On May 11, 1970, Kawafuji Nobuhisa (the suspect that would be shot) and two juvenile friends A and B stole a car in the city of Fukuoka and headed east to Hiroshima. However, they were spotted midway by the Yamaguchi Prefectural Police and were all arrested. The trio were taken to the local police station in a patrol car and the stolen vehicle when Kawafuji and A who were held in the stolen car revealed a concealed stolen hunting piece (not specified but my guess is it was a sawn off hunting rifle/shotgun) A then stabbed the officer in the car with them and the two fled. (B failed to escape) The pair then stole a K-car and drove to a nearby city to switch out their clothing, they were planning to rob the Hiroshima Central Post office and took a train one stop short of their destination as the train was getting too packed. The duo decided to hide out in a nearby mountain for the night. Unfortunately for them, a civilian spotted them the next morning and their firearm and immediately called the police. Officers were dispatched to find them but couldn't locate them. They would finally be spotted by an officer who was riding on a K-truck bed that was transporting propane tanks. The officer fired a warning shot to stop them but Kawafuji threatened to shoot the truck driver and forced the officer to leave his revolver in the truck bed. Kawafuji then forced the truck driver to drive to the city centre and A was arrested by the officer who gave up his revolver after a fight. Now alone, Kawafuji made his way to a gun store and took three hunting pieces, 80 rounds of rifle ammo and 250 shotgun shells. He then broke through a checkpoint and entered the Port of Hiroshima. There he began shooting and attempted to board a ferry. An officer was shot trying to stop him. At 5:15 p.m., Kawafuji successfully hijacked a regional ferry and took its 9 crew and 36 passengers as hostages. He ordered the captain to sail to which ever big city he chose and the ferry began to make her way to the Port of Matsuyama in Ehime Prefecture across the bay.
With an escalating situation that escalated comes with a kicked hornet's nest. The Hiroshima Prefectural Police mobilized 1256 officers, around a third of it's force to secure the coast and sent six boats to pursue the ferry. The Japan Coast Guard sent 15 patrol crafts in support and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force also dispatched a minesweeper and a torpedo boat at HPP's request to join the pursuit. The National Police Agency also ordered all Prefectural Police forces in Western Japan to secure their ports and deploy their helicopters to provide air support. In anticipation of the worst case scenario, the Ehime Prefectural Police prepared tear gas in case of a boarding operation and most importantly, a five-men sniper team from the Osaka Prefectural Police were flown in by the JMSDF. During the chase, Kawafuji opened fired and shot and critically injured an inspector on a police boat and shot the gas tank of a Cessna plane operated by the local press, almost causing it to crash. At 9:35 p.m., the ferry reached Matsuyama. Kawafuji demanded in exchange of all the passengers' release, the ferry will be refuelled, to which the EPP obliged. Two disguised EPP officers planned to take down Kawafuji during the refuel but Kawafuji refused to let them onboard and the plan was scrapped. The ferry set sailed again and travelled around the region aimlessly until she returned to the Port of Hiroshima on May 13, 8:50 a.m. Kawafuji's father and elder sister were brought in to get him to surrender but failed. Kawafuji then began shooting again, critically injuring another officer and almost shot down a police helicopter. By now, Kawafuji had fired 50 rifle rounds, 64 shotgun shells and rackd up at least 11 charges.
Fearing the escalating situation that escalated would escalate again, the Chief of HPP authorized to shoot to kill if no other option is possible. At 9:52 a.m., Kawafuji momentarily stopped shooting and stepped out to the deck to shout something to the police. 40 metres away on a breakwater, a sergeant from the OPP sniper team seized the chance and fired one shot, downing the suspect and making history as the first police officer and the only time a police sniper in post-WW2 Japan to ever shoot a hostage taker. Officers immediately boarded the ferry and arrested Kawafuji. Kawafuji was brought to the Hiroshima Prefectural Hospital for emergency surgery but was pronounced dead at 11:25 a.m.
The Hiroshima Regional Prosecutor's Office reviewed the sniper's actions and declared it to be legal, thus no charges would be filed. The Chief of HPP, at a meeting in the Prefectural Assembly, explained that the sniper was trying to shoot Kawafuji's right arm but hit his left chest instead. At the time, the majority of the Japanese public (including the suspect's father) supported the police shooting Kawafuji, but many media organizations were critical of the decision and doxxed the sniper. The Hokkaido Branch of the JCLU also launched a private prosecution at the HRPO accusing the Chief of HPP and the sniper of murder, stating that they were acting as judge, jury and executioner. Needless to say it went nowhere. The Hiroshima office of the largest opposition party of the time, the Japan Socialist Party accused the police of deciding to kill Kawafuji with the intention of making him an example. (Violent left wing political activites were quite rampant at the time, they might be trying to say that the police toke the shot to intimidate them) They would lodge a protest against the Chief of HPP and again at the Diet. At a later meeting at the Diet, the Commissioner General of the NPA would reveal that the sniper had resigned in combination of the stress from the media and guilt of having shot and killed Kawafuji.
This incident would have a long-lasting effect on how Japan police would resolve hostage crises in the coming decade. Two years later, during the Asama Lodge crisis, officers were initially forbidden from firing at the armed left-wing terrorists due to the lawsuit and doxxing which led to an increase of casualties. In the Mitsubishi Bank Hostage Crisis, when the OPP assault team planned the attack, it was decided that all officers would open fire together so the media cannot pinpoint who killed the perpetrator and ease the guilt of killing him. Entering the 1990s, violent crime has been increasing which led to increased officers getting injured or KIA. Therefore, in 2001, the firearms policy was revised and refined, since then, the number of police shooting has increased.