politics

Two of Abe's new picks deny neo-Nazi links

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This isn't going to end well.

32 ( +33 / -2 )

Well, she did chomp at the bit to announce her Yasukuni visit.

14 ( +15 / -1 )

“It was careless of us,” he said,

Like just another day at the office for Abe & Co.

13 ( +19 / -6 )

Internal Affairs Minister Sanae Takaichi and party policy chief Tomomi Inada are seen in separate photographs next to Kazunari Yamada on the home page of the National Socialist Japanese Workers Party.

Yamada’s blog postings indicate admiration for Adolf Hitler and praise for the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.

Incredibly disturbing. And only about a week since they got their positions. That must be some kind of record. Who vets these people anyway? No wonder the J-government is a joke to many other countries. So much for the re-schuffling helping boost Abe's popularity. I give him one more year, tops.

10 ( +21 / -11 )

There are photo ops of famous politicians in USA who were blind sided by Mafia and Hells Angels affiliates who simply got pictures of themselves shaking hands with said politicians,no political or social affiliations whatsoever at all,just photos like any American citizen can take with a politician.Politicians will take photos with any "Joe citizen /potential supporter".It's probable that this could be the truth

10 ( +15 / -5 )

"... I have some ocean-front land in Arizona I'd like you to consider."

I have a snow ski resort condo in Hawaii, can we barter ?

Joke aside, like Abe, both Sanae Takaichi and Tomomi Inada are ultra-nationalist and revisionists at the core, and so what can you expect from them?

10 ( +15 / -5 )

"Just to make perfectly clear, we only support and idolize Japanese fascist war criminals, not German ones. We don't want anyone to get the wrong idea that we are a bunch of sick monsters after all."

“He was an assistant for an interviewer, and was taking notes and photos,”

Kind of makes me wonder who was interviewing her. Any person that has as his/her assistant the head of the Japanese Nazi party is probably not the most respectable individual either.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

Abe's true colours do peep thru every now and then.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Every country's overlord who appoints "his" people to posts has had this happen. In the US, throughout Europe, sometimes the person you publicly love and back for a position turns out to have a 'I hope this doesn't get out" moment in their past. If Abe isn't and his supporters aren't embarrassed about his peeps visiting Yasukuni every year, he's not going to care about this.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Birds of a feather flock together. Lie down with dogs, get fleas.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

It's a thin if not overlapping line between the right wing revisionists who believe they were in the right during WW2 and Nazis.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

This isn't going to end well

I'd re-phrase slightly with: This SHOULDNT end well.

In all likelihood nothing will happen to these two, would love to be proven wrong tho!

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Oh my.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

`but such confirmation(s) are never needed in the Western media'.

As opposed to the Japanese media which is scrupulously thorough and transparent-without a hint of self-vindication at all. Western media is far from perfect-but if the assertion here is that 'Eastern media' is superior than it is a non-starter. Journalistic freedom in Japan was never an open ended proposition and is becoming increasingly stifled under the Abe regime. Perhaps one of the reasons the pictures haven't been released in because they were supressed by 'The Ministry of Information'.

Whether the pictures exist or not is a moot point without confirmation, but would not somehow suggest that the Japanese media is somehow superior to its 'Western' counterparts.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

“He was an assistant for an interviewer, and was taking notes and photos,” a member of staff at Takaichi’s office told AFP, referring to Yamada.

“We had no idea who he was back then, but he requested a snap shot with her. (The minister) wouldn’t refuse such requests.”

Anyone who believes this, please contact me. I have some ocean-front land in Arizona I'd like you to consider.

4 ( +19 / -15 )

Even if it isn't the new ministers' fault, they are very poor appointments for the PM to make because of this inevitable controversy these photos are stirring up.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Even if Takaichi and Inada genuinely have no political sympathies with the fascist Yamada I am pleased to see that there are still some Japanese journalists around who are willing to dig these things up and force the government to account for itself, though this article doesn't say who exactly brought the photos to the public's attention.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Whatever excuse is trotted out is irrelevant as this photo just proves what long time Japanese residents already know; Takaichi is as far right as the right-wing politicians get. She right up there (or down there) with Hiranuma and Ishihara.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

"A staffer at Inada’s office said the Liberal-Democratic Party (LDP) policy chief did not subscribe to Nazi ideology."

SURE they don't! I mean, it's not like Taro Aso or others in the party have ever declared admiration for the Nazi way of doing things. As usual, Abe picks some winners. Didn't take long for them to stick their feet in their mouths, or have this kind of thing come up.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

This isn't news. Both cabinet members political history are clear as day. If I, a non-Japanese who's not even resided in Japan already knew who they are, then there is no question that everyone in the Diet including Abe should know who they are.

Their political affiliation is not a secret. So I know know what the fuzz is all about. Abe made his bed with ultra-right wing nuts a long time ago. He and his party took those nutjobs' support and money and now Abe is rewarding their support by appointing two of their fervent members into the cabinet.

How is this not clear to anyone? And why are people surprised?

I personally don't blame these 2 at all. They are who they are. I blame the people who constantly find ways to support them or find excuses for them. And the people in power who support and appoint them into position of power with media influences. Those are the evil ones. These ladies can have their bigoted ideology. Its their rights. But others who are in accord and support them and then pretend to be some enlightened leader looking out for the good of the people and nation of Japan are the deplorable ones.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Couple things to note here;

Japanese politicians are way too careful to have an "unscripted moment or photo" with someone they'd prefer not to be associated with - as those who have been here in Japan know, things are too tightly staged and planned for that to occur - if the photos exist, it's because these two politicians wanted to be seen with this group's leader.

Within Abe's right wing coalition and within his own administration, there is a far right wing faction that adheres to these types of beliefs. These are the folks to the right of even Ishihara and Tamogami - who hate just about everyone. They still see the emperor as a god, that Japan was a victim of WW II, and that the US, Japan's main strategic partner and benefactor, has over the past 60 years merely conspired to keep Japan "weak". While they admire Hitler, their current champion is Vladimir Putin. They are extremely misguided and very dangerous........
3 ( +4 / -1 )

I can't decide if this is a "comedy or errors" or a "tradegy of errors".

3 ( +3 / -0 )

This is honestly pretty unsettling for me. How can a person be happy for ANY attack committed against a country. No matter what country it is, that just sounds extremely cruel of her. I really think Japan has a huge problem because the people who are young even up to 40 years old who I talk to don't think like these politicians at all, In fact some would say they absolutely hate it. There is a really huge divide in what politicians want and view Japan and what its citizens want.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

"Two newly-promoted Japanese politicians moved Monday to distance themselves from allegations of extremism after pictures emerged of them posing alongside the leader of a domestic neo-Nazi party."

Yabai! But then...

“He was an assistant for an interviewer, and was taking notes and photos,” a member of staff at Takaichi’s office told AFP, referring to Yamada.

“We had no idea who he was back then, but he requested a snap shot with her. (The minister) wouldn’t refuse such requests.”

Oh. Gosh, ya gotta watch everything, dontcha! OK, no more photos with unvetted people!

2 ( +6 / -4 )

A decent Japanese politician needs to give this legs. Years ago a well-known Australian politician turned up to parliament in a chicken suit to create a stir. It would be nice to see some of the more liberally-minded Japanese politicians raise the profile of this issue. Perhaps a cute little toothbrush mustache or an SS uniform on the floor of the diet. What about referring to the ministers in question as Reichs Minister?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Not buying it. Politicians should always be wary of who try to get photo ops with them and where their photos are being posted. These two could have gotten a cease and desist order to have their pics removed from this racist right winged bastard's website, but the fact that it hasn't been done and it only became an issue only AFTER the press got on their case about it says a lot.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

I just remembered that Sanae Takaichi was also famous for her gaffe claiming no direct death was caused by Fukushima disaster.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

jerseyboy, how large is the property?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It's a curious notice. The comment about "Japan belongs to Japanese people" is an irrefutably truth. Nobody tries to stole them. But to came back to Tokugawa period should be an error

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I'd love to spend an evening with this cabinet on a piss-up to hear what they really think after a few. I'd be careful enough to make sure nobody took my photo with them.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Right-wingers will always exist, but non-white Nazis I'm afraid I just never really understand. He must hate himself?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Hansaram: He said the holocaust and Rape of Nanking can't be happen.

One of Abe's former (still current?) ministers has got her Nanjing-didn't-happen authorship cited on her own official Ministry bio page.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Doesn't sound like the ministers' faults. Can't do background check on every "assistant for an interviewer", especially given that in 2011 neither of them were ministers.

1 ( +14 / -13 )

I think it is important to distinguish between Japanese Nationalist Politics as embodied by the hanky panky of late Meiji, Taisho and Showa (the stuff that Abe gets off) and the loony fringe of Nazi fetishes (and yes there are those in Japan as well). The former is a serious issue, the latter are a bunch of nut-jobs. Indeed, as posters have already pointed out, being distinctly Asian sort of excludes Japanese people from being part of the 4th Reich (if and when it comes).

Just as a sideline, on entering graduate school in Japan many years ago, my first idea for my dissertation was the topic of extremist politics in postwar Japan. I even remember drawing up a list of the good, the bad and the downright nutty. To his credit my thesis adviser drew me aside and drew a continuum on which he wrote a number of different organizations. When I asked him about the legitimacy of the Nazis in Japan, he just laughed. I should point out I ended up with a totally different topic.

Finally, reality aside the image created by these photos isn't good.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

On a local map held up to a mirror perhaps...both literally and metaphorically speaking.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

"the Nazis followed Marxism"

Yeah, right. The Nazis saw Marxism as a major the enemy, and they fought against its idea of class struggle and public property. The Fascists also strove to destroy the Marxist values of egalitarianism and global solidarity. Hitler view Marxism as a "jewish ideology" that had to be eliminated.

The Nazis and conservatives don't have everything in common, but they do continue to share many core common values.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Most Japanese older people think Hitler was a good guy. This doesn't surprise me one bit.

You can't make statements like that without proof matey.

As for the comments about the ministers lying about knowing this neo Nazi nutjob... again, got any proof?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

It is disappointing if there are people who would misund erbstand that she does. I would nnot be surprised if it turned out that she has an emotional affinity with neo-Naziism type of extremism. According to OALD, Nazi refers to a person who uses thier power in a cruel way and a person with extreme and unreasonable views about race , apart from a member of NSP in Germany in 1933 1945. She sticks to the "Great East Asian War as the holy war" quasi- ideology the militarists resorted to to justify Japan's aggression against East Asia, insisting that the Manchurian Incident and the Sino-Japanse war that ensued up to 1945 was for self-defense. This would give away her mind-set on politics as something that should not be in keeping with a democracy. Takaichi and Inada as well as Abe himself locate themselves in the 1930's Japan in terms of their historical awareness vis-a vis the last war. They are a leftover from the heyday of Japan's ultra nationalism.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Most Japanese older people think Hitler was a good guy. This doesn't surprise me one bit.

0 ( +16 / -16 )

… it is a nuisance...

0 ( +3 / -3 )

cracaphat: I'm still amazed that anyone of color could have love for Hitler and his political leanings, because along with Jewish people he would've hated you.

Apparently he made exception for Japanese people of color. He looks awfully friendly in this shot.

http://collections.yadvashem.org/photosarchive/en-us/5746740_48932.html

(photo / caption): Berlin, Germany, 1939, Hitler greeting the Japanese ambassador Oshima on the opening of the Japanese art exhibition.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I'm just waiting for someone like Nigelboy or TinaWatanabe to put a positive spin on this.

Come on, look at yourselves in the mirror - you're not white or 'Aryan'. Nothing 'unique' about your race. Your ancestors came from the Asian mainland, Korean peninsula and the islands to the south. What next, The Neo-Nazis from Zimbabwe?

They say that people with rotten discoloured teeth are prone to lying (which might explain why so many politicians here either get their teeth fixed in real life or photoshopped in posters).

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Hitler = whack job.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorary_Aryan

In The Political Testament of Adolf Hitler, Hitler stated: Pride in one's own race – and that does not imply contempt for other races – is also a normal and healthy sentiment. I have never regarded the Chinese or the Japanese as being inferior to ourselves. They belong to ancient civilizations, and I admit freely that their past history is superior to our own. They have the right to be proud of their past, just as we have the right to be proud of the civilization to which we belong. Indeed, I believe the more steadfast the Chinese and the Japanese remain in their pride of race, the easier I shall find it to get on with them.[5]

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The National Socialist Workers Party of Japan has been around since 1952 and is fashioned after the National Socialist Party of Germany. Japan is not the only country that has political parties based on the German Nazi Party; like that of the National Socialist party in the Ukraine; many hold seats in the new Parliament. The Tea Party is said to be made up of Nazis and Klan members. There seems to be a world wide movement of the extreme right in many of these countries, so it should not be a shock that Japan is at the head of the list of countries that want to reenact World War 11; so who will be the new Fuhrer that would guide them into the next World War? .

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Usually Japanese politicians take great pains not to be photographed with gangsters. If these women allowed themselves to be photographed with a fascist it suggests they support his views, and their recent statements and actions regarding Yasukuni confirm this.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

''He was an assistant for an interviewer, and was taking notes and photos, a member of staff at Takaichi's office told AFP, referring to Yamada. We had no idea who he was back then, but he requested a snap shot with her.(The minister) wouldn't refuse such requests.''

Before comment, isn't it that one needs to confirm whether the above statement is true or false.

When Philippine President Aquino was found posing in a photo with a woman later indicted in a multi-million dollar corruption scandal, Filipino people smiled, laughed out laud, because it turned out that the woman--a celebrity but stranger to Aquino then--was invited to a party given by a friend of Aquino's, and had requested having a snap shot with the president.

Smiled and laughed out laud because in the eyes of an adult the president's innocent, trusting pose was so funny.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

But the fact that they are now members of the 'central committee' may make them more newsworthy.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

JeffLee,

Hermann Rauschning, for example, a Danzig Nazi who knew Hitler before and after his accession to power in 1933, tells how in private Hitler acknowledged his profound debt to the Marxian tradition. “I have learned a great deal from Marxism” he once remarked, “as I do not hesitate to admit”. He was proud of a knowledge of Marxist texts acquired in his student days before the First World War and later in a Bavarian prison, in 1924, after the failure of the Munich putsch. The trouble with Weimar Republic politicians, he told Otto Wagener at much the same time, was that “they had never even read Marx”, implying that no one who had failed to read so important an author could even begin to understand the modern world; in consequence, he went on, they imagined that the October revolution in 1917 had been “a private Russian affair”, whereas in fact it had changed the whole course of human history! His differences with the communists, he explained, were less ideological than tactical. German communists he had known before he took power, he told Rauschning, thought politics meant talking and writing. They were mere pamphleteers, whereas “I have put into practice what these peddlers and pen pushers have timidly begun”, adding revealingly that “the whole of National Socialism” was based on Marx.

One of tthe biggest deceptions has been the labeling of Hitler as a conservative.

What part of core concervativism do you view as shared with nazism?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

"Takaichi and Inada have both visited Yasukuni Shrine, the supposed repository of the souls of Japan’s war dead, including a number of convicted war criminals. The shrine is seen in Asia as a symbol of Japan’s lack of repentance for the war."

For those die-hard nationalists and revisionists in Japan and aboard, I am sorry to pop your balloons filled with the hot air: according to annals of Emperor Showa (which’s just released yesterday), he did not want to visit Yasukuni Shrine because Class-A criminals were enshrined there. ( if anyone has any question about this info, I encourage yout to verify it by all means)

If Japanese Emperor shunned away from Yasukuni Shrine visit because he knew the truth, Why Abe and co. continue worshiping Class-A criminals in Yasukuni Shrine in the name of 'peace'? Any lame excuses besides of toxic nationalism?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

"What part of core concervativism do you view as shared with nazism?"

Human nature (people are poor because of their own deficiencies, not due to oppression from above) Class Private property Capitalism (versus socialism.) Nationalism/patriotism (as opposed to global solidarity) Anti-communism

Hitler admired the Marxists due to their successes and ambition. That's it. He spend his early career fighting them, the rest of his life killing them. Hitler's first allies and conduit to power were conservatives, including Hidenberg and senior German army officers. They were good buddies.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_pP_sc09FY

Just watch the youtube video. Remember to turn on the subtitles/CC.

He said the holocaust and Rape of Nanking can't be happen.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

As opposed to the Japanese media which is scrupulously thorough and transparent-without a hint of self-vindication at all. Western media is far from perfect-but if the assertion here is that 'Eastern media' is superior than it is a non-starter. Journalistic freedom in Japan was never an open ended proposition and is becoming increasingly stifled under the Abe regime.

Yes but in this age of the web, which includes foreign blogging and image uploading sites, unmarked internet access in third world countries etc, it's possible for anyone who can read, hear, see and have internet access to get any news they want.

Unfortunately for the Japanese they are not English literate and their best journalists are still doing their job for the yen.

Japanese Neo-Nazis

what a start to the day

0 ( +0 / -0 )

All readers back on topic please. From here on, posts that do not focus on the story will be removed.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

SMH. Not a good start with Neo-Nazi links.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They have neo-Nazis here? Are you sure they weren't looking at Buddhist temples on a local map?

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Pathetic, inbred self serving privileged offspring of a class of people who are part of the ruling politbeaurou can't expect too much common sense.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

@John Galt, well, modern conservatism has proven itself eager for war and opposed to ... many ethnic groups. How does that dovetail with your analysis of the Nazis?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

No surprise at all.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

From the articlpolitical be is increasingly surrounding himself with people on the right of Japanese politics."

This is patently incorrect. I previously posted debunking the commonly held misconception of Nazi being associated with right/conservatives. Only a mm to the right of communism, perhaps. Both Right and Left exhude Nationalism, but considering economic and political characteristics, the Nazis followed Marxism which can not be said of conservatives. Nor are "Liberals" liberal.

Whether these appointees have Nazi connections or leanings due to photos is an illogical leap. However, their stated political intentions may plant them squarely in the Socialist camp.

If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, flies like a duck, and looks like a duck...it's probably a duck.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

JeffLee, HHere's a salient read on Hitler's brand of socialism, http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/danielhannan/100260720/whenever-you-mention-fascisms-socialist-roots-left-wingers-become-incandescent-why/

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Jeff,

http://jonjayray.tripod.com/hitold.html

The list you posted made no sense.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

To anyone who write most of Japanese, majority of Japanese, please write percentage and your source of info to insult Japanese more efficiently.

To people who want to be zipped by human trafficker to get Arizona ocean front property, don;t get fooled by human trafficker who does not know where is Arizona. Neighbor of Nevada and Calif but it is a landlocked state in USA. Illegal mexican love to live there but not for Japanese who are not used to work like illegals.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

@John Galt Well, the left certainly came out earlier against the Iraq War and I think has been less eager to have "boots on the ground" everywhere, like McCain wants. If conservatism truly meant limited government, you might be right: but the vast overspending on defense in the US and conservatives who think that is ok completely returns conservatives completely nullifies whatever good limited government might do. I don't feel any connection between the Nazis and liberals: as you are fond of saying: liberals are wimps. Hitler, whatever else, was not a wimp.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Yet another PR disaster for Japan.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

There are photo ops of famous politicians in USA who were blind sided by Mafia and Hells Angels affiliates who simply got pictures of themselves shaking hands with said politicians,no political or social affiliations whatsoever at all,just photos like any American citizen can take with a politician.Politicians will take photos with any "Joe citizen /potential supporter".It's probable that this could be the truth

I agree. I remember seeing a photo of Nancy Reagan taken with some serial killer (Ted Bundy I think) who was dressed in a clown outfit. Did Nancy have anything to do with him and his killing, no. She just happened to be in the same picture as the guy. I would be more concerned if this lady had a paid membership card to the organization and was very active in their political beliefs. Then, I think that would be cause for concern. Just snapping a picture with some guy is no grounds to claim that someone holds those particular beliefs.

I wonder, if she had taken a picture with Steve Jobs, and was then seen working on a windows device, would this be an issue? No, then this shouldn't either.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

@onagagamoSEP. 09, 2014 - 08:17AM JST Most Japanese older people think Hitler was a good guy. This doesn't surprise me one bit.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

How old is most Japanese older people you claim???

Write how many percentage of older generations think Hitler was a good guy?????

-5 ( +5 / -10 )

@scipantheist,

"modern conservatism has proven itself eager for war and opposed to ... many ethnic groups. How does that dovetail with your analysis of the Nazis?"

Conflating nationalistic/militaristic policies which are present in both modern left and right with the economic and social fundamentals of capitalism vs socialism has been the tactic of the left in their ongoing effort to distance themselves from Nazism.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

@scipantheist, I don't disagree that the RINOs were/are all gung-ho militarists.

The real point of my original post was to point out the often-stated, but incorrect assertion that Nazis were far-right. While the two new cabinet appointees may have even a loose assassociation with ultra-nationalists, that doesn't put them anywhere near being "right".

The definitions of "right" and "left" have beenconflated.

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

As opposed to the Japanese media which is scrupulously thorough and transparent-without a hint of self-vindication at all. Western media is far from perfect-but if the assertion here is that 'Eastern media' is superior than it is a non-starter. Journalistic freedom in Japan was never an open ended proposition and is becoming increasingly stifled under the Abe regime. Perhaps one of the reasons the pictures haven't been released in because they were supressed by 'The Ministry of Information'.

The same pictures were "almost" a news item last year.

http://ikura.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/ms/1375784678/

This time, the only ones that got caught by the hook was...? You guessed it!!

-7 ( +4 / -11 )

The really neat thing about voting is; the majority gets to pick who it wants to lead the government. It appears the Japanese people want Abe and crew for the time being. I think he is a good balance to rest of the socialist heavy side of the government. There is nothing good about being too far right or too far left, both poles will take any country in the wrong direction, the last two presidents of the US are proof.

-11 ( +3 / -14 )

If you look at this guy's website it's obvious he's a complete wackjob. If anyone were really right-wing or a neo-Nazi, he's be the last person they'd with whom they'd what to associate. It's pretty obvious to all but the most dementedly biased that these people got completely taken and their story is very likely true, I'm more curious as to who dug this up knowing the noise it will make.

-11 ( +4 / -15 )

I'm just waiting for someone like Nigelboy or TinaWatanabe to put a positive spin on this. . WTF???? A crazy loon wearing a nice looking suit asks a lawmaker for a photo op and they, of course, oblige. And the dumb western media are so desperate for sensational news that they desperately try to connect the dots.

I would buy a "link" if this guy managed to have an actual political discussion with the lawmaker followed by a photo with his Nazi attire on but such confirmation are never needed in the Western media.

-13 ( +4 / -17 )

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