1986 Japanese Red Army Violence in Jakarta: Attack on Status?

Fesa Husnayovari
Universitas Indonesia

Abstract

On May 14, 1986, three major incidents occurred in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. First, a rocket landed on the grounds of the United States Embassy, causing panic and temporarily closing the embassy. Shortly afterward, a rocket was launched from the nearby President Hotel, targeting the Japanese Embassy. Although the rockets failed to detonate, the incident shocked those working there. A car bomb then exploded in the parking lot of Wisma Metropolitan I, the home of the Canadian Embassy. Unlike the previous attacks, this one caused a fire and several injuries. A joint investigation by Japanese and Indonesian police concluded that Tsutomu Shirosaki, a member of the Japanese Red Army, was responsible. The Japanese Red Army was a left-wing militant group with a long history of violence. Several studies have been conducted on the Japanese Red Army, but none have focused on the specific attacks in Jakarta and interpreted the sequence of events leading up to them. The purpose of this paper is to explore the incidents of these attacks and attempt to explain the meaning behind them. The method I use for this paper is an analysis of digitized media archives and the use of supporting literature. A few days before the attacks, United States President Ronald Reagan visited Bali, Indonesia, to attend a meeting on ASEAN-USA relations. This visit is said to have elevated Indonesia’s status as an ally of the United States and the Western alliance. Using the World and Status Order Theory by Larson, Paul, and Wohlforth, I argue that the attacks in Jakarta can be interpreted as an attack on Indonesia’s status as an anti-communist state and a close ally of America and the Western
world.

Keywords: Japanese red army, nihon sekigun, terrorism, Jakarta incident