politics

Ishihara calls Kan, cabinet 'not Japanese' for not visiting Yasukuni Shrine

115 Comments

Outspoken Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara has referred to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, his cabinet and all politicians who did not visit Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine on Monday as "not Japanese." The Sankei newspaper reported Wednesday that Ishihara's comments were made in an informal and impolite speaking style.

Ishihara, who famously referred to the devastating Tohoku tsunami of March 11 as "divine punishment," visited the shrine on Aug 15 as part of the city's memorial service for the war dead. He told the assembled media that he had gone to the shrine to pray for the salvation of Japan. He went on to say that the current political turmoil in Japan is deserved. "The Japanese race has become a degraded shadow of its former self. We brought this upon ourselves," he was quoted as saying by media.

Visits by senior politicians to the Tokyo war shrine on the anniversary of the end of the war have often inflamed relations with China and South Korea and are closely scrutinized around the region. The Shinto shrine honors the 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including Class A war criminals such as Hideki Tojo, and is seen by many as a center of Japanese revisionism.

This year, more than 50 members of the conservative opposition Liberal Democratic Party — including current LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- visited the shrine, while Kan and his entire cabinet stayed away.

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115 Comments
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Spoken like a true nationalistic, racist, xenophobic nut bag!

18 ( +18 / -0 )

And will somebody PLEASE remind this idiot JAPANESE is a Nationality, NOT A RACE!

12 ( +12 / -0 )

He is a disgrace to the human race, a moron, an idiot, a prat, totally clueless, ignorant, arrogant, racist, xenophobic, vain, narcissistic and he expects people to listen to him.

What scares me more though.... Is that some people out there actually like him and vote for him...

11 ( +13 / -2 )

Readers, please refrain from using offensive language, such as above. It lowers the level of discussion.

Next thing you know, Ishihara will start demanding they show their birth certificates to prove they're not Kenyans.

10 ( +11 / -1 )

Japan fought power with power and became what Japan was fighting against consumed in the flame of the time. For that the people of the present must recognize the fact that every man woman and child were responsible for the total war that was fought and not blame the ones that were singled out people that were charged and placed through trial

Excuse me, Most common folk were not responsible for that war, moreover, Okinawa never asked to enlist in that war, we never wanted to be part of it from the very beginning. That war wasn't fought for territorial power or to promote harmony among races. There is nothing harmonious about mass-massacres, mass-rapes, human vivisection, experimentation, pillage, looting, etc. Where's the harmony in that? The mainland of Japan dragged us by our feet and killed anyone who resisted, we were given hand grenades to blow ourselves in pieces once they started to surrender. The mainland of Japan violated the teachings of Bushido. There is ZERO honor in invading other countries and do what they did.

Get your facts, straight, please.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

we need to show him nominal respect

Why, when he does nothing to earn it?

There is not much effort to doing nothing, something that Kan is really good at

Kan did not 'do nothing', he simply didn't do what Shin-chan in the wisdom of his advanced years thought he should. Nor should he. Kan presided over a government-sponsored memorial service at the Budokan at which he likened Japan's recovery after the war with the recovery the country is going to make after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Dignified and to the point, looking forward instead of backwards and without the stench of old soldiers yearning after the glory of days long gone - and that weren't all that glorious.

Well done Kan, shut up and go home ishihara.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

What does he mean by "not Japanese"? I would think from his history that he means lower than people liek himself. In most first world countries a racist dinosaur like him would have been removed from positions of authority decades ago.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

there are many good Japanese people, and some few xenophobic idiots accusing even their own countrymen of not being Japanese enough. happens everywhere, Japan is not alone on this one!

7 ( +10 / -3 )

the man is a sad old windbag. dirt for brains. what do you expect?

6 ( +6 / -0 )

He is senile now.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

WE HATE HIM IN OKINAWA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Those senior citizens who keep voting in this xenophobic mayor are just as nuts as he is. It is no wonder how I often see younger athletes cringe (like Sawa-san) when he does obligatory greetings with them. All they can do in front of him is crack an forced smile and shrug.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Ah yes, what would be a hot summer without some more insane spouting by our beloved mayor.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

What a shame to Japanese politicians! How narrow-minded they are! In spite of so much developments in physical/material terms, the human mind is still underdeveloped.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Some people vote for him because they were fans of his acting, singing brother. Celebrity politics taken to extremes.

I'd say it was time he retired and spent his time playing with his great-grandchildren, except that i can't bring myself to wish such a horrible fate on innocent children.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Man I wish this disgrace of a human being to soon make a certain frog sound & leave this world, shame on all the people of Tokyo who blindly vote for this piece of trash

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Uh, so did he call the Emperor out , too?

5 ( +5 / -0 )

I guess the Emperor and Empress (and the previous emperor) aren't Japanese either then.

I wish the old windbag would say this to their faces.

As I've always said, it's no skin off my back who the Tokyoites vote for, but they get what they deserve. I feel sorry for those who did vote and did not want this babbling relic. I know my Japanese partner is sick and tired of him. In a civilized, democratic country where people voice their opinions and demand change, he'd have been out of office ten times over by now.

He's a godsend to those who want Japan to be seen in a bad light internationally.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

As an American I have no problem with Japanese honoring their war dead. In the US, our Memorial Day honors all of our war dead, including both sides fighting during our Civil War. Although the South in our Civil War generally supported the slavery of Blacks, honoring their dead does not make me a racist and I am from the North, although I now live in the south.

Plus in an earlier post I misspelled MacArthur. I did not proofread. Sorry.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Ishihara is an idiot. As someone who recently left Japan due to loss of employment and inability to secure similar work in the same industry after months of trying, the under current of hostility towards gaijin in Japan is something I don't miss & Ishihara, the village idiot of Tokyo I especially don't miss.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Naoto Kan is the BEST Japanese Prime Minister in decades (although I appreciate that that isn't saying much). In the wake of a horrific natural disaster, and faced with the petulance and of the LDP and the Japanese media, Kan has acted with resolve and integrity, and has resisted opportunistic calls for his resignation. Despite growing tensions with China, Kan's thoughtful and statesmanlike remarks at the secular war memorial show that his heart is definitely in the right place. Kan is a new figure in Japanese politics: a hard nosed liberal with the courage of his convictions, in contrast to his useless predecessor.

If Ishihara and those like him are the "true Japanese", then let Japan die with him. As it is, people like Kan and the others who turned their backs on Yasukuni are the only hope for Japan's future.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Shintaro Ishihara, Gen (Ret) Toshio Tamogami, and all the other revisionist far right wing nuts that long for the good old days of the "Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" should hop in the nearest Delorean and set the clock for 1939 - good riddance......

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Why did the people re-elect this clown?

hatsoff -- simple. Because the older voters, who dominate elections in Japan, LOVE this guy. And probably secrectly agree with him.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

If the only way permissible for Japanese people to honour their war dead is to visit Yasukuni on the 15th August, then most Japanese people are 'not Japanese'.

That includes the whole of the Kan cabinet as well as the Emperor and Empress, who nevertheless did attend a somber and dignified ceremony at the Budokan.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japan-marks-66th-anniversary-of-world-war-ii-surrender

Maybe someone could ask Ishihara if he thinks the Emperor and Empress are as 'not Japanese' as he claims his political opponents are. Anyone here think he would be daft enough to use the same 'informal and impolite speaking style' (apparently he used the term あいつら, which is pretty disrespectful) when discussing the non-Japaneseness of their Imperial Highnesses? Politicians have been shot for less. Could he explain the difference, if any, between Naoto and Akihito? Or would he just blink and bluster like a rabid codfish out of water?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

If they weren't Japanese he'd be shrieking about having 'gaijin' in office. If the guy wants people to pray for the 'salvation of Japan', it needn't be at Yasukuni.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

TakahiroDomingo, It is true that there are 'xenophobic idiots' in most countries around the world, but there are few places I know of where those are repetedly elected in such prominent positions.

There's not much to wonder about Ishihara (he really seems to believe in what he's saying), but about Tokyoties again and again electing him.

I thought Tokyo was different city, more modern, more human, more international, but it seems I was wrong.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

zurcronium: Now? Seems he is been going down for years but people still elect him as governor.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

A lot of Tokyoites continually vote for him, so I guess they have the same deluded way of thinking. Also, seems a little incredible that political parties can never come with a viable alternative for voters. Mind you, I come from Chicago, so...

3 ( +3 / -0 )

hahah this guy needs his own column, JT can you please make a Ishihara section for the site, or tag all his comments, this clown doesn't think before he talks, he lives totally in the moment and doesn't plan anything.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

"Not Japanese" is just another "With us or without us" argument - black and white, polarized, wilfully ignoring all the shades in between that make up the real world, which is not where Ishihara lives. I say build a house on Senkaku Island with a Japanese flag on the roof, and let Ishihara live there rent free for the rest of his days. Why did the people re-elect this clown?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Am not a fan of the Ishihara as well, however we need to show him nominal respect. You can disagree with him without putting yourself in the gutter. He is one of those things that happen in a Democracy. The people of Tokyo elected him for whatever reasons and we are stuck with him. Thankfully he has no national influence besides his words. Think he likes to see his name in the papers and the more you make of it the more important we make him. Again the PM does the right thing and Ishihara eats foot again. Really did it surprise anyone?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

patty cake champion, he did something promoting good will with China and Korea. He is willing to take fire from the feckless right wing. Please try and be positive for a change, He really needs to remain our PM. All people do this days is criticize and call others names. This is the reason we have not had a PM for much over a year. This is why nothing ever gets done.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

However this old man might make most of us folks feel, it is worth observing some points:

He, like many of his cronies, is living in the past. He and the bulk of those who vote for him will be gone in a few years (count them on your hand). Their children are less extreme and better educated. He is a politician. Politicians want to be / remain in power. Especially those whose ship is sinking fast. Not only does this already tell us what kind of people they are, it reaffirms why they say what they do. He is a history revisionist. This is something that is not open to debate or opinion. If you deny history, you deny what is FACT. This is of course immoral but also illegal in many countries. Not so in Japan. It also once again highlights the desperation of those who do it. It is self defeating because it is impossible. It is one of the reasons why Ishihara is popular with oldies because they want to believe what he says. For the rest of us, do not worry. Facts speak for themselves. We know the truth whether he and his ilk like it or not. Of course, Japan continues to withhold history from school children and this is something which needs to be addressed and with more pressure on those in authority. As new generations remain better educated and more open to the idea that their great nation remains a laughing stock for denying history, we can remain hopeful they will act sooner rather than later. Whether he likes it or not, he has implied from his comments that His Imperial Majesty, The Emperor Heisei of Japan is not Japanese. Well, like Ishihara, he is not wholly Japanese. No Japanese are. The majority of modern day Japanese DNA is derived from Chinese who entered Japan via the Korean peninsula, from Koreans and a much smaller part from the Polynesians and native Ainu. Once again, this is fact. Sorry Shintaro san. I do wonder why Ishihara constantly disrespects and insults his own ancestors. Once again, the education thing. He insults and criticizes but fails to see who he is actually criticizing. By saying that women who continue to live after reproduction are committing a sin, what does that say about his very own wife, Noriko (in her seventies). The person he promised to love and protect when he married. This says more about Ishihara than anything else ever could. It is why people shouldn't get pissed at his comments. It is clear they have no merit. One of his other targets which comes to mind is the Gay community. He himself spent much time of his youth with the prominent gay nationalist and novelist, Yukio Mishima. His brother Yujiro was very "close" to Mishima indeed. Why would he dishonor the memory of his dear friend and brother in such a way?

So, fear not haters of this blinking senile old fool. Don't waste your hatred on this dying breed.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Ishihara is not stupid or an idiot.

Yes he is.

his supportors wants to hear these things.

That would suggest that his supporters are also stupid and idiots.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Good on Kan for not going.

He told the assembled media that he had gone to the shrine to pray for the salvation of Japan.

He could try jisatsu instead. That would be a good start.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

What does he think they are? Korean?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

“The Japanese race has become a degraded shadow of its former self. We brought this upon ourselves,”

Yeah, because things were working out for you so well the "old" way.

This year, more than 50 members of the conservative opposition Liberal Democratic Party — including current LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki and former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe—visited the shrine, while Kan and his entire cabinet stayed away.

I think - and this is REALLY weird - I am starting to get a little bit of a crush on our Naoto Kan! There is just something so attractive about a Japanese politician who actually sticks by his beliefs, wont be cowed by the fogies in suits and their traditional ways, and flicks a proverbial finger at his critics. If Kan steps down it will be a tragedy for this country.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

Ishihara's politics resembles those of novelist Mishima Yukio, who disemboweled himself with a sword in order to dramatize the shame of Japan's commitment to peace as embodied in Japan's anti war constitution. They have always had a campaign to cloak Imperial Japan's war record of atrocities to the rest of Asia. If you have read any of his books, Ishihara has often displayed a strong nationalistic inclination and is unrepentant. Hence he continues to speak his mind and apparently has a nostalgia for the old days of authoritarian grandeur constantly championing in the cause of strict Asian values renaissance against "the bully decadent west". We hope that what he says doesn't always represent a broad section of those that voted for him as governor

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@steve

What does he mean by "not Japanese"? I would think from his history that he means lower than people liek himself. In most first world countries a racist dinosaur like him would have been removed from positions of authority decades ago

Wow!!! For the very first time, YOU and ME finally agree on something!!! Well said!! 良かった~!(^。^) .

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Never fails to amuse, but even I had to blink several times in astonishment at this one. I blinked and blinked again but it was still there.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Villagehiker:

" As an American I have no problem with Japanese honoring their war dead. "

Me neither. But that is not the issue here. Yasukuni Shrine has a hell of a lot of dirty baggage besides "honoring war dead".

If "honoring war dead is the issue", there is actually a beautiful and uncontroversial site for that. Read up on the Chidorigafuji memorial and park in Tokyo. But that, of course, is not acceptable for Ishihara and other revisionists.

Yasukuni shrine is a highly political site, and not the kind of politics that should be promoted.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Read it from the horse's mouth.

These are direct quotes by Ishihara.

It's pretty difficult to believe that these were actually said by a person in a high position in Japanese politics, but it's true.

This is the governor of Tokyo.

Regarding the Rape of Nanjing: They say we made a holocaust there, but that is not true. It is a lie made up by the Chinese.

I hate Mickey Mouse. He has nothing like the unique sensibility that Japan has. The Japanese are inherently skilled at visual expression and detailed work.

Let them bomb Japan with that nasty missile. Their missile cannot load a nuclear warhead.

Japan should absolutely possess nuclear weapons

I don't think we can easily do away with atomic power. Nuclear energy is inexpensive if managed well

Regarding the bomb-planting at the private residence of Deputy Foreign Minister Hitoshi Tanaka: A bomb was planted there. I think it was deserved.

Japanese's identity is greed. We should avail of this tsunami to wash away this greed. I think this is a divine punishment.

Old women who live after they have lost their reproductive function are useless and are committing a sin.

The Chinese are ignorant, so they're overjoyed about that spaceship of theirs.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Ishihara the people voted you in , they can also vote you out, nasty little excuse for a man

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Absurd ideas that guy has.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Ishihara, who famously referred to the devastating Tohoku tsunami of March 11 as “divine punishment,”

Don't be so hard on him! With the above quote he has indicated that he himself is not even human!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Isihara is a complete nut case and how the hell did the japanese in tokyo vote him back in , they must be sillier than we all imagine.

Time this senile old creep went into retirement in the asylum.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

He remains in office so I guess he speaks for a lot of people (his voters) maybe he will lose the next election

1 ( +1 / -0 )

You're damned if you go and you're damned if you don't....and since when does anyone take Ishihara seriously anyways?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Koizumi's legacy was insignificant - he just made Japan feel better about itself for a while, and set a few matronly hearts fluttering.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

i didn't realize Japanese is a race... thanks Shinny

1 ( +1 / -0 )

If Ishihara wants to see the salvation of Japan the best thing he can do is resign forthwith. It's Ishihara and his crooked LDP mates that have brought the country to its knees. Massive debts, endemic corruption and waste, self-serving politicians, large parts of the country rendered uninhabitable due to a foreseeable and avoidable nuclear fiasco. This is the legacy of the LDP, the party of Ishihara and his "Japanese" mates. Give me the "non-Japanese" any day.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Ishihara's right, Kan and the cabinet members who didn't visit Yasukuni and are not sorry that Japan didn't prevail in the war to become the supreme rulers of the world are not really Japanese, lol.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

And this man will be governor of Tokyo until at least March of 2015. Nice going, voters of Tokyo. It's unprecedented that no members of the Japanese cabinet have visited Yasukuni on August 15 in back-to-back years. People can thank the DPJ for something, namely getting a clue and defusing unneeded tensions with other nations (mainly Korea and China, but don't think that people in other places are not offended by the Yasukuni visits on 8/15). I realize that for the Japanese, there is an element of "feeling good" when thumbing their noses (or extending their middle fingers) at people (Chinese and Koreans) who supposedly hate them, but politicians should not visit a controversial place on a particular day just because it feels good to irritate somebody.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I think Ishihara's forgot his medicine again. Tokyo has paid dearly and will continue to do so for his idiocy. Like nearly all right wing Japanese, he's what the Americans call a chicken hawk who has never worn a military uniform. Has he ever been so much as a Boy Scout? He wants to invoke Japan's "former self", does he? The former Japanese self that invaded China, massacred many thousands of civilians, allied with Adolf Hitler, and then lost the war quite horribly, blithely sacrificing many thousands of Japanese civilian lives?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

How can a person born in Japan or raised in Japan,not be Japanese? Is being Japanese contingent upon belief in the opinions of the majority? In an unspoken but mythologized consensus? In the coerced and ready worldview of a bullying minority?

Ishihara is a sophomoric and bigoted disgrace as the governor of the largest city on earth.g

Ishihara's message is that Japanese-ness is a matter of belief in and within the system. That even if Japan has done wrong, the Japanese should maintain pride in whatever the evil, as it is a product of a common lifeblood.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Ishihara should climb into a boat with his supporters and sail to China, katana tucked under his belt, and Shinto prayer beads grasped in his hand. Then we will know....

1 ( +1 / -0 )

conservatives who are good at.. everything else?

Not sure what or who you're referring to here....Ishihara with his failed bank and failed Olympic bids costing the Tokyo taxpayer barrels of cash? Or his pals in the LDP who so brilliantly spent our pension money on empty concrete boxes and jobs for the boys, and built so many substandard nuclear plants on top of seismic faultlines?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Tokyoites vote in this governor time after time after time. What does this say about them? Are they not ashamed to have this person as their spokesperson?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@LittleIdaho

However this old man might make most of us folks feel, it is worth observing some points:

1.He, like many of his cronies, is living in the past. He and the bulk of those who vote for him will be gone in a few years (count them on your hand). Their children are less extreme and better educated.

2.He is a politician. Politicians want to be / remain in power. Especially those whose ship is sinking fast. Not only does this already tell us what kind of people they are, it reaffirms why they say what they do.

3.He is a history revisionist. This is something that is not open to debate or opinion. If you deny history, you deny what is FACT. This is of course immoral but also illegal in many countries. Not so in Japan. It also once again highlights the desperation of those who do it. It is self defeating because it is impossible. It is one of the reasons why Ishihara is popular with oldies because they want to believe what he says. For the rest of us, do not worry. Facts speak for themselves. We know the truth whether he and his ilk like it or not. Of course, Japan continues to withhold history from school children and this is something which needs to be addressed and with more pressure on those in authority. As new generations remain better educated and more open to the idea that their great nation remains a laughing stock for denying history, we can remain hopeful they will act sooner rather than later.

4.Whether he likes it or not, he has implied from his comments that His Imperial Majesty, The Emperor Heisei of Japan is not Japanese. Well, like Ishihara, he is not wholly Japanese. No Japanese are. The majority of modern day Japanese DNA is derived from Chinese who entered Japan via the Korean peninsula, from Koreans and a much smaller part from the Polynesians and native Ainu. Once again, this is fact. Sorry Shintaro san. I do wonder why Ishihara constantly disrespects and insults his own ancestors. Once again, the education thing.

5.He insults and criticizes but fails to see who he is actually criticizing. By saying that women who continue to live after reproduction are committing a sin, what does that say about his very own wife, Noriko (in her seventies). The person he promised to love and protect when he married. This says more about Ishihara than anything else ever could. It is why people shouldn't get pissed at his comments. It is clear they have no merit. One of his other targets which comes to mind is the Gay community. He himself spent much time of his youth with the prominent gay nationalist and novelist, Yukio Mishima. His brother Yujiro was very "close" to Mishima indeed. Why would he dishonor the memory of his dear friend and brother in such a way?

So, fear not haters of this blinking senile old fool. Don't waste your hatred on this dying breed.

~BEST POST EVER in this thread~

Thank You for making my day (^。^)

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@LittleIdaho, I agree with BlueWitch this has to be one of the top posts on JT.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I am thinking of sending my letter of rant to the Tokyo Metropolitan Office, if I were privileged to do so.

Here's the sample:

Dear a paranoiac Tokyo Governor

If religious conservative is the requirement for what you call 'patriotic' Japanese citizens, you are dead wrong. I was/am a permanent resident of Tokyo, and I always pray for those who are suffering from catastrophic disasters and various forms of social injustice. But I will pity those political hypocrites and some local/state authorities –just like you(!)—for deliberately misleading the people into the façade of Shinto war shrine for glorifying a shattered God!!!

End of my rant

aj

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Gaijin2002Aug. 18, 2011 - 09:21PM JST. What's so great about it? It is NATURAL for anybody to visit your country's x-heros... Why are Japanese so shy about it ... I myself have visited Yasukuni n number of times...

X-heros? In the real world, people are defined by what they do. The 14 class A war criminals in Yasukuni are defined by the brutality of the regimes they ruled and the shame and defeat they brought to Japan. So when 50+ of these J-goverment officials that represents millions of Japanese people in their district visits Yasukuni, he or she is, whether he likes to or not, implicitly endorsing their actions. Actions which included the murder of millions of Chinese, Koreans, Philipinos, slavery, the murder of POWs and human experimentation. Likewise, if Angela Merkel visited Erwin Rommels grave in order to “pray for peace” she too would be tacitly endorsing the third reich. In any event, I hope that you’ll be able to see why these 50+ J-goverment officials actions are wrong. Just a note, if your a private citizen visiting Yasukuni, no problem.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Ishihara is a NAZI dressed up in an old Japanese mans clothing, we must never forget that Dai Nippon Teikoku was arm in arm with Nazi Germany, Facist Italy, so we should not be surprised that these old fart KKK type racist Japan only for Japanese kind of mentality goons are not only hated down in Okinawa but all over Asia too. I would like to see this idiot try and visit Seoul or Beijing and give one of his Dai Nippon Teikoku, Imperial Japan was a grand country, just protecting themselves from the evil West BS kind of speech, see what the Koreans and Chinese would do to him, probably not even allow him into their country in the first place, may this old fart Ishihara one day shut up, die and yes BURN IN HELL for all of Eternity amen!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@oginome either that or quite possibly, just maybe Japan might have a problem with coughracism -_-;

Japan, racism? Never! Next you'll be telling me the sky is blue...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

insulting higher-ups ?! This senior citizen will be relected for next term also.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Un-Japanese, un-American, un-German etc. - un-human

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Patrick

It's actually people in their 70s who love him; his support steadily declines as voters get younger, and in fact voters in their 20s ad 30s cast more votes for Higashikokubaru last time.

Still, we all know how massive a voting bloc seniors are and will continue to be. I just hope he retires of his own volition when this term is done. Despite being a 12-year resident, I still haven't experienced a non-Ishihara Tokyo!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Oops, forgot the link. Ishihara is in red; the others are Watanabe (dark blue), Higashikokubaru (light blue) and Koike (purple):

http://publicspeaking.jp/column/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/g1302434691.jpg

Check out all those 70+ elderly who keep voting for this buffoon.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

ThonTaddeo - I know this isn't the place for this discussion, but Ishihara still has about 20% or so votes from people in their 20s. I blame his election on the elderly buffoons like everybody else here, but it isn't like he has no young following. Hopefully the country is rid of this racist moron soon.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Bam_Boo: "TakahiroDomingo, It is true that there are 'xenophobic idiots' in most countries around the world, but there are few places I know of where those are repetedly elected in such prominent positions."

You're both right, and now this man wants the world to believe the city, under him, deserves the Olympics -- Japan's already been told it needs to make things for foreign-friendly to get the bid, and this guy is proving yet again why Tokyo ISN'T (ready OR user-friendly).

Now, you KNOW I'm not a supporter of Ishihara in the least, and part of his rationale for the March 11th disasters (that the 'Japanese are only a shadow of our former selves') is beyond loathesome and insulting, particularly to the victims. Beyond that he did make one descent point, though, in defending the remark and it was that with Japan being the only nation to suffer atombic bombings, they failed to learn from the tragedy and instead rushed to build more and more, now second only to France in number. That failure to learn in part led to what happened -- their pride was being punished.

Anyway, it's still unbelievable that he said it, and especially HOW, and here we are again with our monthly ranting from the man.

It'd be nice to see Kan, in newsport when asked about this, he do/say something like:

Kan: I (blink blink blink) don't (blink blink blink) care (blink blink blink blink).

0 ( +3 / -3 )

All readers back on topic please. The subject is Tokyo Gov Ishihara, not former Prime Minister Koizumi.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Ishihara is Korean

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Back on topic please.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@herefornow - right. So that means we need to build more houses on Senkaku for them too. Ishihara will love the attention and fawning. Good for his ego.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"So as long as they are PC, useless Japanese politicians should be able to be elected over conservatives who are good at.. everything else?"

patty cake champion: Are you really implying that Ishihara is good at everything except being PC? Not to deny Ishihara his accomplishments during his 12 years as Tokyo governor, but this man is single-handedly responsible for flushing untold amounts of money down the toilet in futile pursuit of multiple Summer Olympic bids and the setup of the failed Tokyo Shin Ginko.

Japan had politically conservative prime ministers in office without interruption from 1996 to 2009. Do you really believe that Messrs Hashimoto, Obuchi, Mori, Koizumi, Abe, Fukuda, and Aso were so good at leading the country? Would you care to explain why if you think so?

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The writer governor may suggest reading Antigone by Sophocles, referring to Eto Jun, Ishihara's good friend and junior in high school. And perhaps he thinks that the emperor is an epigone after his father.

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"sure, what's the email address? the explanation is off-topic on this thread"

patty cake champion: It's not that off-topic. But if you don't want to (and it seems like you don't), I'll frame the answer in a more general, pertinent manner so that you may actually respond here: How are politically conservative Japanese politicians like Ishihara "good at everything" in terms of governing Japan?

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make that "frame the question"

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Ishihara's comments are becoming more extreme with age. Yeah, he was elected before. That doesn't mean he will be elected again. If he keeps this up I think he'll write himself off.

There is a middle ground between being a client state of the US and being a facist dictatorship. But it's nice to get a lot of military protection for a lower cost (sorry to the Okinawans but that's part of the cost). With China on the rise and becoming more aggressive there is going to be a balancing act necessary. Unfortunately Ishihara seems to be a little unbalanced....

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Ishihara is using nationalize as a way to express his disappointment that Kan et al didn't do the expected trip to pay their respects to the Japanese war dead. Nothing more nothing less. good points plasticmonkey.

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Respected Chigee...I have a complain to you. Why Taiwanese are going to Yasukuni more than Japanese...?

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Ms O'Neill; Mr Ishihara has been saying disgusting things like this and worse for over a decade. The sad thing is that he is continually voted in. In fact many Tokyo residents(Mostly older people) see him as some sort of hero. His recent re-elction speak volumes for the types that are voting.

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"I only pay respect to winners, but nonetheless we should commend them for their efforts. I mean, fighting against a foe that can deliver round the clock strategic bombing of residential zones is no friendly match."

patty cake champion: People like you who employ this type of framing strategy for portraying the Japanese as "underdog victims" during World War II need to be called out for what you're doing. To imply that Japan's main foe during that war was the US (the ones who could "deliver round the clock strategic bombing") is a lie. The main thrust of Japan's war throughout the 1937-45 period was against a bunch of ragtag Chinese guerilla fighters and largely defenseless civilians. The island-hopping campaigns of the US were a sideshow by comparison. Vis-a-vis China, World War II was very much like the Vietnam War, with the Japanese playing the role that the Americans would play 25 years later. That wasn't exactly a friendly match, either.

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Japanese politicians such as Ishihara cannot expect to solve their problems if all do is tear each other down. This is the problem of demonizing political opponents or questioning their motives or their patriotism. However, in a free country, the argument is essential in order for the Japanese public to be able to hear a variety of perspectives and make informed decisions. The fact that in Japan, incivility has been part of the political discourse for many years, but it does not justify these acts. It simply means that the Japanese public has been subjected to many years of inappropriateness and they accept it as being normal.

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”People can thank the DPJ for something, namely getting a clue and defusing unneeded tensions with other nations (mainly Korea and China,”

Yeah, isn't it great - this warm fuzzy feeling between the three countries now. Most Japanese don't think going to Yasukuni is wrong. Many of them feel that if it offends Korea and China so much for politicians to go there "as politicians" on Aug 15, then it would be better not to go - but that's just Japanese pragmatism - it's not because they think there is anything intrinsically wrong with the place or with Japanese going there.

It may be hard to understand for some people to understand, but many normal Japanese and politicians go to Yasukuni just to remember, pray for, or pay their respects to their beloved who died in uniform. Talk to some ordinary Japanese who go there - not the right wingers.

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I would have thought that - allegedly - funding an organisation that killed several innocent Japanese might also be construed as a fairly "non Japanese" thing to do.

Reading the Wikipedia entry on Ishihara, it states:

"According to noted politician Koichi Hamada, Ishihara gave financial and political support to Aum Shinrikyo, a religious cult that was involved in several murders and assassination attempts during the early 1990s."

And, when considering his close friendship in his youth with far-right author Yukio Mishima, perhaps Ishihara's own book Kurutta kajitsu (Crazed Fruit) is actually an autobiography?

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Is it Manzai season in Tokyo?

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I hope that Ishihara visit to Yasukuni Shrine also for preying.

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Shintaro Ishihara is definitely a war monger want for more power, PM Kan and his Cabinet member just want to avoid to visit the shrine because its will spark anger from other Asia country like China and South Korea. PM Kan and his Cabinet is a true Japanese. but you Shintaro Ishihara are not a Japanese but a dictator of Tokyo.

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When Ishihara dies, there will be no tears shed I'm sure. I'm still baffled how this clown has been elected time and time again, given his derogatory remarks over the years!

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@LittleIdaho - your post, reiterated by BlueWitch, is by far, the most intellectual I've seen on JT in many years! Love it!

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Somewhere down the line, 50 years from now, genealogists will discover Ishihara was 1/16 Chinese or Korean or something. This desperate, overbearing nationalism comes from a very insecure place with something to hide. Just a thought...

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“The Japanese race has become a degraded shadow of its former self. We brought this upon ourselves,”

So what are you going to do about it?

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Time to retire........

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I think he means "un-Japanese" in the same way some narrow-minded Americans would called some of their fellow citizens "un-American" for doing or not doing certain things. "Dang it, not eating hot dogs on the Fourth of July is just plain un-American!"

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Not patriots at all!

How people always like to use that phrase, haha.

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I agree with you Chiggee...this time. ( People who are not Japanese for not Visiting Yasukuni.) I Have a friend She is Taiwanese.. recently she becomes Japanese (By marring to a Japanese man, and Neutralize) I see , she also visiting Yasukuni with her Family. She mostly against to Chinese and that she want to annoying them ....

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Koizumi at least kept a consistent message. Japan needs a leader to make the country feel better. Too many people being down all the time. It could be the 80s again if we just got the people fired up behind someone.

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I thought Japan was a country that only exalts and worships WINNERS, not losers. This kind of behaviour is basically telling our kids that mediocracy and EPIC FAIL are acceptable as long as you give it your best shot.

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Why did the people re-elect this clown?

Well, Tokyoites had 2 real choices in the last gubernatorial elections: first is the Shonan born and bred novelist and playwright who we know as Ishihara, second is a Miyazaki comedian who was the co-host of Takeshi's Castle Higashikokubaru

how long does it take to weight your options?

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And Yes, Japanese is not a race. Just a group of people that were island locked for so long, that they became something....sort of like a new race. :-)

But since they can propagate amongst all of the human race, then they must be part of us worldly humans.

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Japan had politically conservative prime ministers in office without interruption from 1996 to 2009. Do you really believe that Messrs Hashimoto, Obuchi, Mori, Koizumi, Abe, Fukuda, and Aso were so good at leading the country? Would you care to explain why if you think so?

sure, what's the email address? the explanation is off-topic on this thread

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He wants to invoke Japan's "former self", does he? The former Japanese self that invaded China, massacred many thousands of civilians, allied with Adolf Hitler, and then lost the war quite horribly, blithely sacrificing many thousands of Japanese civilian lives?

this or a country that is an American client state..I am weighing my options...

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Ishihara is not stupid or an idiot. He is a shrewd politician. He said these things because he knows his supportors wants to hear these things. It is one of the major reason why he keep getting reelected.

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According to Ishihara being 'Japanese' means glorifying war atrocities including vivasections on pregnant women and slaughter of millions along with your more tempered war crimes like attempted cultural genocide. What's even more pathetic is that IShihara remains one of Japan's most popular politicians. Good grief.

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Again the PM does the right thing and Ishihara eats foot again. Really did it surprise anyone?

There is not much effort to doing nothing, something that Kan is really good at, so no surprises there.

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@Blue Witch Okinawas suffered terrible in WW2. But, read some books and talk to some old timers. They weren't dragged into it. Everyone was happy in 1941 when Japan was initially successful. Ask some people what the atmosphere was like when the Pearl Harbor success was announced.

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What's so great about it? It is NATURAL for anybody to visit your country's x-heros... Why are Japanese so shy about it ... I myself have visited Yasukuni n number of times... If we have to follow the chinese / korean logic ...then bush is no hero in Iraq.. . so if iraqis protest, shd. US people stop praising Bush (OR any US leader?)? Answer is - NO......

Ishihara is very right when he says - "no japanese" to all those (japanese) who dont visit yasukuni.

Wake up japan, be proud of your countrymen...

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@oginome either that or quite possibly, just maybe Japan might have a problem with coughracism -_-;

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Koizumi was the best PM in decades. Everyone since has been an empty suit. Ishiahara is suffering from his advanced age.

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Kan did not 'do nothing', he simply didn't do what Shin-chan in the wisdom of his advanced years thought he should. Nor should he. Kan presided over a government-sponsored memorial service at the Budokan at which he likened Japan's recovery after the war with the recovery the country is going to make after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Dignified and to the point, looking forward instead of backwards and without the stench of old soldiers yearning after the glory of days long gone - and that weren't all that glorious.

So as long as they are PC, useless Japanese politicians should be able to be elected over conservatives who are good at.. everything else?

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

'm not going to Yasukuni

I only pay respect to winners, but nonetheless we should commend them for their efforts. I mean, fighting against a foe that can deliver round the clock strategic bombing of residential zones is no friendly match.

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I am in two minds. I feel the PM and his cabinet should visit yasukuni, but the rants of that senile old fool are just ridiculous.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

I for one understand what Ishihara is talking about and the cabinet should grow a spine and pay homage to the service men who paid their lives for their country and tell any negative foreign response to shove it and if asked why they are visiting they should respond as elected officials of the present we are paying homage to the men, women and all others that had paid their lives for the survival of Japan. If asked about the war criminals, answer that they had also paid their lives in the end to accept all responsibilities that this nation had committed during the war. The war was a blemish and went against what Japanese really desire, harmony with others regardless of race. It was a challenging time where various foreign nations were competing for land, threatening the livelihood of the nation through protectionism and unfair trade suppressing new possibility that may become a threat in the future. Japan fought power with power and became what Japan was fighting against consumed in the flame of the time. For that the people of the present must recognize the fact that every man woman and child were responsible for the total war that was fought and not blame the ones that were singled out people that were charged and placed through trial. They should end telling that Japan had already repaid to all though sweat and remorse and that the past should be buried and in the present all souls that served under the flag should be given full respect that they long deserve that had been long suppressed due to foreign intervention.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

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