Tomohiro Kojiri

Rie Kinoshita, a 17-year old who hopes to become a newspaper reporter, says this killing won't stop her from pursuing her career. She says, "The crime was so horrible, but it has brought about more anger than fear for me," she said. "I told the portrait of Mr. Kojiri of my determination to become a reporter." Asahi Shimbun President Shinichi Hakoshima, who came to visit the grave, said the statute of limitations fueled his fire against the crime and said “In order that Kojiri’s death as a reporter was not in vain, we will never give in to threats."

Police and detectives paid their respects at the Asahi Shimbun' s Hanshin Bureau in Nishinomiya where they lay flowers and offer prayers to Tomohiro Kojiri. Hyogo Prefectural Police Chief Kaoru Okada said that he will continue to look for the murderer even after the statute of limitations expired back in 2002. He hopes that Kojiri will help guide them to his murderer. Seishi Yamashita who was a former detective at the time of Kojiri's death, and he was the head detective on the case. When he came to pay his respects he apologized and said, "I apologized to Mr. Kojiri in front of his portrait (at the altar) for failing to arrest the killer. I will bear responsibility for that failure for the rest of my life."

A rightist group calling itself a special unit Sekihōtai of the Japanese Independent Volunteer Army (日本民族独立義勇軍) sent typed letters to Japanese media, claiming it had carried out the murder and threatened to kill other "anti-Japanese elements" in the media. At the time of Kojiri's death, the group said that their mission was to "punish anti-Japanese elements inside and outside Japan". The letter claimed the attack on Ashai was only the "first step". Supposedly the group disappeared in 1990. No one in the group has been identified or arrested. There is no evidence if the group disbanded because it had achieved its goals.

Tomohiro Kojiri (小尻知博 , Kojiri Tomohiro) , (1957 – May 4, 1987) a Japanese journalist for Asahi Shimbun, a popular newspaper with its main office is located in Tokyo, Japan, was killed in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture near Osaka. During the shooting at the bureau of Asahi Shimbun, the shooter killed Tomohiro and fired at two other colleagues injuring one. Investigators believed that Kojiri was targeted by a right-wing, political extremist group, known as Sekihōtai (赤報隊), as Kojiri had written a story that was about how the Japanese discriminated against the Korean minority, and typed letters were sent in the group's name claiming responsibility.

Tomohiro Kojiri's parents are Nobukatsu and Miyoko Kojiri and his hometown was Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture. He and his wife Yuko had a daughter named Miki. Kojiri was 29 when he was murdered on May 4, 1987. His wife Yuko was 27 years old and his daughter Miki was 2 years old at that time.

He was notable for his articles that described Japan's ethics on treating the Korean minority. Shortly after his death on May 4, 1987, a letter was sent to Kyodo News Agency from an unknown group called Sekihotai claiming responsibility for Kojiri's death. From the letter it states "We do not accept anyone who betrays Japan. We sentence all Asahi Shimbun employees to death."

Tomohiro Kojiri was killed on a Sunday night, May 4, 1987, at the Asahi Shimbun bureau in Nishinomiya. He was murdered by a suspected extremist group called Sekihotai. The suspect was a masked man who entered the building and came onto the second level with a shotgun. During the shooting at the bureau of Asahi Shimbun, the masked man shot and badly injured Kojiri, 29, who later died at the hospital from his injuries. Hyoe Inukai, 42, sustained a chest injury and was deemed to be in critical condition. Only Kenji Takayama escaped unscathed. Kenji Takayama managed to escape. Takayama described in a news conference his experience and what he said was the sound of firecrackers and the all he can remember is the blood splattered on the floor. Police began a search for the assailant immediately. Police continued to investigate the crime up until the statute of limitations had passed without the case being solved.

Before this event, an attack on a newspaper in Japan had not occurred since 1972. The attack is known in Japan as the Asahi Shimbun Hanshin Bureau Attack (朝日新聞阪神支局襲撃事件).

The previous attack on a newspaper was in 1972. Around 2006, another newspaper office was attacked by right-wing extremists.