A twenty-two-year-old suspect, reportedly the member of a right-wing organization, has been arrested after hurling a Molotov cocktail at the front entrance to the Foreign Ministry. No one was harmed but the suspect, who stabbed himself with a kitchen knife after hurling the explosive.
He was reportedly demonstrating against the Foreign Ministry's failure to complain to Beijing after a violent incident between a Chinese national and a Japanese citizen at Yasukuni Shrine last month.
The only reason I'm mentioning this incident is that I find the suspect's age interesting. It seems that the perpetrators of past incidents tend to be older men in at least their 50s; contrary to what I would expect, the right-wing organizations do not seem to have much appeal to the "lost generation," despite their obvious grievances with the system.
This may be an isolated incident — I certainly think it would be a mistake to read too much into this and other instances of right-wing violence. I leave it to others to tell whether this incident has greater significance as far as the demographics of the extreme right are concerned.
He was reportedly demonstrating against the Foreign Ministry's failure to complain to Beijing after a violent incident between a Chinese national and a Japanese citizen at Yasukuni Shrine last month.
The only reason I'm mentioning this incident is that I find the suspect's age interesting. It seems that the perpetrators of past incidents tend to be older men in at least their 50s; contrary to what I would expect, the right-wing organizations do not seem to have much appeal to the "lost generation," despite their obvious grievances with the system.
This may be an isolated incident — I certainly think it would be a mistake to read too much into this and other instances of right-wing violence. I leave it to others to tell whether this incident has greater significance as far as the demographics of the extreme right are concerned.
