country. Takazawa芒鈧劉s careful research was validated in 2002, when the North Korean government publicly acknowledged it had kidnapped thirteen Japanese citizens during the 1970s and 1980s, including three people whom Takazawa had connected to the Yodog脜聧 hijackers. Embedded in his pursuit toward what truly happened to the Yodog脜聧 members is Takazawa芒鈧劉s personal reflection of the 1970s, a decade when radical student activism swept Japan, and what it meant to those whose lives were forever changed.

This talk will trace the story of the Yodog脜聧 exiles to North Korea, K脜聧ji Takazawa芒鈧劉s involvement in their story and his work of investigative journalism, and how I came to edit the English translation of his book.

Patricia G. Steinhoff is Professor of Sociology at UH M脛聛noa, and a specialist on the Japanese New Left.


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Center for Biographical Research, Mānoa Campus

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