You are cordially invited to the next DIJ Forum on

Wednesday, June 06, 18.30h - 20.00 h



*Destiny: The Secret Operations of the Yodogﾅ贀 Exiles*
Patricia G. Steinhoff, University of Hawai'i at Mﾄ］oa
Scott North, Osaka University



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 military training in order to bring about a revolution in Japan. The North Korean government accepted the hijackers ﾌｶ who became known in the media as the Yodogﾅ贀 group ﾌｶ and two years later they announced their conversion to juche, North Korea's political ideology. A superb example of investigative journalism, Destiny: The Secret Operations of the Yodogﾅ贀 Exiles offers Kﾅ綱i Takazawa's powerful story of how he exposed the Yodogﾅ贀 group's involvement in the kidnapping and luring of several young Japanese to North Korea, as well as the truth behind their Japanese wives' presence in the country. Takazawa'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ﾅ贀 hijackers. Embedded in his pursuit of what truly happened to the Yodogﾅ贀 members is Takazawa'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ﾅ贀 exiles to North Korea, Kﾅ綱i Takazawa's involvement in their story and his work of investigative journalism.
Kﾅ綱i Takazawa is a leading authority on the Japanese New Left and has close ties to some of its surviving participants and institutions.



*Patricia G. Steinhoff* is professor of sociology at the University of Hawai'i at Mﾄ］oa and a specialist on the Japanese New Left.
*Scott North* is professor of sociology at the Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University.



The event is held in English. After the panel discussion there will be time for Q&A and networking. Admission is free; registration is required via https://dij.tokyo/forum or forum@dijtokyo.org.



Deutsches Institut fur Japanstudien - German Institute for Japanese Studies
Tel: 03 3222 5198, Fax: 03 3222 5420
www.dijtokyo.org