(born 13 March 1940) is a Japanese journalist and political activist.

Journalism career

Torigoe was born in present-day

Ukiha, Fukuoka is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The modern city of Ukiha was established on March 20, 2005, from the merger of the former town of absorbing the town of Yoshii (both from Ukiha District). As of April 30, 2017, the city has an ...

and graduated from

Kyoto University , mottoeng = Freedom of academic culture , established = , type = National university, Public (National) , endowment = ¥ 316 billion (2.4 1000000000 (number), billion USD) , faculty = 3,480 (Teaching Staff) , administrative_staff ...

. He began his reporting career with the ''

Mainichi Shimbun The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English language news website called ''The Mainichi'' (previ ...

'' in 1965. He served at one point as the ''Mainichi'' correspondent in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, and traveled to the front lines of the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

in 1984, becoming the only Japanese journalist to do so. He left Mainichi in 1989 and thereafter was known for his role as a commentator on

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...

news programs. He was named editor-in-chief of OhMyNews Japan in 2006. Torigoe was diagnosed with stage IV

colorectal cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel m ...

in 2005 and underwent several years of treatment, including four operations. He published a book on the experience entitled ''Cancer Patient''.

Political career

Torigoe became active in the opposition to

collective security Collective security can be understood as a security arrangement, political, regional, or global, in which each state in the system accepts that the security of one is the concern of all, and therefore commits to a collective response to threats t ...

legislation in 2015 and took part in demonstrations at the

National Diet Building The is the building where both houses of the National Diet, National Diet of Japan meet. It is located at Nagatachō, Tokyo, Nagatachō 1-chome 7–1, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Sessions of the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives ta ...

2016 Tokyo gubernatorial election

Shortly following the July 2016 upper house election, in which pro-constitutional amendment parties secured a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of the Diet, Torigoe declared his candidacy for the Tokyo gubernatorial election with the support of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Kenji Utsunomiya is a Japanese lawyer and former chair of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. Overviews He spent much of his career helping debtors overcome the burden of multiple loans. He was the head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations from 20 ...

, who ran with DPJ support in the 2014 gubernatorial election, withdrew one day before the start of the campaign in order to boost Torigoe's chances against pro-establishment rivals

Hiroya Masuda is a Japanese politician, government official, and business executive. He was Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications from August 2007 to September 2008, and has served as the president and CEO of Japan Post Holdings since January 2020. ...

and

Yuriko Koike is a Japanese politician who currently serves as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. She graduated from the American University in Cairo in 1976 and was a member of the House of Representatives of Japan from 1993 until 2016, when she resigned to ...

. A Torigoe's sex scandal more than 10 years old was reported by two weekly magazines, ''

Shukan Bunshun A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. It is the standard time period used for short cycles of days in most parts of the world. The days are often used to indicate common work days and rest days, as well as days of worship. Weeks are oft ...

'' and ''Shukan Shincho'', where he is alleged to have seduced a 20-year old university student. Torigoe has called the allegations groundless. However Utsunomiya wrote in an open letter to Torigoe that "from looking at the article itself, we cannot consider the case to be groundless," and called on Torigoe to publicly explain the situation at a press conference as a condition for Utsunomiya's public support.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torigoe, Shuntaro 1940 births Living people Japanese journalists Kyoto University alumni Academic staff of Kansai University People from Ukiha, Fukuoka Tokyo gubernatorial candidates 21st-century Japanese politicians