Shintarō Ishihara

Shintarō Ishihara (石原慎太郎?)

Governor of Tokyo
Incumbent
Assumed office 
April 23, 1999
Preceded by Yukio Aoshima
Member of the House of Councillors
In office
1968–1972
In office
1972–1995
Constituency Tokyo 2nd district
Born September 30, 1932 (1932-09-30) (age 78)
Kobe, Japan
Political party Liberal Democratic Party
Occupation Politician
Religion Buddhism and Shinto

Shintarō Ishihara (石原 慎太郎 Ishihara Shintarō?, born September 30, 1932) is a Japanese author, politician and the governor of Tokyo since 1999.

Contents

Early life and artistic career

Shintarō was born in Suma-ku, Kobe. His father Kiyoshi was an employee, later a general manager, of a shipping company. Shintarō grew up in Zushi. In 1952, he entered Hitotsubashi University, and graduated in 1956. Just two months before graduation, Shintarō won the Akutagawa Prize (Japan's most prestigious literary prize) for the novel Season of the Sun[1] (太陽の季節 Taiyō no kisetsu?).[2] His brother Yujiro played a supporting role in the screen adaptation of the novel, and the two soon became the center of a youth-oriented cult.[3]

In the early 1960s, he concentrated on writing, including plays, novels, and a musical version of Treasure Island. One of his later novels, Lost Country (1982), speculated about Japan under the control of the Soviet Union.[4]. He also ran a theatre company, and found time to visit the North Pole, race his yacht The Contessa and crossed South America on a motorcycle (of which he turned his memoir of the journey into a best-selling book)[5]

Legislative career

In 1968, Ishihara ran as a candidate on the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) national slate for the House of Councillors. He placed first on the LDP list with an unprecedented three million votes.[6] After four years in the upper house, Ishihara ran for the House of Representatives representing the second district of Tokyo, and again won election.

As a Diet member, Ishihara was often critical of the LDP. In 1973, he joined with thirty other LDP lawmakers in the anti-communist Seirankai or "Blue Storm Group"; the group gained notoriety in the media for sealing a pledge of unity in their own blood.[3]

Ishihara ran for Governor of Tokyo in 1975 but lost to the popular Socialist incumbent Ryokichi Minobe. He returned to the House of Representatives afterward, and worked his way up the party's internal ladder, serving as Director-General of the Environment Agency under Takeo Fukuda (1976) and Minister of Transport under Noboru Takeshita (1989). During the 1980s, Ishihara was a highly visible and popular LDP figure, but unable to win enough internal support to form a true faction and move up the national political ladder.[7]

In 1989, shortly after losing a highly contested race for the party presidency, Ishihara came to the attention of the West through his book, The Japan That Can Say No (「NO」と言える日本 "No" to ieru Nippon?), co-authored with then-Sony chairman Akio Morita. The book called on his fellow countrymen to stand up to the United States.

Ishihara dropped out of national politics in 1995, ending a 25-year career in the Diet. In 1999, he ran on an independent platform and was elected governor of Tokyo.

Political views

Ishihara is generally described as one of Japan's most prominent "far right" politicians.[8] In Australia's ABC, he was called "Japan's Le Pen"[9]. He has also generated controversy due to his support for Japanese nationalism, frequent visits to Yasukuni Shrine and several displays of alleged racism, historical revisionism and sexism. He sometimes implied that he had little affection for Chinese and Koreans. He apparently declares that he is attached to Taiwan (Republic of China) in a possible move to irritate mainland China regarding the Chinese claim of sovereignty over Taiwan. He has also generated controversy from PETA for the reduction of the 37,000 crows that populated Tokyo.[10]

Policies as governor

Among Ishihara's moves as governor, he:

Foreign relations

Ishihara has often been critical of Japan's foreign policy as being non-assertive. Regarding Japan's relationship with the US, he stated that "The country I dislike most in terms of U.S.-Japan ties is Japan, because it's a country that can't assert itself."[7]

Ishihara has also long been critical of the PRC government. He invited the Dalai Lama and the President of the Republic of China Lee Teng-hui to Tokyo, which agitated the government of the People's Republic of China.[4]

Ishihara is deeply interested in the North Korean abduction issue, and is calling for economic sanctions against North Korea.[16] Following Ishihara's campaign to bid Tokyo for the 2016 Summer Olympics, he has since eased his criticism of the Chinese government. He accepted an invitation to attend the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and was selected as a torch-bearer for the Japan leg of the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay. [1]

Racism

On April 9, 2000, in a speech before a Self-Defense Forces group, Ishihara publicly stated that atrocious crimes have been committed repeatedly by illegally entered sangokujin (Japanese: 三国人 (third country national); a term commonly viewed as derogatory) and foreigners, and speculated that in the event a natural disaster struck the Tokyo area, they would be likely to cause civil disorder.[17] His comment invoked calls for his resignation, demands for an apology and fears among residents of Korean descent in Japan.[4] Regarding this statement, Ishihara later said:

I referred to the "many sangokujin who entered Japan illegally." I thought some people would not know that word so I paraphrased it and used gaikokujin, or foreigners. But it was a newspaper holiday so the news agencies consciously picked up the sangokujin part, causing the problem.
... After World War II, when Japan lost, the Chinese of Taiwanese origin and people from the Korean Peninsula persecuted, robbed and sometimes beat up Japanese. It's at that time the word was used, so it was not derogatory. Rather we were afraid of them.
... There's no need for an apology. I was surprised that there was a big reaction to my speech. In order not to cause any misunderstanding, I decided I will no longer use that word. It is regrettable that the word was interpreted in the way it was.[7]

Much of the criticism of this statement involved the historical significance of the term: sangokujin historically referred to ethnic Chinese and Koreans, working in Japan, several thousand of whom were killed by mobs of Japanese people following the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923.[4]

On February 20, 2006, Ishihara also said: "Roppongi is now virtually a foreign neighborhood. Africans — I don't mean African-Americans — who don't speak English are there doing who knows what. This is leading to new forms of crime such as car theft. We should be letting in people who are intelligent."[18]

On April 17, 2010, Ishihara said "many veteran lawmakers in the ruling-coalition parties are naturalized or the offspring of people naturalized in Japan"[19]. Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima plans to sue him[20][21].

Other controversial statements

In 1990, Ishihara said in a Playboy interview that the Rape of Nanking was a fiction, claiming, "People say that the Japanese made a holocaust but that is not true. It is a story made up by the Chinese. It has tarnished the image of Japan, but it is a lie."[22] He continued to defend this statement in the uproar that ensued[23]. He has also backed the film The Truth about Nanjing, which argues that the Nanking Massacre was propaganda.

Ishihara said in a 2001 interview with women's magazine Shukan Josei that he believed "old women who live after they have lost their reproductive function are useless and are committing a sin," adding that he "couldn't say this as a politician." He was criticized in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly for these comments, but responded that the criticism was driven by "tyrant" "old women."[24]

During an inauguration of a university building in 2004, Ishihara stated that French is unqualified as an international language because it is "a language in which nobody can count," referring to the counting system in French, which he believed to be based on units of twenty rather than ten (as is the case in Japanese and English). The statement led to a lawsuit from several language schools in 2005. Ishihara subsequently responded to comments that he did not disrespect French culture by professing his love of French literature on Japanese TV news.[25]

At a Tokyo IOC press briefing in 2009, Governor Ishihara dismissed a letter sent by environmentalist Paul Coleman regarding the contradiction of his promoting the Tokyo Olympic 2016 bid as 'THE GREENEST EVER' while destroying the forested mountain of Minamiyama, the closest 'Satoyama' to the centre of Tokyo, by angrily stating Coleman was 'Just a foreigner, it does not matter'. Then on continued questioning by investigative journalist Hajime Yokata, he stated 'Minamiyama is a Devil's Mountain that eats children.' Then he went onto to explain how unmanaged forests 'eat children' and implied that Mr Yokota, a Japanese national, was betraying his nation by saying 'What nationality are you anyway?' This was recorded on film [2] and turned into a video that was sent around the world as the Save Minamiyama Movement [3].

Recent comments against homosexuality by Ishihara include his commentary on a gay-theme novel that won the Akutagawa Prize in January, Ishihara, one of the eight judges for the prize, said homosexuality is abnormal.

Governor Ishihara once claimed that Korea under Japanese rule was absolutely justified due to historical pressures from Qing Dynasty and Imperial Russia.[26]

Family

Ishihara is married to Noriko Ishihara and has four sons. Members of the House of Representatives Nobuteru Ishihara and Hirotaka Ishihara are his eldest and third sons; actor and weatherman Yoshizumi Ishihara is his second son. His youngest son, Nobuhiro Ishihara, is a painter [4]. Actor Yujiro Ishihara was his younger brother.

Books written by Ishihara

Shintarō Ishihara (upper) and Yukio Mishima (lower) in 1956.

Translation in English

Filmography

He played in 6 films as an actor[27]:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Season of the Sun"？　"Seasons in the Sun"？ See
  2. ↑ Profile of the Governor, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Mayors: Shintaro Ishihara: Governor of Tokyo," CityMayors.com.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Tim Larimer, "Rabble Rouser," TIME Asia, April 24, 2000
  5. ↑ Zipangu NGO website
  6. ↑ John J. Emmerson, Arms, Yen & Power: The Japanese Dilemma, (Tokyo: C.E. Tuttle, 1971), 339.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "'There's No Need For an Apology': Tokyo's boisterous governor is back in the headlines," TIME Asia, April 24, 2000.
  8. ↑ http://www.thefreelibrary.com/-a095319883 New Independent
  9. ↑ The World Today Archive - Japan's Le Pen
  10. ↑ "Policy Speech by Governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara," First Regular Session of the Metropolitan Assembly, 2002.
  11. ↑ Andrew DeWit and Masaru Kaneko, "Ishihara and the Politics of His Bank Tax," JPRI Critique 9:4, May 2002.
  12. ↑ "Tokyo hotel tax plan enacted," Kyodo News International, December 24, 2001.
  13. ↑ "Diesels may return to Japan roads," Reuters, March 3, 2006.
  14. ↑ "Tokyo governor suggests bid for 2016 Olympics," Daily Times, August 6, 2005.
  15. ↑ "ShinGinko Tokyo: the crumbling icon of imbecility," Times Online, August 13, 2007.
  16. ↑ "Ishihara: Only Sanctions Will Force North Korea to Disarm; Japan Needs Its Own Missile Shield (Global Viewpoint 10-22-2003)", New Perspectives Quarterly, October 23, 2003.
  17. ↑ original in Japanese: "今日の東京をみますと、不法入国した多くの三国人、外国人が非常に凶悪な犯罪を繰り返している。もはや東京の犯罪の形は過去と違ってきた。こういう状況で、すごく大きな災害が起きた時には大きな大きな騒じょう事件すらですね想定される、そういう現状であります。こういうことに対処するためには我々警察の力をもっても限りがある。だからこそ、そういう時に皆さん（＝自衛隊）に出動願って、災害の救急だけではなしに、やはり治安の維持も１つ皆さんの大きな目的として遂行して頂きたいということを期待しております。"
  18. ↑ "Japan Threatened by China, Its Own Timidity: Ishihara", Bloomberg, February 20, 2007.
  19. ↑ 与党の党首や幹部は帰化した人の子孫が多い
  20. ↑ Tokyo governor calls ruling party veterans 'naturalized'+
  21. ↑ Natural Born Vote? The Diplomat
  22. ↑ Playboy, Vol. 37, No. 10, p 63
  23. ↑ Iris Chang, The Rape of Nanking, p. 201-202
  24. ↑ Japan Civil Liberties Union, "Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, The Third Consideration of Japanese Governmental Report: Proposal of List of Issues for Pre-sessional Working Group."
  25. ↑ Robert Reed, "The governor's artistic side," Daily Yomiuri, July 28, 2005.
  26. ↑ "『与党は帰化した子孫多い』　石原知事" (in Japanese). Tokyo Shimbun. 2010-04-18. http://megalodon.jp/2010-0418-1750-39/www.tokyo-np.co.jp/s/article/2010041890070655.html. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  27. ↑ (Japanese) http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/person/p0225970.htm accessed 13 May 2009.

External links

Governors of Tokyo Metropolis

Seiichiro Yasui · Ryotaro Azuma · Ryokichi Minobe · Shunichi Suzuki · Yukio Aoshima · Shintarō Ishihara