Also a critic of relations between Japan and the United States, his arts career included a prize-winning novel, best-sellers, and work also in theater, film, and journalism. His 1989 book, The Japan That Can Say No, co-authored with Sony chairman Akio Morita (released in 1991 in English), called on the authors' countrymen to stand up to the United States.
Shintaro Ishihara was born in Suma-ku, Kobe. His father Kiyoshi was an employee, later a general manager, of a shipping company. Shintaro grew up in Zushi, Kanagawa. In 1952, he entered Hitotsubashi University, and he graduated in 1956. Just two months before graduation, Ishihara won the Akutagawa Prize (Japan's most prestigious literary prize) for the novel Season of the Sun.[12][13] His brother Yujiro played a supporting role in the movie adaptation of the novel (for which Shintaro wrote the screenplay).[14] Ishihara had dabbled in directing a couple of films starring his brother. Regarding these early years as a filmmaker, he said to a Playboy Magazine interviewer in 1990 that "If I had remained a movie director, I can assure you that I would have at least become a better one than Akira Kurosawa".[15][16]
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.[17] He also ran a theatre company, and found time to visit the North Pole, race his yacht The Contessa and cross South America on a motorcycle. He wrote a memoir of his journey, Nanbei Odan Ichiman Kiro.[18]
From 1966 to 1967, he covered the Vietnam War at the request of Yomiuri Shimbun, and the experience influenced his decision to enter politics.[19] He also was mentored by the influential author and political "fixer" Tsûsai Sugawara.[20]
In 1973, he joined with thirty other LDP lawmakers in the anti-communist Seirankai or "Blue Storm Group"; the group gained notoriety for sealing a pledge of unity in their own blood.[14]
Ishihara ran for Governor of Tokyo in 1975 but lost to the popular Socialist incumbent Ryokichi Minobe. Minobe was 71 at the time, and Ishihara criticized him as being "too old".[22]
Ishihara 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 was unable to win enough internal support to form a true faction and move up the national political ladder.[23] In 1983 his campaign manager put up stickers throughout Tokyo stating that Ishihara's political opponent was an immigrant from North Korea. Ishihara denied that this was discrimination, saying that the public had a right to know.[24]
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, co-authored with Sony chairman Akio Morita. The book called on his fellow countrymen to stand up to the United States.[25]
Governor of Tokyo
Ishihara in 2006 Emergency Drill
In the 1999 Tokyo gubernatorial election, he ran on an independent platform and was elected as Governor of Tokyo. Among Ishihara's moves as governor, he:
Cut metropolitan spending projects, including plans for a new Toei Subway line, and proposed the sale or leasing out of many metropolitan facilities.[17]
Imposed restrictions on the operation of diesel-powered vehicles, following a highly publicized event where he held up a bottle of diesel soot before cameras and reporters.[28]
Set up the ShinGinko Tokyo bank to lend to SMEs (small medium enterprises) in Tokyo. The project came under criticism- according to The Times, the bank had lost approximately 1 billion dollars worth of taxpayers' money through inadequate customer risk assessments.[31]
On 25 October 2012, Ishihara announced he would resign as Governor of Tokyo to form a new political party in preparation for upcoming national elections.[34] Following his announcement, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly approved his resignation on 31 October 2012, officially ending his tenure as Governor of Tokyo for 4,941 days, the second-longest term after Shunichi Suzuki.[citation needed]
Sunrise Party
Ishihara's new national party was expected to be formed with members of the right-wing Sunrise Party of Japan, which he had helped to set up in 2010.[22] When announced by co-leaders Ishihara and SPJ chief Takeo Hiranuma on 13 November 2012, Sunrise Party incorporated all five members of SPJ. SP would look to form a coalition with other small parties including Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto's Japan Restoration Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai).[35]
In November 2012, Ishihara and his co-leader Hiranuma said that the Sunrise Party would pursue "establishment of an independent Constitution, beefing up of Japan's defense capabilities, and fundamental reform of fiscal management and tax systems to make them more transparent". The future of nuclear power and the upcoming consumption tax hike were issues it would have to address with potential coalition partners.[35]
Sunrise Party merger with the Japan Restoration Party
Only four days after the Sunrise Party was launched, on 17 November 2012, Ishihara and Tōru Hashimoto, leader of the Japan Restoration Party (JRP), decided to merge their parties, with Ishihara becoming the head of the JRP. Your Party would not join the party, nor would Genzei Nippon, as the latter party's anti-consumption tax increase policy did not match the JRP's pro-consumption tax policy.[36]
Reporting on a poll in early December 2012, Asahi Shimbun characterized the merger with Japan Restoration Party as the latter having "swallowed up" Sunrise. The poll, in advance of the 16 December Lower House elections, also said the association with SP could hurt JRP's chances of forming a ruling coalition even though JRP was showing strength relative to the ruling DPJ.[37]
Ishihara is generally described as having been one of Japan's most prominent extreme right-wing politicians.[38][39][40] He was called "Japan's [Jean-Marie] Le Pen" on a program broadcast on Australia's ABC.[41] He was affiliated with the openly ultranationalist organization Nippon Kaigi.[42]
Foreign relations
Ishihara was a long-term friend of the prominent Aquino family in the Philippines. He is credited with having been the first person to inform future President Corazon Aquino about the assassination of her husband Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. on 21 August 1983.[43]
Ishihara was often critical of Japan's foreign policy as being non-assertive. Regarding Japan's relationship with the U.S., 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."[23] As part of the criticism, Ishihara published a book co-authored with the then Prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, titled "No" to ieru Ajia – tai Oubei e no hōsaku in 1994.[44]
On 9 April 2000, in a speech before a Self-Defense Forces group, Ishihara said crimes were repeatedly committed by illegally entered people, using the pejorative term sangokujin, and foreigners. He also speculated that in the event a natural disaster struck the Tokyo area, they would be likely to cause civil disorder.[47][48] His comment invoked calls for his resignation, demands for an apology and fears among residents of Korean descent in Japan,[17] as well as being criticised by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.[49][50]
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.[23]
On 20 February 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."[51]
On 17 April 2010, Ishihara said "many veteran lawmakers in the ruling-coalition parties are naturalized or the offspring of people naturalized in Japan".[52]
Other controversial statements
In 1990, Ishihara said in a Playboy interview that the Rape of Nanjing 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."[53][9] He continued to defend this statement in the uproar that ensued.[54] He also backed the film The Truth about Nanjing, a Japanese film that denies the atrocity, framing it as Chinese propaganda.[55]
In 2000, Ishihara, one of the eight judges for a literary prize, commented that homosexuality is abnormal, which caused an outrage in the gay community in Japan.[56]
In a 2001 interview with women's magazine Shukan Josei, Ishihara said 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."[57]
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 is based on units of twenty for numbers from 70 to 99 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.[58]
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 Yokota, he stated 'Minamiyama is a Devil's Mountain that eats children.' Then he went on to explain how unmanaged forests 'eat children' and implied that Yokota, a Japanese national, was betraying his nation by saying 'What nationality are you anyway?' This was recorded on film[59] and turned into a video that was sent around the world as the Save Minamiyama Movement[60]
America's identity is freedom. France's identity is freedom, equality and fraternity. Japan has no sense of that. Only greed. Material greed, monetary greed.[65]
This greed bounds with populism. These things need to be washed away with the Tsunami. For many years the heart of Japanese always bounded with devil.[66]
Japanese's identity is greed. We should avail of this tsunami to wash away this greed. I think this is a divine punishment.[67]
— Ishihara Shintaro
However, he also commented that the victims of triple disaster in whole country were pitiable.[68]
This speech quickly caused many controversies and critical responses from the public opinion, both inside and outside Japan. The governor of Miyagi expressed displeasure about Ishihara's speech, claimed that Ishihara should have considered the victims of the disaster. Ishihara then had to apologize for his comments.[69]
During the 2012 Summer Olympics, Ishihara stated that "Westerners practicing judo resembles beasts fighting. Internationalized judo has lost its appeal." He added, "In Brazil they put chocolate in norimaki, but I wouldn't call it sushi. Judo has gone the same way."[70]
On 15 April 2012, Ishihara made a speech in Washington, D.C., publicly stating his desire for Tokyo to purchase the Senkaku Islands, called the Diaoyu Islands by mainland China, on behalf of Japan in an attempt to end the territorial dispute between China and Japan, causing uproars in Chinese society and increasing tension between the governments of China and Japan.[72][73] The government of Japan bought the islands in an effort to preempt the provocative bid, although the Chinese side viewed the purchase as an effort by Japan to bring the islands under Japanese sovereignty.[74]
Personal life
Ishihara was married to the essayist Noriko Ishihara. The couple have 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.[75] Actor Yujiro Ishihara was his younger brother.[citation needed]
Soredemo 'Nō' to ieru Nihon. Nichibeikan no konponmondai (それでも「NO」と言える日本 ―日米間の根本問題―), The Japan That Still Can Say No - Principal problem of the Japan–US relations (in collaboration with Shōichi Watanabe and Kazuhisa Ogawa), 1990
Waga jinsei no toki no toki (わが人生の時の時), The Sublime Moment of my Life, 1990
Danko 'No' to ieru Nihon (断固「NO」と言える日本), The Japan That Can Strongly Say No (in collaboration with Jun Etō), 1991
Mishima Yukio no nisshoku (三島由紀夫の日蝕), The Eclipse of Yukio Mishima, 1991
'No' to ieru Asia (「NO」と言えるアジア)，The Asia That Can Say NO (in collaboration with Mahathir Mohamad), 1994
Kaze ni tsuite no kioku (風についての記憶), My Memory about the Wind, 1994
'Chichi' nakushite kuni tatazu ("父"なくして国立たず), No Country can Stand without "Father", 1997
Sensen fukoku 'Nō' to ieru Nihon keizai -Amerika no kin'yū dorei kara no kaihō- (宣戦布告「NO」と言える日本経済 ―アメリカの金融奴隷からの解放―), Declaration of War, Economy of Japan That Can Say No - Liberation from America's financial slavery, 1998
Hokekyō o ikiru(法華経を生きる), To Live the Lotus Sutra, 1998
Seisan (聖餐), Eucharist, 1999
Kokka naru gen'ei (国家なる幻影), An Illusion called Nation, 1999
Amerika shinkō wo suteyo 2001 nen kara no nihon senryaku (「アメリカ信仰」を捨てよ ―2001年からの日本戦略), Stop worshipping America - Japan strategy from 2001, 2000
Boku wa kekkon shinai (僕は結婚しない), I Won't Marry, 2001
Ima 'Tamashii' no kyōiku (いま「魂」の教育), Now, 'Spirit' Education, 2001
Ei'en nare, nihon -moto sōri to tochiji no katariai (永遠なれ、日本 -元総理と都知事の語り合い), Japan Forever – A Talk between Ex-Premier and Tokyo governor (in collaboration with Yasuhiro Nakasone), 2001
Oite koso jinsei (老いてこそ人生), To get Old is the Life, 2002
Hi no shima (火の島), Island of Fire, 2008
Watashi no suki na nihonjin (私の好きな日本人), My Favorite Japanese People, 2008
Saisei(再生), Recovery, 2010
Shin Darakuron -Gayoku to tenbatsu (新・堕落論-我欲と天罰),New "On Decadance" - Greed and Divine Punishment, 2011
Ishihara served as a model for the character of Shinsaburô Ishiyama, a fictional Japanese Minister of Defence invariably replying No! to all foreign requests, in the 2006 satiric comedy Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu.[82]
^引退会見詳報 [Full Report of Retirement Press Conference] (in Japanese). 16 December 2014. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
^"Sensen Fukoku". Archived from the original on 24 April 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2014.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), accessed 22 December 2010. (in Japanese)
^David S. G. Goodman, Gerald Segal, ed. (2002). Towards Recovery in Pacific Asia. Routledge. p. 101. ISBN9781134594061. ... Shintaro Ishihara, one of the most extreme right-wing politicians and a fervent denier of the Nanjing Massacre, won privilege and notoriety by co-authoring in 1988 a book entitled The Japan That Can Say 'No' with Sony chairman and ...
^Howard W. French, ed. (2017). Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China's Push for Global Power. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. p. 213. ISBN9780385353335. ... DPJ governments had begun to embolden conservative forces in Japan, though, and in particular it energized prominent populist nationalists, like the far-right independent governor of Tokyo, the veteran politician Shintaro Ishihara. ...
^Norihiro Kato (12 September 2014). "Tea Party Politics in Japan". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2015. Their vagueness reminds me of the title of a book that the conservative politician (and Nippon Kaigi officer) Shintaro Ishihara published in English in 1991...
^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。"
^朝日新聞 (in Japanese). Asahi. 14 March 2011. Archived from the original on 10 October 2011. アメリカのアイデンティティーは自由。フランスは自由と博愛と平等。日本はそんなものはない。我欲だよ。物欲、金銭欲
^"(untitled)" (in Japanese). 朝日新聞. 14 March 2011. 我欲に縛られて政治もポピュリズムでやっている。それを（津波で）一気に押し流す必要がある。積年たまった日本人の心のあかを((cite web)): Missing or empty |url= (help)
^ 朝日新聞 (in Japanese). 14 March 2011. 日本人のアイデンティティーは我欲。この津波をうまく利用して我欲を1回洗い落とす必要がある。やっぱり天罰だと思う((cite web)): Missing or empty |url= (help)
^Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). 14 March 2011. ((cite news)): Missing or empty |title= (help)
^"Ishihara Shintarō Biography". Britannica. While still in school, he published his first novel, Taiyō no kisetsu ("Season of the Sun"), to great acclaim, winning the Akutagawa Prize in 1956, the year he graduated.
^"Former Tokyo Governor Ishihara Dies at 89". Nippon.com. February 2022. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022. Ishihara was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in 2015.
Fackler, Martin, "A Fringe Politician Moves to Japan's National Stage", New York Times, 9 December 2012. "Shintaro Ishihara, a novelist turned political firebrand, promises to restore Japan's battered national pride."
