[5] Finding the rest of the Second Bund unamenable to the cause of immediate armed revolution, the Red Army Faction signaled its open split from its parent organization in 1969.

[6] In early 1970, Shiomi began making plans to hijack a Japanese airliner, codenamed "Operation Phoenix," that would allow group members to fly to Cuba and continue their training.

Approximately 20 minutes after takeoff, a young man named Takamaro Tamiya got up from his seat, drew a katana and shouted, "We are Ashita no Joe!

The hijackers then took 129 people (122 passengers and seven crew members) hostage and commanded the pilots to fly the plane to Havana, Cuba, where they intended to receive training by communist military groups.

[citation needed] The plane carrying Vice Minister Yamamura and the remainder of the crew was released two days later[13] and returned to its gate at Haneda Airport at 9:39 am on April 5.

After his release in 1989,[15][16] suffering from poor health, Shiomi obtained a low paid[15] job as an attendant at a multi-level parking facility in Kiyose, Tokyo, where he was working as late as 2008.

Yoshimi Tanaka was arrested in Thailand with a large amount of counterfeit money and repatriated to Japan in March 2000, where he was sentenced; he died before its completion.

[22] Takahiro Konishi, Shiro Akagi, Kimihuro Uomoto and Moriaki Wakabayashi still reside in North Korea; all except Takeshi Okamoto were confirmed to have been alive as of 2004[update] when they were interviewed by Kyodo News.