Hiroko Nagata

Infobox Criminal
subject_name = Hiroko Nagata


image_size = 200px
image_caption =
date_of_birth = February 8, 1945
place_of_birth =
date_of_death =
place_of_death =
parents =
charge = Murder
penalty = Death
status = in prison in Japan
occupation = Leftist radical

Nihongo|Hiroko Nagata|永田 洋子|Nagata Hiroko, sometimes mistakenly referred to as Yōko Nagata, is a Japanese leftist radical who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Japan. Nagata was convicted of murdering, or participating in the murder, of fellow members of the United Red Army (URA) during a group purge in Gunma prefecture, Japan in February 1972.

During the purge, Nagata, acting as vice-chairman of the URA, directed the killing of 14 members of the group by beatings or by forced exposure to frigid winter air temperatures. A URA non-member who was present during the purge was also killed. Arrested on February 16, 1972, Nagata was tried and convicted for her participation in the killings, and was sentenced to death. Nagata, as of May 2008, currently awaits execution of her sentence in prison in Japan. Nagata reportedly has suffered declining health for several years.

Biography

Nagata was born in Tokyo and entered Kyoritsu College of Pharmacy (defunct in 2008 and merged into Keio University) to receive training to be a pharmacist. During her time in college, Nagata became involved full-time in left-wing politics, eventually becoming vice-chairman of the URA. Described as physically unattractive plus suffering from Basedow syndrome, Nagata would work herself into what was described as an "hysterical rage" when excited, usually over political issues. [Schreiber, p. 201.]

Purge incident

Japan's leftist student movement in the 1960s pervaded Japan's universities, and, by late in the decade, had become very factionalized, competitive, and violent. After a series of incidents in which leftist student groups attacked and injured or killed law enforcement officials as well as the general public, Japan's national police agency cracked down on the student groups, raiding their hideouts and arresting dozens in 1971 and 1972. Attempting to escape from the police, a core group of radicals from the URA, including Nagata, retreated to a compound in the mountains of Gunma Prefecture during the winter of 1972. [Nakamura, "'We did not leave anything positive,' says ex-radical", Schreiber, p. 198-201.]

In the second week of February 1972 at the compound, URA's chairman Tsuneo Mori and Nagata initiated a violent purge of the group's members. In the purge, Nagata and Mori directed the beating deaths of eight members and one non-member who happened to be present. Six other members were tied to trees outside where they froze to death in the frigid mountain winter air. Nagata especially targeted group members who, in her opinion, "took too much interest in relations with women and did not devote enough ardor to the revolution." A few were killed for "attempting to escape." One was killed for asking for some tissue paper while inside his sleeping bag, an act that Nagata apparently construed as having a sexual significance. [Schilling, "The final days of revolutionary struggle in Japan", Nakamura, "'We did not leave anything positive,' says ex-radical", Kyodo, "Wanted radical Kunio Bando was in Philippines in 2000: sources", Kyodo, "Court dismisses death-row inmates' translation appeals", Schreiber, p. 201.]

On February 16, police arrested Mori, Nagata, and six other URA members at the compound or at a nearby village. Five others, armed with rifles and shotguns, managed to escape, fleeing on foot through the mountains towards Karuizawa in nearby Nagano prefecture and eventually took refuge in a mountain guest lodge, initiating the Asama-Sansō incident. [Schilling, "The final days of revolutionary struggle in Japan", Nakamura, "'We did not leave anything positive,' says ex-radical", Kyodo, "Wanted radical Kunio Bando was in Philippines in 2000: sources", Kyodo, "Court dismisses death-row inmates' translation appeals", Schreiber, p. 201–202.]

Criminal trial and sentence

Hiroko Nagata was sentenced to death on June 18, 1982. On February 19, 1993, the Supreme Court of Japan upheld her death sentence. Nagata submitted a plea for a retrial, which was declined by the courts on November 28, 2006. She remains in prison awaiting execution. [Kyodo, "Court dismisses death-row inmates' translation appeals", Schreiber, p. 217.]

Nagata has written several books during her time in prison and has attracted the attention of a support group. Nagata's supporters report that she has been suffering from declining health, including a brain tumor, for several years which have gone untreated. [Kyodo, "Court dismisses death-row inmates' translation appeals", Schreiber, p. 217.]

On October 11, 2008, it was revealed that she has fallen into crucial condition due to tumor so that her family was called for visitation to Tokyo Detention Center [http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/News/Sp200810110327.html] .

Notes

References

Books

*cite book
last = Schreiber
first = Mark
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1996
chapter =
title = Shocking Crimes of Postwar Japan
publisher = Tuttle Publishing
location =
id = ISBN 4900737348

Movies

*imdb title|id=0923869|title=United Red Army – Kōji Wakamatsu (2007)

Web

*cite web
last = Japan Times
first =
authorlink = Japan Times
coauthors =
date = October 31, 1997
year =
month =
url = http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn19971031b3.html
title = Death-row convict wins libel case
format =
work =
pages =
publisher = Japan Times
language =
accessdate = 2008-04-25
accessyear =
*cite web
last = Kyodo News
first =
authorlink = Kyodo News
coauthors =
date = May 26, 1998
year =
month =
url = http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0XPQ/is_1998_June_1/ai_50189563
title = Court dismisses death-row inmates' translation appeals
format =
work = FindArticles
pages =
publisher =
language =
accessdate = 2006-07-09
accessyear =
*cite web
last = Kyodo News
first =
authorlink = Kyodo News
coauthors =
date = February 27, 2003
year =
month =
url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDQ/is_2003_March_3/ai_98259549
title = Wanted radical Kunio Bando was in Philippines in 2000: sources
format =
work = BNet
pages =
publisher =
language =
accessdate = 2008-04-25
accessyear =
*cite web
last = Nakamura
first = Akemi
authorlink =
coauthors =
date = March 20, 2008
year =
month =
url = http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ff20080320r2.html
title = 'We did not leave anything positive,' says ex-radical
format =
work =
pages =
publisher = Japan Times
language =
accessdate = 2008-04-25
accessyear =
*cite web
last = NHK
first =
authorlink = NHK
coauthors =
date =
year =
month =
url = http://www.nhk.or.jp/digitalmuseum/nhk50years_en/history/p16/index.html
title = Asama-Sanso Incident
format =
work = 50 Years of NHK Television
pages =
publisher = NHK
language =
accessdate = 2006-07-09
accessyear =
*cite web
last = Pulvers
first = Roger
authorlink =
coauthors =
date = February 11, 2007
year =
month =
url = http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20070211rp.html
title = Mammon and myopia: Japan's governing '70s legacy
format =
work = Japan Times
pages =
publisher =
language =
accessdate = 2008-04-25
accessyear =
*cite web
last = Schilling
first = Mark
authorlink =
coauthors =
date = March 20, 2008
year =
month =
url = http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/ff20080320r1.html
title = The final days of revolutionary struggle in Japan
format =
work = Japan Times
pages =
publisher =
language =
accessdate = 2008-04-25
accessyear =