Former Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara dies at 89

There are surprisingly many negative comments to him even at the time of his death.

But I found most of your comments are based on our, gaijin, side... well, as I see it he dedicated himself to Japan, at least based on his own policy, and of course that doesn't necessarily benefit China Korea or even the US. That is the case for any country.

It doesn't make any sense to criticize foreign politicians from your country's point of view.

He didn't have the literary talents of Mishima (few do), but he loved his country just as much. His generation were traumatized by seeing Japan emasculated and forced into satrapy status by the Americans. They then turned it into a forward operating base as part of their Asian empire and inflicted a shallow, hyper-materialistic, vapid consumer society on the Japanese, bereft of their former values and spirit. Of course he was upset about that.

From his first novel to the last, Ishihara's world view was based on hate.

Kudos to the moderator for urging civility! I had mixed feelings about Ishihara-san, and I am conservative and generally sympathetic to Japanese nationalism. Like many other politicians, he made outrageous statements, some no doubt calculated to provoke rather than genuinely believed. Like his friend, Mishima Yukio, he was a showman. I don’t think that he was a hater, a racist, or any other kind of monster, but rather just another flawed human being…RIP…

Does anyone remember all the money he squandered setting up Tokyo's Shin Ginko?

These silver-spooned buffoons always get a free pass in the local more than anaemic media.

Would like to say RIP but I believe in karma.

Love him or hate him, it's hard to deny he was an interesting character.

He seemed to have an interesting solution for Tokyo's crow problem a while back.

But the governor, Shintaro Ishihara, admits that the problem is getting out of hand. "Maybe we need to encourage people to eat crow pie," he said, half-jokingly.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/19/japan.jonathanwatts

I met him once about 20 years ago. It wasn't a particularly pleasant or memorable experience.

His greatest achievement was made after he left office, all meetings have to now be recorded. None of this I don’t remember who where that huge of money went.

Japan must educate its youth to avoid mistakes made by men like this one in the past. Good he's gone, he added nothing good to the great history of human race !

I would love to know what happened to the 1.4 billion yen he collected to buy the Senkaku Islands before the government stepped in and bought them with our taxes.

Can't say I liked him nor that I'm going to miss him but I hope he rests in peace.

The novelist-turned politician ... provoked a bitter diplomatic row between Japan and China in 2012 by announcing a plan for the Tokyo metropolitan government to buy a major part of the disputed Senkaku Islands, claimed by China, from a private Japanese owner.

The late Shintaro Ishihara made waves by announcing Tokyo was planning to buy a major part of the Senkakus from a private owner, thus getting on the nerves of China. Ishihara revealed Tokyo's intention to buy the islands in a lecture given to an audience in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. Then, the Noda Yoshihiko administration stepped in and actually bought the islands, getting the jump on Gov. Ishihara and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. 

I always wonder if there wasn't a clandestine broker behind the deal, who wanted to cause waves in the Senkaku waters to scoop political gains even though it had gotten out of hand beyond his control.

This sequence of events caused China to get agitated and infuriated, and, taking this occasion, it started to send coast guard ships to the Senkaku waters. If it were not for Ishihara's messing, could the Senkaku waters have been more tranquil and peaceful?

Author and former Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara, who left his mark on Japanese politics as a staunch hawk and whose nationalistic views often ruffled the feathers of Japan's neighbors, has died, a source close to him said Tuesday. He was 89.

The later politics of Mishima Yukio without the literary talent and genius to balance it out.

no impact outside Japan, which tells a lot.

What type of of impact is a city mayor/governor supposed to have outside of their country? Please give an example of how your country mayors are impacting other countries.

He was a very hawkish leader and I’m pretty sure many of his far right side will mourn him.

He won't be missed.

The fact that he was a very popular politician speaks volumes about Japanese people.

So this is that attack Japanese people article of the day. He represented Tokyo, not Japan. It speak volumes about people who stereotypes an entire nationality because what one city chooses to do. Time to get out more and explore the country.

Guess we will never find out where all that tax payer money went, the fish market fiasco wasn’t the only thing fishy.

Former Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara was my late Grandmother preferred author.

There is not getting round the legacy Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara san leaves.

The novelist-turned politician, who also served as a lawmaker in the Diet, provoked a bitter diplomatic row between Japan and China in 2012 by announcing a plan for the Tokyo metropolitan government to buy a major part of the disputed Senkaku Islands, claimed by China, from a private Japanese owner.

The plan led to the central government eventually buying the three uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, resulting in a freeze in bilateral relations.

https://www.mofa.go.jp/a_o/c_m1/senkaku/page1we_000010.html

With the deepest respect to former Tokyo Gov Shintaro Ishihara san memory, they is no denying Shintaro Ishihara san is/was a right wing zealot.

Shintaro Ishihara san passing will afford further generations to move on.

I’ll never forget him saying women who were too old to have children were useless—and then in his next gubernatorial election he had over 70% of the vote. When I asked the elderly women I knew why they voted for him, they shrugged and said there was no one else to vote for. It was a lesson learned about politics and the people of Japan.

To see the outpouring of love and RIPs on social media in Japanese is also interesting and quite different from here at JT.

“A staunch hawk, …unafraid to ruffle feathers.” - (Who writes this stuff) ?

The fact that he was a very popular politician speaks volumes about Japanese people.

Unlike most politicians, his politics were clear. Everyone knew where he stands

RIP. Whatever one thinks of his views, his personal success, and his family’s success says much about the man.

I may not have agreed with his politics but I hope he rests in peace. There are a lot of negative things about him but he really represented what Japanese politicians thought in general. He was more straightforward and frank. I preferred him to other politicians who were more likely to engage in tatemae.

he was unashamedly Japanese and happy to upset China

That's why he was so popular. Sadly

Still waiting for the 『No と言える日本』quite frankly.

If nothing else, your diesel car ban catalysed the Prius.

Apart from stirring division, no impact outside Japan, which tells a lot.

RIP Mr. Ishihara, you loved Japan and were unashamed to show it.

For far too long Ishihara was allowed to mouth the most egregious remarks, and no one seemed / seems to have held them accountable in the Japanese media. At last, something has: Time.

RIP Shintaro Ishihara.

I don't agree with everything he said, but he was unashamedly Japanese and happy to upset China if needs be. Always appreciated his support of the independent country of Taiwan.

This is a guy who almost triggered World War 3 between China and US over the Senkaku disputes. He used Tokyo's funds to buy those islands and occupy them. He intended to drag both superpower states into a war, so Japan can emerge independently from the ashes. Fortunately, LDP elites and the American military in Japan permanently purged him from politics, so he could not do any harm to the world.

C ya.

"sangokujin"

"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."

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

Always causing division. We don't need people like that.

In my eyes he was unimpressive and the Donald Trump of his time while governor of Tokyo. He even ticked off the French in an incident that made news a long time ago. Definitely, was not helpful for the immigrant community while he was governor.

The fact that he was a very popular politician speaks volumes about Japanese people.

Pretty nasty piece of work.

Good riddance. The man caused a lot of harm to Japan.

Meh.