Freedom Now For Fumiaki Hoshino-Rally At SF Japan Consulate

11/28 12:00 Noon SF Protest/Action At Japan Consulate To Demand Freedom For Fumiaki Hoshino (corrected address)
50 Fremont St./Mission St. near Old Transbay Terminal
San Francisco

Fumiaki Hoshino is one of the longest political prisoners in the world. He helped organize a protest in November 14, 1971 against
the "Okinawa Reversion Agreement" which helped allow the US to base nuclear weapons in Okinawa. A policeman and women trade
unionist were killed and he was framed up and charged with the murder.
He has been in jail under repressive conditions for over 37 years.
A US support committee has been organized to demand his freedom and will be having a press conference and picket and will demand
that the Japanese government release him immediately.

US Hoshino Defense Committee


Also please send solidarity statements to:
k_kanayama19711114 [at] yahoo.co.jp



11/27 International Solidarity Day For Japanese Fumiaki Hoshino/Action-Solidarity Messages Requested

金山克巳です。
１１・２７星野全国集会への連帯メッセージの要請を送ります。
スティーブさんから送れるところに送信していただけないでしょうか。
よろしくお願いします。

念のために、貼り付けと添付と両方で送ります。

Dear Friends,
On November 27, we will hold a National Rally to free Fumiaki Hoshino in Tokyo. Please send your solidarity message to the rally.
Fumiaki Hoshino is an innocent political prisoner fighting behind bars for 37 years—one of the longest detained political prisoners of the world. The Japanese prison system is extremely oppressive: most of his friends cannot visit him.
On November 14, 1971, Fumiaki Hoshino led one of the student contingents of the demonstration against so-called “Okinawa Reversion Agreement”, which in reality helped maintain the US military bases with nuclear arsenal in Okinawa. One of the riot policemen died during the crash with demonstrators. Hoshino was framed as “the perpetrator”; the prosecution demanded death penalty, the courts sentenced to life imprisonment.
He is innocent. There is no physical evidence whatsoever. Only the “depositions of the six demonstrators” made in closed interrogation rooms in the police stations were the “evidence of guilt.” Five of the eyewitnesses recanted, claiming police and prosecution coercion. Remaining one refused to testify in the open courts. On top of it, the police “lost” the videotape of the demonstration, in which Hoshino’s contingent had participated.
Hoshino filed an application for retrial based on newly discovered photos that clearly contradict his alleged involvement in the death of the policeman.
A broad coalition of labor unions, other organizations and individuals are now increasing their efforts to free Hoshino.
International solidarity is also developing. Last July, we were given an opportunity to hold two events in San Francisco LaborFest: “Hoshino Art Show” and “Labor & Political prisoners: From Hoshino To Mumia.”
The National Coordinating Center of Labor Unions—an organization of militant labor unions and labor activists in Japan—decided to show its solidarity with Hoshino, holding its annual convention next February in Tokushima City near the Tokushima Prison where Hoshino is detained.
Please send your solidarity message to the November 27 rally. It will greatly help free Hoshino.
Thank you so much in advance.
In Solidarity,
Hoshino Defense Committee
http://fhoshino.u.cnet-ta.ne.jp/pages/ayumi110811.html
http://fhoshino.u.cnet-ta.ne.jp/
Send Message Of Solidarity to
k_kanayama19711114 [at] yahoo.co.jp



Appeal from “Free Hoshino Fumiaki! National Coordinating Conference for Retrial”

http://fhoshino.u.cnet-ta.ne.jp/pages/ayumi110811.html

HOSHINO Akiko

Co-Chair of the Conference

Spouse of HOSHINO Fumiaki

Brothers and Sisters, thank you for your struggles in your workplaces and communities.
Hoshino Fumiaki is an innocent political prisoner in Tokushima Prison. He has spent 36 years in detention. He appeals, “Workers who produce everything and run the society have the power to smash enemy attacks, transform workplaces and whole society, get back all the properties from capitalists and emancipate all human beings. Get back the power of labor movement, free the anger of all of workers and people! Build unity of all workers and people across the borders!”

On November 14, 1971, Fumiaki took part in the demonstration in Shibuya, Tokyo, against the ratification of the Agreement on the Reversion of Okinawa, which was strengthening of war efforts, especially the reorganization and enhancement of the US military bases in Okinawa. The secret pact on nuclear weapons was also included in the Agreement.

During the course of the demonstration, one riot policeman died and the police framed up and charged Fumiaki on criminal homicide. Also the Supreme Court sentenced him life imprisonment.

I married with him in 1986 while he was in prison. Since then I have been living and struggling together with Fumiaki against Japanese inhumane prison system, which prohibits even a minimal human contact: I cannot touch his hands.

Fumiaki did not engaged in the death of the riot policeman. He is innocent. The police framed and arrested many students who had participated the demonstration and forced them to “confess” the “crime” of Hoshino. In the open court five of the six students who “confessed”, withdrew their “testimonies.” Remaining one student refused to testify altogether. Nevertheless the court admitted the “confession” in a closed interrogation room as evidence and rejected the testimonies in the open court.

The first application for retrial was refused. The Supreme Court, however, admitted that Fumiaki wore at the time “light blue clothes” instead of “biscuit clothes” which was the previous story of the framed up sentences.

We filed second application for retrial on November 27, last year.

The Tokushima Prison has punished Fumiaki two times, in order to obstruct our movement for retrial. Seven of his friend were refused to visit him. My letters were censored and partially erased four times. Even the wife of the prisoner, myself was prohibited to visit him. And the prison management “consider lawyers’ visits general visits and limit the time and the prison officers watch on the side of the lawyers.

We will file a lawsuit under national redress law. Protests from around the world are surely very effective. Please send protest and encouragement letters to the government and to Fumiaki. He himself said that his task is to encourage everyone.


In 1971, many workers and students in mainland Japan rose up for Okinawa struggle at the risk of their own lives. The life imprisonment of Fumiaki was retaliation against this historic struggle. This is also an exemplary punishment on Fumiaki who continues the struggles of 1970 and creates today’s Okinawa and anti- Anpo (Japan US Security Alliance) struggles in prison. Furthermore, the oppression against Fumiaki is meant to destroy the struggles of workers and people including Doro-Chiba outside the prison.

Smash the divide and conquer policy! Take back Hoshino Fumiaki with the power of international solidarity. Please support us to free my beloved husband, Fumiaki, and to corner the Kan administration of Democratic Party. Please join the national rally for free Hoshino.

Let’s take back political prisoners of the world, including Mumia Abu Jamal, with international solidarity!

All workers, fight together across borders! Fight back together against capitalists who shift blames of global financial meltdown to workers! Let’s organize the Nation-wide Movement of National Railway Struggle and create a perspective for workers to live our own lives!


Urgent appeal to all working people of the world
Free innocent HOSHINO Fumiaki from 35 years’ imprisonment

March 2010

Free Hoshino! National Coordinating Conference for Retrial


(1) Who is brother HOSHINO Fumiaki and how he has been fightingBrother HOSHINO Fumiaki, an innocent political prisoner, has spent 35 years in incarceration. He has been fighting an unflinching and uncompromising struggle against the state power, refusing every attempt to convert him. Brother Hoshino puts the principle of his struggle as follows: “Hoshino struggle is one and same as the struggle of working class for emancipation” He is a revolutionary who is fighting for the emancipation of working class from capitalism in death agony of the global economic crisis.

He was born on April 27, 1946 in Sapporo, Hokkaido and now 63 years old.


US military bases in Okinawa

In the great Okinawa struggle on November 14, 1971, as a student of Takasaki City University of Economics, he assumed a leading role in organizing demonstration. During violent clashes between demonstrators and police, 313 demonstrators were arrested and a woman education worker of Osaka, one of the demonstrators, was killed and a riot police was dead. Successively on November 19, Okinawa struggle was fought across the country with over 1900 demonstrators arrested.

As an apparent retaliation for the explosive development of Okinawa struggle, police unduly incriminated brother Hoshino, who stood at the forefront of the battle with riot police, as suspect of killing a policeman. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and is in prison. He is now filing the second application for retrial.

(2) Okinawa struggle and brother Hoshino

Okinawa was put under direct Japanese domination in 1609 and has since been suffering under discrimination and oppression by Japanese government. In World War II, as an outcome of the intensified strife among imperialist powers after the Great Depression in 1929, Okinawa people were brutally victimized.

After World War II, Okinawa was treated as a matter of interests of US and Japanese governments and finally was delivered to US military administration by Emperor Hirohito who proposed, by his letter to the US, to offer Okinawa instead of his life. Thus Okinawa was forced to live under US military domination for 27 years. The life in Okinawa during these years was full of humiliation, deprived of sovereignty, human pride and also lands to live on and sometimes even lives were threatened.

Furious at this situation, people in Okinawa vigorously fought against US oppression, demanding, “return to Japan”. The US military base in Okinawa was seriously shaken by the insistent struggle comprising the whole population of Okinawa.

Faced with this mounting anger of people of Okinawa, Japanese and US governments decided, in 1971, to return administrative right to Japan only to maintain the present situation of Okinawa as “island of US bases” forever, averting the demand of the inhabitants of Okinawa. People of Okinawa responded to the deceptive return of Okinawa to Japan by a general strike of whole Okinawa on November 10, 1971.

Japanese government, firmly determined to ratify the Okinawa Return Agreement in the Diet, prohibited all rallies and demonstrations in Tokyo to suppress protest actions against the Okinawa policy. On November 14, militant demonstrators headed by brother Hoshino, defying the ban, crushed the cordon of the riot police that attacked demonstrators with tear-gas gun and marched to join tens of thousands of sympathizing masses of people in Shibuya, downtown Tokyo. The battle continued until midnight. .

The Shibuya battle was a powerful struggle, carried out, in solidarity with fighting people in Okinawa, by young workers and students, of whom 313 were arrested on the spot, against the discriminating policy of Japanese government.

The government was violently shaken by the explosive struggle of angry working people and feared that it would develop into a serious threat to Japan-US Security Alliance. They resorted to retaliation by charging brother Hoshino, one of the prominent leaders of the demonstration, for allegation of killing a riot policeman, knowing very well that he was innocent.

The state power demanded death sentence but this attempt was crushed by the strong protest action by wide range of people led by workers. After court proceedings in three instances, in which the state power desperately tried to retaliate brother Hoshino, the sentence of life imprisonment was determined in 1987. It is a political attempt of intimidating fighting people.

(3) Brother Hoshino is innocent

Brother Fumiaki Hoshino has been consistently insisting upon his innocence for 35 years since his arrest. This is the strongest proof of his innocence.

Only evidence of guilt was fabricated “affidavits” of six witnesses who participated in the student demonstration, including three minors. There is no physical evidence to prove him guilty. They testified in the trial that their affidavits were made under the pressure of the interrogators in an isolated room for a long duration and that their statements were forged documents.

Though all affidavits of the six witnesses proved to be invalid in the trial, the Tokyo High Court sentenced brother Hoshino to life imprisonment. This is an unusual and outrageous deed of Japanese juridical authorities. An appeal for retrial raised by brother Hoshino was dismissed on July 14, 2008 by the Supreme Court with an implausible reasoning that is completely illogical.

To overturn this, brother Hoshino and the defense council for the retrial filed an application for retrial for the second time on November 27, 2009 with new evidences including 27 items.

The statement of the second application for retrial clarifies that the sentence of life imprisonment on brother Hoshino is a hundred percent political frame-up by the security agency.

After the Shibuya struggle in 1971, police conducted, with a presumption that overwhelming majority of the demonstrators was workers, overall arrests, investigations and interrogations of workers who were regarded to have participated in the demonstration of Shibuya battle for more than two months in vain.

The security police, driven into a corner, targeted the investigation on brother Hoshino, conspicuous leader of the demonstration, and the fellow students of his university in Gunma Prefecture and forced indiscriminating mass arrests of those students. Finally police decided to set up brother Hoshino.

The new evidences consist of three points: a) A photo taken by police during the demonstration shows that the iron pipe which brother Hoshino carried after the “incident” had no trace of damage (he is accused of beating the policeman by the iron pipe); b) Another photo of brother Hoshino standing at crossroad long away from the “spot” of the incident, c) the third photo, showing a demonstrator wearing biscuit clothes, that coincides with the deposition of one of the witnesses that “One of the demonstrators who beat the policeman wore biscuit clothes” (brother Hoshino wore “sky blue” clothes on that day, which even the Supreme Court was compelled to recognize)

(4) “Free Hoshino” movement

“Free Hoshino” movement has been developed by progressive labor unions and citizens to protest against the political frame-up on brother Hoshino who was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. Now more than 20 support organizations have been organized all over Japan through a devoted effort of sister Akiko, who got married with brother Hoshino in prison.Brother Hoshino is calling on working people all over the world to rise up for the struggle of self-emancipation now. He is encouraged by the development of the struggle of angry workers in face of the global economic crisis.

If we resolutely rise up now, we can overturn the bitter history of defeat that working people experienced in the period that started from the Great Depression in 1929 and ended up in the disaster of World War II. This is a voice of brother Hoshino who continues his unflinching struggle in prison for 35 years.

We are firmly convinced that the struggle to free innocent brother Hoshino and the struggle of working class of the world for self-emancipation is one and the same.

Brother Hoshino is watching the struggle of brother Mumia Abu-Jamal and the movement to support him with deep sympathy and admiration.

We call on the working people of the whole world to help us take back brother Hoshino as soon as possible in our arms in solidarity with the Korean workers fighting against the repression of the state power and all the political prisoners against tyranny and persecution.

Working people all over the world! Let’s fight together to free all political prisoners as our own task!


A short biography

1945 April.27: Born in Sapporo City, Hokkaido

1965: Enters Takasaki City University of Economics, elected as vice-president of the Student Autonomous Body and fought against irregularity of the entrance examination

1971: Placed on the wanted list for the struggle in Sanrizuka against the Narita airport construction

1971 Nov.14: Joins the Struggle against ratification of the Agreement on the Reversion of Okinawa (the “Battle of Shibuya”). One policeman burned to death during the clash with demonstrators.

1975: Arrested.

1979: Demanded death penalty. First trial. Sentenced to 20-year imprisonment

1983: Appeal Court. Sentenced to life imprisonment.

1986 Sep.17: Married with Akiko.

1987 Jul. 17: Final appeal dismissed. Life imprisonment decided.

Oct. 30: Sent to Tokushima Prison.

1996: The first application for a new trial.

2007: Publication of “FumiAkiko”, a joint work of drawings of brother Fumiaki Hoshino and poems of sister Akiko Hoshino

2008 Jul.14: Supreme Court dismisses the raised special complaint.

2009 Nov. 27: Files second application for a new trial.
Appendex: New Evidences Clearly Show Hoshino’s Innocence

New Evidence 1

His iron pipe has no trace of damage — Comrade Hoshino in front of the Tokyu Head Shop.

Figure 1 (Evidence for the Defense No. 16) is a macro photograph of Comrade Hoshino from a picture taken shortly after the demonstrators arrived in front of the Tokyu Head Shop, passing the site where the policeman in question was beaten. It clearly shows that the iron pipe carried by Comrade Hoshino has no trace of damage.

The iron pipe in the hand of Comrade Hoshino, was wrapped by a piece of paper. If this pipe had been used to beat the policeman, the paper should have been ripped or torn apart. The paper rolled on the iron pipe carried by him was not at all damaged — that means that it was never used to beat the policeman. The accusation that comrade Hoshino beat the policeman is a complete fabrication. It is evidently proved by this picture.

New Evidence 2

His statement of witnessing reflection of light on the windshields at Kamiyama East Crossing verified

Comrade Hoshino has maintained for 35 years that he was at Kamiyama East Crossing at the moment of question, but not at the site where the policeman was beaten. . “When I looked up, at the crossing, toward the NHK building (standing at a certain distance from there),” he said, “I saw cars running from the direction of the NHK building and their windshields were shining.”

The weather was cloudy, and it was an hour before the sunset. Nobody ever imagined that windshields would shine, reflecting light. The defense team made an investigation at the crossing following Comrade Hoshino’s demand, and did verify that the windshields of cars were reflecting lights under the similar condition. This fact could only be learned by a person who stood on at that particular crossing, on that particular day, at that particular time; it corresponds to what you call “revelation of secret.”

Figure 2 (Evidence for the Defense No. 7) was taken shortly before 3:23 p.m. on November 14 this year. On that day it was cloudy and light rainfall in the morning had just stopped; although it seemed to be cloudier than at the time of the incident, the defense was able to verify the “windshields of running cars were reflecting light” and took photographs of these facts.

He had to be at the crossing

Comrade Hoshino was the commander of about 200 demonstrators who got off at Yoyogi-Hachiman, a nearby railway station to Shibuya, the battlefield. After the first battle in front of Kamiyama Police Box, he was obliged to stay at the head of demonstrators in order to reorganize the ranks of demonstrators. He ran, and stopped when no other demonstrator was ahead of him— it was the Kamiyama East Crossing there.

To keep a lookout on every direction, watching the possible move of riot police attacking from any direction, and to wait for other demonstrators’ arrival to continue the battle— that was the only concern of Comrade Hoshino at the crossing. He soon saw the riot police approaching from the direction of NHK building. Tension mounted, and the road was filled with demonstrators. “Move on!” he shouted, and left there.

It was the event of 40-50 seconds from the capture of the policeman in question to the departure. During that time, Comrade Hoshino could not and did not leave the crossing. There he learned the approach of riot police from the direction of NHK building and saw the reflected light on the windshields of running cars. If he had been at the site where the policeman was beaten, he could not have seen those things.

New Evidence 3

“HE wore biscuit clothes” — Witness Kr. did not really see him

Witness Kr. stated that “One of the demonstrators who beat the policeman wore biscuit clothes” consistently from the questioning to the trial. As is evident also from the released depositions of two third persons who witnessed the scene of beating the policeman — Witness Ab. and Witness Fk. both witnesses referred to the man who wore “ocher work suit” or “beige thin coat” as the most impressive person on the scene of beating. Both expressions are close to “biscuit” color.

Contrary to the Supreme Court, Witness Kr. did not see Comrade Hoshino who wore the “washy blue” clothes and took its color into “biscuit.”

Figure 3 (Evidence for the Defense No. 12) was taken by Photographer Ut., who belonged to the Photograph Department of the Asahi Shimbun at that time, and another picture taken also by him in the vicinity of Figure 3 was placed in The Weekly Asahi (December 3, 1971).

This picture took from the front the demonstrators who confronted riot police forming a line in front of Kamiyama Police Box.

This picture clearly shows that the demonstrators included a man who wore “biscuit” clothes.

Comrade Hoshino was wearing “sky blue (washy blue)” clothes on that day, which even the Supreme Court was compelled to recognize. Although the color of his clothes was bright and impressive while the most other clothes were dark, neither third-person witnesses — Ab. and Fk. — nor six “fellows in crime” have stated that the “strikers” included a person who wore the “sky blue” clothes.