Simultaneous Guerrilla Attacks on Kokuden by CORE Faction (1985)

Simultaneous Guerrilla Attacks on Kokuden by CORE Faction (1985)

In November 1985, a series of simultaneous arson and sabotage attacks occurred at approximately 20 locations on Japan National Railways (now JR lines) in the Tokyo metropolitan area. The attacks were carried out by the People's Revolutionary Army, an unofficial core group, as a political protest against the split-up and privatization of Japan National Railways (JNR). The reform of the Japanese National Railways promoted by Nakasone's cabinet had divided the labor movement and accelerated the radicalization of left-wing extremists. The incident paralyzed the railroad network, affecting about 300,000 commuters. The core faction turned to urban guerrilla warfare even after the decline of the student movement, and the ideology of the cadres was deeply connected to the executioners. Police conducted a nationwide manhunt and arrested many of them. The incident was called "one of the largest postwar guerrilla incidents. Socially, the radical movement was considered outdated, and the
student and labor movements that followed rapidly declined. In Japan at the end of the Cold War, the incident symbolized the end of leftist ideology and the advent of neoliberalism.