Photo/Illutration Takeo Shimizu, the leader of the Chukaku-ha (middle core faction) radical group, speaks at a news conference on Jan. 27, 2021, in Tokyo. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The “chairman” of the Chukaku-ha (middle core faction), a radical leftist group that advocated for a communist revolution and the abolition of the imperial system, has stepped down citing "old age."

Takeo Shimizu, 88, who led the organization while living in hiding for half a century until 2020, resigned in September, the group acknowledged in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun.

For the time being, no successor will be appointed, Chukaku-ha said.

Public security authorities are working to confirm the facts and investigate the impact on the organization.

Shimizu began his civic activism while attending the University of Tokyo.

He was one of the leading figures in the widespread student movements that surged across Japanese campuses in the 1960s and 1970s.

He became the group’s chairman in 1997, but had been active as a leader even prior to that.

Police have classified Chukaku-ha as an “extreme-left violent group” and have continued surveillance, intelligence gathering and crackdowns on illegal activities.

Shimizu began living in hiding in 1969 and subsequently directed the organization as its top executive.

Police searched for his whereabouts but could not locate him.

He appeared publicly for the first time in September 2020 at a large Chukaku-ha rally held in Tokyo, where he criticized himself for errors he made in recent leadership policies and failing to strengthen activities.

The event drew attention from civic activists, rival far-left groups, right-wing groups, public security officials, and the Zenkyoto generation involved in student movements.

He held a news conference in 2021.

There, regarding involvement in a series of terrorist and guerrilla incidents believed by public security authorities to be linked to Chukaku-ha, Shimizu did not deny that the organizational leadership had given instructions.

However, he said, “I won’t answer whether I said, ‘Do it.’”

According to the group, the resignation was Shimizu’s decision.

He will remain in the organization but will not be involved in its management, instead providing knowledge to younger members, the group said.

Chukaku-ha said that because there are executives “almost equal” to the chairman, “there will be no impact on the organizational management.”

However, public security authorities believe Shimizu’s influence remains significant.

Authorities are gathering and analyzing information and maintaining vigilance on whether he truly will not be involved in management and what impact this will have on the group's activities.

Chukaku-ha was founded in 1963.

It has advocated for the realization of a communist system, the abolition of the imperial system and opposition to U.S. military bases in Japan.

According to public security authorities, Chukaku-ha has carried out radical terrorist and guerrilla incidents and organized large-scale demonstrations and rallies.

According to the National Police Agency, in 1990, the year after Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa, died, the group carried out 124 related terrorist and guerrilla incidents, including firing metal projectiles into the Kyoto Imperial Palace in Kyoto.

During the “Narita Struggle” opposing the construction of Narita Airport in Chiba Prefecture, which erupted in the 1960s, the group repeatedly clashed with riot police, resulting in deaths and many injuries among residents, students and police officers.

According to the NPA, Chukaku-ha’s membership as of June 2024 numbered about 4,700.

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