was a Japanese politician and writer who was

Governor of Tokyo The is the head of government of Tokyo. In 1943, upon the unification of Tokyo City and Tokyo Prefecture, the position of Governor was created. The current title was adopted in 1947 due to the enactment of the Local Autonomy Law. Overview The ...

from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the radical right

Japan Restoration Party The , also referred to in English as the Japan Restoration Association, was a Japanese political party. It was launched on 12 September 2012 and gained official recognition on 28 September 2012. The party grew from the regional Osaka Restoration ...

, he was one of the most prominent

ultranationalists Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its s ...

in modern

Japanese politics Politics of Japan are conducted in a framework of a dominant-party bicameral parliamentary constitutional monarchy, in which the Emperor is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government and the head of the Cabinet, which d ...

. An ultranationalist, he was infamous for his misogynistic comments, racist remarks, xenophobic views and hatred of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and

Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply refe ...

, including using the antiquated pejorative term "

sangokujin is a Japanese term referring to residents of Korea (North and South) and Taiwan in the aftermath of World War II. The original term literally means "third country's citizen". Concept In the immediate aftermath of the war, the legal status of ...

". 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 , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

chairman

Akio Morita was a Japanese businessman and co-founder of Sony along with Masaru Ibuka. Early life Akio Morita was born in Nagoya. Morita's family was involved in sake, miso and soy sauce production in the village of Kosugaya (currently a part of Tokoname ...

(released in 1991 in English), called on the authors' countrymen to stand up to the United States. After an early career as a writer and film director, Ishihara served in the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, ...

from 1968 to 1972, in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1972 to 1995, and as Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. He resigned from the governorship to briefly co-lead the Sunrise Party, then joined the

and returned to the House of Representatives in the 2012 general election. He unsuccessfully sought re-election in the general election of November 2014, and officially left politics the following month.

Early life and artistic career

Shintaro Ishihara was born in Suma-ku, Kobe. His father Kiyoshi was an employee, later a general manager, of a

shipping company A shipping line or shipping company is a company whose line of business is ownership and operation of ships. Shipping companies provide a method of distinguishing ships by different kinds of cargo: # Bulk cargo is a type of special cargo that is ...

. Shintaro grew up in

Zushi, Kanagawa is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. As of June 2012, the city has an estimated population of 58,087, and a population density of 3,350 per km². The total area is . Geography Zushi is located at the head of Miura Peninsula, fac ...

. In 1952, he entered

Hitotsubashi University is a national university located in Tokyo, Japan. It has campuses in Kunitachi, Kodaira, and Chiyoda. One of the top 9 Designated National University in Japan, Hitotsubashi is a relatively small institution specialized solely in social sciences ...

, and he graduated in 1956. Just two months before graduation, Ishihara won the

Akutagawa Prize The is a Japanese literary award presented biannually. Because of its prestige and the considerable attention the winner receives from the media, it is, along with the Naoki Prize, one of Japan's most sought after literary prizes. History Th ...

(Japan's most prestigious literary prize) for the novel ''

Season of the Sun is a Japanese novel written in 1955 by Shintaro Ishihara, who later became a politician and was governor of Tokyo for 13 years from 1999 to 2012. It is the source of the name of the rebellious taiyōzoku () youth culture which emerged after W ...

''. His brother Yujiro played a supporting role in the movie adaptation of the novel (for which Shintaro wrote the screenplay). 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 ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' 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 was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

". In the early 1960s, he concentrated on writing, including plays, novels, and a musical version of ''

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...

''. One of his later novels, ''Lost Country'' (1982), speculated about Japan under the control of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

.Larimer, Tim (24 April 2000
"Rabble Rouser"
, ''TIME Asia''. He also ran a theatre company, and found time to visit the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...

, race his yacht ''The Contessa'' and cross South America on a motorcycle. He wrote a memoir of his journey, ''Nanbei Odan Ichiman Kiro''. From 1966 to 1967, he covered the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

at the request of ''

Yomiuri Shimbun The (lit. ''Reading-selling Newspaper'' or ''Selling by Reading Newspaper'') is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are t ...

'', and the experience influenced his decision to enter politics. He also was mentored by the influential author and political "fixer"

Tsûsai Sugawara was a Japanese social activist, business leader, writer, art patron, and occasional actor. In the West he is best known for his cameo appearances in several of the last films directed by Yasujirō Ozu. Business Career The son of a Kamakura railr ...

Political career

In 1968, Ishihara ran as a candidate on the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) national slate for the

. He placed first on the LDP list with an unprecedented 3 million votes. After four years in the upper house, Ishihara ran for the

representing the second district of Tokyo, and again won election. 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. Ishihara ran for

in 1975 but lost to the popular

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

incumbent

Ryokichi Minobe was a Japanese politician who served as Governor of Tokyo from 1967 to 1979. He is one of the best known socialist figures in modern Japanese history. Early life Minobe was born in Tokyo. His father, Tatsukichi Minobe, was a noted constitutiona ...

. Minobe was 71 at the time, and Ishihara criticized him as being "too old". 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 was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1976 to 1978. Early life and education Fukuda was born in Gunma, capital of the Gunma Prefecture on 14 January 1905. He hailed from a former samurai family and his father was mayor ...

(1976) and Minister of Transport under

Noboru Takeshita was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1987 to 1989 during the bubble economy. Takeshita led the largest faction at the time in the Liberal Democratic Party, which he inherited from Kakuei Tanaka, from the 1980s ...

(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.'There's No Need For an Apology': Tokyo's boisterous governor is back in the headlines
," ''TIME Asia'', 24 April 2000. 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. 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

. The book called on his fellow countrymen to stand up to the United States.

Governor of Tokyo

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 The is one of two subway systems in Tokyo, the other being Tokyo Metro. The Toei Subway lines were originally licensed to the Teito Rapid Transit Authority (the predecessor of Tokyo Metro) but were constructed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government ...

line, and proposed the sale or leasing out of many metropolitan facilities. * Imposed a new tax on banks' gross profits (rather than

net profit In business and accounting, net income (also total comprehensive income, net earnings, net profit, bottom line, sales profit, or credit sales) is an entity's income minus cost of goods sold, expenses, depreciation and amortization, interest, ...

s). * Imposed a new hotel tax based on occupancy. * Imposed restrictions on the operation of

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

-powered vehicles, following a highly publicized event where he held up a bottle of diesel soot before cameras and reporters. * Imposed

cap and trade Emissions trading is a market-based approach to controlling pollution by providing economic incentives for reducing the emissions of pollutants. The concept is also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS). Carbon emission t ...

energy tax. * Proposed opening casinos in the

Odaiba today is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the Rainbow Bridge from central Tokyo. Odaiba was initially built in this area for defensive purposes in the 1850s. Reclaimed land offshore Shinagawa was dramatically expanded durin ...

district. * Declared in 2005 that Tokyo would bid for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, which discouraged a bid by

Fukuoka is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...

. Tokyo's bid lost to that of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. * Set up the ShinGinko Tokyo bank to lend to SMEs (small medium enterprises) in Tokyo. This bank has lost approximately 1 billion dollars worth of taxpayers' money through inadequate customer risk assessments. * Served as Chairman of Tokyo's successful bid to host the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. * Generated controversy from PETA for the culling of the 37,000 crows that populated Tokyo. He won re-election in 2003 with 70.2% of the vote, and re-election in 2007 with 50.52% of the vote. In the 2011 gubernatorial election, his share of the vote dipped to 43.4% against challenges by comedian

Hideo Higashikokubaru is a Japanese politician. He originally rose to fame as a comedian and actor under the stage name , and was known for his role in the popular game show ''Takeshi's Castle''. He served as the Governor of Miyazaki Prefecture from 2007 to 2011, re ...

and entrepreneur Miki Watanabe. 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. Following his announcement, the

Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly The is the prefectural parliament of Tokyo Metropolis. Its 127 members are elected every four years in 42 districts by single non-transferable vote. 23 electoral districts equal the special wards, another 18 districts are made up by the cities, ...

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.

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.Nagata, Kazuaki
"Ishihara leaves office with sights on Diet seat"
''The Japan Times'', 1 November 2012. When announced by co-leaders Ishihara and SPJ chief

Takeo Hiranuma is a Japanese politician and a member of the House of Representatives. He is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party and is former chairperson of the Party for Future Generations. Early life Takeo Hiranuma was born in Tokyo in 1939. His moth ...

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 TORU or Toru may refer to: *TORU, spacecraft system *Toru (given name), Japanese male given name *Toru, Pakistan, village in Mardan District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan *Tõru Tõru is a village in Saaremaa Parish, Saare County in western Est ...

(Nippon Ishin no Kai).Aoki, Mizuho (14 November 2012
"Ishihara, Hiranuma unveil new party"
''The Japan Times''. 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 Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced b ...

and the upcoming consumption tax hike were issues it would have to address with potential coalition partners.

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 is a Japanese TV personality, politician and lawyer. He was the mayor of Osaka city and is a member of Nippon Ishin no Kai and the Osaka Restoration Association. He is one of Japan's leading right-wing conservative-populist politicians. Early ...

, leader of the

(JRP), decided to merge their parties, with Ishihara becoming the head of the JRP.

Your Party is a Japanese parliamentary caucus consisting of Yoshimi Watanabe and Takashi Tachibana, later Satoshi Hamada after Tachibana forfeited his seat, in the House of Councillors. It was also a political party led by Watanabe from 2009 until its d ...

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. 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.

Party for Future Generations

In the December 2014 general elections he was a candidate for the

Party for Future Generations The , officially the , was a Japanese political party. It was formed as the on 1 August 2014 by a group of Diet members led by Shintarō Ishihara. The party adopted its final name in December 2015, and ended up dissolving in November 2018. Hist ...

, an extreme right-wing party, but was defeated. Following this, he retired from politics.

Political views

Ishihara is generally described as having been one of Japan's most prominent

extreme right-wing Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

politicians. He was called "Japan's Le Pen" on a program broadcast on Australia's

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

. He was affiliated with the openly ultranationalist organization

Nippon Kaigi The Right side up ...

Foreign relations

Ishihara was a long-term friend of the prominent Aquino family in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. He is credited with being been the first person to inform future President

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

about the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

of her husband Senator

Benigno Aquino Jr. Benigno "Ninoy" Simeon Aquino Jr., (; November 27, 1932 – August 21, 1983) was a Filipino politician who served as a senator of the Philippines (1967–1972) and governor of the province of Tarlac. Aquino was the husband of Corazon Aqui ...

on 21 August 1983. Ishihara was often been 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." As part of the criticism, Ishihara published a book co-authored with the then

Prime minister of Malaysia The prime minister of Malaysia ( ms, Perdana Menteri Malaysia; ms, ڤردان منتري مليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the fede ...

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad ( ms, محاضير بن محمد, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author, and physician who served as the 4th and 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia. He held the office ...

, titled ''"No" to ieru Ajia – tai Oubei e no hōsaku'' in 1994. Ishihara was also long critical of the government of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. He invited the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

and the

President of the Republic of China The president of the Republic of China, now often referred to as the president of Taiwan, is the head of state of the Republic of China (ROC), as well as the commander-in-chief of the Republic of China Armed Forces. The position once had aut ...

Lee Teng-hui Lee Teng-hui (; 15 January 192330 July 2020) was a Taiwanese statesman and economist who served as President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the 1947 Constitution and chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. He was the fir ...

to Tokyo. Ishihara was deeply interested in the North Korean abduction issue, and called for economic

sanctions against North Korea A number of countries and international bodies have imposed sanctions against North Korea. Currently, many sanctions are concerned with North Korea's nuclear weapons program and were imposed after its first nuclear test in 2006. The United St ...

. Following Ishihara's campaign to bid Tokyo for the

, he eased his criticism of the PRC government. He accepted an invitation to attend the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, and was selected as a torch-bearer for the Japan leg of the

2008 Olympic Torch Relay The 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from March 24 until August 8, 2008, prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the theme of "one world, one dream". Plans for the relay were announced on April 26, 2007, in Beijing, China. The relay, a ...

Views on foreigners in Japan

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 ''

'', and foreigners. He also speculated that in the event a natural disaster struck the Tokyo area, they would be likely to cause civil disorder. His comment invoked calls for his resignation, demands for an apology and fears among residents of Korean descent in Japan, as well as being criticised by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Regarding this statement, Ishihara later said: On 20 February 2006, Ishihara also said: "Roppongi is now virtually a foreign neighborhood. Africans—I don't mean

African-Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

—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." On 17 April 2010, Ishihara said "many veteran lawmakers in the ruling-coalition parties are naturalized or the offspring of people naturalized in Japan".

Other controversial statements

In 1990, Ishihara said in a ''Playboy'' interview that the

Rape of Nanking The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the Ba ...

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." He continued to defend this statement in the uproar that ensued. He also backed the film ''

The Truth about Nanjing is a 2007 film by Japanese nationalist filmmaker Satoru Mizushima about the 1937 Nanjing Massacre (Nanking Massacre). Background and funding Mizushima said he received more than 200 million yen (US$1.8 million) in donations from 5,000 of his ...

'', a Japanese film that denies the atrocity. In 2000, Ishihara, one of the eight judges for a literary prize, commented that

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

is abnormal, which caused an outrage in the gay community in Japan. 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." 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. At a Tokyo

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

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 is a Japanese term applied to the border zone or area between mountain foothills and arable flat land. Literally, ''sato'' () means village, and ''yama'' () means hill or mountain. Satoyama have been developed through centuries of small-scale ...

' 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 and turned into a video that was sent around the world as the Save Minamiyama Movement In 2010, Ishihara claimed that

Korea under Japanese rule Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offic ...

was absolutely justified due to historical pressures from

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

and

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

. In reference to the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

, Ishihara said "that the disaster was 'punishment from heaven' because Japanese have become greedy". However, he also commented that the victims of this disaster were pitiable. This speech quickly caused many controversies and critical responses from the public opinion, both inside and outside Japan. The governor of

Miyagi Miyagi may refer to: Places * Miyagi Prefecture, one of the 47 major divisions of Japan * Miyagi, Gunma, a village in Japan, merged into Maebashi in 2004 *Miyagi District, Miyagi, a district in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan Other uses * Miyagi (surna ...

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. During the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, 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." Ishihara has said that Japan ought to have

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

Proposal to buy the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands

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.

Personal life and death

Ishihara was married to Noriko Ishihara and had four sons. Members of the House of Representatives

Nobuteru Ishihara is a Japanese politician who was Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2010 to 2012. He was born in Zushi, Kanagawa, the son of author and former Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara. He attended Keio Gijuku High School and gradu ...

and

Hirotaka Ishihara is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature). A native of Kanagawa Prefecture and graduate of Keio University, he was elected to the House of Representativ ...

are his eldest and third sons; actor and weatherman

Yoshizumi Ishihara is a Japanese weather forecaster, TV personality, and actor. Born in Zushi, Kanagawa, he is the second son of Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, and brother of politicians Nobuteru Ishihara and Hirotaka Ishihara. Biography Ishihara was born o ...

is his second son. His youngest son, Nobuhiro Ishihara, is a painter. The late actor Yujiro Ishihara was his younger brother. He died from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

at his home in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

on 1 February 2022, at the age of 89.

Books written by Ishihara

* ''Taiyō no kisetsu'' (太陽の季節), ''

'', Winner of the

, 1956 * ''Kurutta kajitsu'' (狂った果実), ''

Crazed Fruit , also known as ''Juvenile Jungle'', is a 1956 Japanese Sun Tribe film directed by Kō Nakahira. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Shintaro Ishihara, the older brother of cast member Yujiro Ishihara,Marc Moha"Crazed Fruit: ...

'', 1956 * ''Kanzen Na Yuugi'' (完全な遊戯), ''The Perfect Game'', 1956 * ''Umi no chizu'' (海の地図), ''Map of the Sea'', 1958 * ''Seinen no ki'' (青年の樹), ''Tree of the Youth'', 1959 * ''Gesshoku'' (月蝕), ''Lunar Eclipse'', 1959 * ''Nanbei ōdan ichi man kiro'' (南米横断1万キロ), ''10 Thousand Kilometers Motoring across South America'' * ''Seishun to wa nanda'' (青春とはなんだ), ''What does Youth Mean?'', 1965 * ''Ōinaru umi e'' (大いなる海へ), ''To the Great Sea'', 1965 * ''Kaeranu umi'' (還らぬ海), ''Unretreating Sea'', 1966 * ''Suparuta kyōiku'' (スパルタ教育), ''

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

n education'', 1969 * ''Kaseki no mori'' (化石の森), ''Petrified Forest'', Minister of Education Prize, 1970 * ''Shintarō no seiji chousho'' (慎太郎の政治調書), ''Shintaro's Political Record'', 1970 * ''Shintarō no daini seiji chousho'' (慎太郎の第二政治調書), ''Shintaro's Second Political Record'', 1971 * ''Shin Wakan rōeishū'' (新和漢朗詠集), ''New Wakan rōeishū (Collection of Japanese and Chinese poems)'', 1973 * ''Yabanjin no daigaku'' (野蛮人の大学), ''University of Barbarians'', 1977 * ''Boukoku -Nihon no totsuzenshi'' (亡国 -日本の突然死), ''The Ruin of a Nation - Japan's Sudden Death'', 1982 * '' 'Nō' to ieru Nihon '' (「NO」と言える日本), '' The Japan That Can Say No'' (in collaboration with

), 1989 * ''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 was an English scholar and one of Japan’s cultural critics. He is known for ultranationalist historical negationism. He was born in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture. A graduate of Sophia University, where he obtained his Master’s degree, he c ...

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 was the pen name of a Japanese literary critic, active in the Shōwa and early Heisei periods of Japan. His real name was . Early life Etō was born in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tok ...

), 1991 * ''Mishima Yukio no nisshoku'' (三島由紀夫の日蝕), ''The Eclipse of

Yukio Mishima , born , was a Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor, model, Shintoist, Nationalism, nationalist, and founder of the , an unarmed civilian militia. Mishima is considered one of the most important Japanese authors of the 20th century. He was ...

'', 1991 * '' 'No' to ieru Asia'' (「NO」と言えるアジア)，''The Asia That Can Say NO'' (in collaboration with

), 1994 * ''Kaze ni tsuite no kioku'' (風についての記憶), ''My Memory about the Wind'', 1994 * ''Otōto'' (弟), ''Younger brother'', Mainichi Publishing Culture Award Special Award, 1996 * '' '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 The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...

'', 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 was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party from 1982 to 1987. He was a member of the House of Representatives for more than 50 years. He was best known for pushing through the ...

), 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

Translation work

Robert Ringer Robert J. Ringer (born 1938) is an American entrepreneur, motivational and political speaker, and author of several best-selling personal-development and political books. Career His first book, '' Winning Through Intimidation'', was published ...

: ''Winning Through Intimidation'', 1978

Translations in English

* '' The Japan That Can Say No'' (in collaboration with

), Simon & Schuster, 1991, . Touchstone Books, 1992, . Cassette version . Disk version, 1993, .

Film career

He acted in six films, including ''

'' (1956) and '' The Hole'' (1957), and co-directed the 1962 film ''

Love at Twenty ''Love at Twenty'' (french: L'Amour à vingt ans, ja, 二十歳の恋, Hatachi no koi, it, L'amore a vent'anni, german: Liebe mit zwanzig, pl, Miłość dwudziestolatków) is a 1962 French-produced omnibus project of Pierre Roustang, consisti ...

'' (with

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more tha ...

Marcel Ophüls Marcel Ophuls (; born 1 November 1927) is a German-French documentary film maker and former actor, best known for his films ''The Sorrow and the Pity'' and '' Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie''. Life and career Ophuls was bo ...

, Renzo Rossellini and

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...

Honours

(1956) *

Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

(2015)

References

External links

Sensen Fukoku (Declaration of War) – Ishihara's official website (in Japanese)
* * Fackler, Martin

New York ''Times'', 9 December 2012. "Shintaro Ishihara, a novelist turned political firebrand, promises to restore Japan's battered national pride."
J'Lit , Authors : Shintaro Ishihara , Books from Japan
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