Asama-Sansō Incident

Date: February 28, 1972 • Location: Karuizawa, Japan

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1972.

Japanese police stormed a mountain lodge near Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, to end a ten-day siege by members of the paramilitary group United Red Army.

Law enforcement in Japan is provided mainly by prefectural police under the oversight of the National Police Agency (NPA). The NPA is administered by the independent National Public Safety Commission (NPSC), ensuring that Japan's police are an apolitical body and free of direct central government executive control. They are checked by an independent judiciary and monitored by a free and active press.