Posted on 03/21/2006 5:55:23 AM PST by TigerLikesRooster
Man uses machete to chop off hand in front of Diet building
A man almost completely severed his left hand with a machete in front of the National Diet Building on Tuesday, apparently to protest policies toward North Korea, police said.
The 54-year-old man approached the front gates of the building by car, stepped out, silently placed his left hand against the hood of his car and swung the 40 centimeter blade down across his left wrist, according to Tokyo police official Hideyuki Yoshioka.
The man, who identified himself as a member of a right-wing organization, then mumbled a few words about Japan's handling of the abduction of its citizens by North Korea in the 1970s and 80s. Police snatched the machete and rushed him to a hospital, Yoshioka said.
The man "appeared to be in a lot of pain and his hand was hanging by a piece of skin," according to Yoshioka.
Police later found a letter in the man's car addressed to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and criticizing Japan's policy on the abduction issue, Yoshioka said.
In 2002, North Korea admitted it had kidnapped 13 Japanese in the 70s and 80s to train spies in Japanese language and culture. Pyongyang allowed five victims to return to Japan later that year, saying the other eight were dead.
But Tokyo has demanded conclusive proof of their deaths and further investigation into other suspected abductions. Talks between the two countries have failed to make progress and hard-liners have called for sanctions against the communist regime.
Last October, another man linked to Japan's extreme right tried to commit suicide outside the prime minister's office by downing pesticide. Police said he was carrying a letter demanding that the prime minister pay his respects at a Tokyo shrine that honors Japan's war dead, including convicted war criminals.
In the past year, a woman has also tried to kill herself by ritual disembowelment in front of Koizumi's office, demanding the leader resign. (AP)
U.S. ambassador visits site of Megumi Yokota's abduction U.S. Ambassador to inspect site of Megumi Yokota's abduction
March 21, 2006
How much weight did he lose as a result?
Ping!
he was just giving them a helping hand.
tough way to lose weight.
Funny thing is, the North Koreans would have taken his hand entirely off for him.
He must have read about the guy who cut his manhood off and threw it at the police.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he was in a lot of pain.
Gotta hand it to him though he really taught them a lesson.
Lose both flesh and bones. Catch: massive pain
Can't help but think of that "Blazing Saddles" scene...
I think his organization will reward him for his sacrifice and provide him with a robot arm which can shovel any food into his mouth.:)
"Funny thing is, the North Koreans would have taken his hand entirely off for him."
What makes you say that? and why is that funny?
Are you reading this Cindy?
Seeing how he severed his left wrist, does this make him a leftist or a righty?
OK, Cindy... Match that!
I knew all along that going into Japan was a mistake. Those Japanese don't know the first thing about democracy. What a quagmire! What's the exit plan? Truman should admit his mistake. You can't bring Jeffersonian democracy to these people. Now we're caught in a civil war.
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