Shortly thereafter, Kirishima revealed his true identity, the reports continued. While the police were still waiting for the results of the DNA test, the 70-year-old died on Monday morning. There is “a high probability that this person is actually Kirishima,” police sources said, according to the Asahi newspaper.
Kirishima had been wanted by left-wing extremists since the 1970s for a deadly bombing. Almost everyone in Japan knows the mugshot of young Kirishima with long hair, thick glasses and a friendly smile.
Kirishima, who was born in Hiroshima, became radicalized while studying in Tokyo. He joined the East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front, a left-wing extremist group similar to the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany.
The East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front carried out attacks against Japanese companies in the 1970s. Eight people were killed in an attack against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
