Atsuyuki Sassa, 1st Head of Japan Cabinet Security Office, Dies at 87

October 11, 2018

Tokyo- Atsuyuki Sassa, the first head of Japan's now-defunct Cabinet Security Affairs Office, died of old age at a Tokyo hospital on Wednesday. He was 87.

After graduating from the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Law, Sassa joined what is now the National Police Agency in 1954.

After serving in such posts as chief of the Security Division of the NPA's Security Bureau and head of the police department of Mie Prefecture, central Japan, he worked on loan at the Defense Agency, now the Defense Ministry, and as chief of the defunct Defense Facilities Administration Agency.

He became the first head of the Cabinet Security Affairs Office in 1986 and retired from the post in 1989.

Sassa handled the 1969 incident in which leftist students occupied the iconic Yasuda Auditorium at the University of Tokyo's Hongo campus in the Japanese capital's Bunkyo Ward and the 1972 Asama Sanso hostage crisis at a mountain lodge in the central Japan prefecture of Nagano, a crime committed by members of the defunct United Red Army.

According to a book he wrote, Sassa directed a police corps on the ground in the 10-day Asama Sanso hostage drama, based on an order from the late Masaharu Gotoda, then chief of the NPA. Sassa decided to conduct an operation for the police team to storm into the lodge after damaging the building by hitting a large iron ball against it.

After retirement, Sassa engaged in a wide range of activities, such as delivering speeches, appearing on television and writing books.

He was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star by the Japanese government in 2001. Jiji Press