Kent Sidney Gilbert (born May 25, 1952, in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

, United States) is a far-right American commentator working in Japan, lawyer of California. He first came to Japan in 1971 as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After returning to the United States, he received a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

as well as an M.B.A. from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

. While working in Japan as an attorney in 1983, he had a chance to perform as a stand-in for a foreign theatrical company, which led to other opportunities on Japanese television and in films. He is a foreign celebrity ('' gaijin tarento'') and is often on news programs as a commentator with a "foreign" point of view. Gilbert lives in Tokyo and also maintains a residence in

Orem, Utah Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Utah, Provo, Lindon, Utah, Lindon, and Vineyard, Utah, Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the pri ...

. He made an appearance in

Kazuki Ōmori was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. Career Born in Osaka, Ōmori studied at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine and held a license to practice medicine. While in school, he began making films independently, with ''Kuraku naru m ...

's '' Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah''. Gilbert has been described as a "far-right online influencer". Gilbert maintains the Japanese government never forced women to work as prostitutes or

comfort women Comfort women were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term ''comfort women'' is a translation of the Japanese , a euphemism ...

during World War II. He was prominently featured in a documentary film that denies the forcing of comfort women to work. He reportedly claimed in an interview that Koreans should be grateful that they had been colonized by Japan. In 2017, he published a book entitled "The tragedy of Chinese and Koreans who are controlled by Confucianism" where he denies Japan's

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, religion, theory of government, or way of life. Founded by Confucius ...

traditions. The book became a best seller and led to "a new wave of hate books". He has associated himself with Toshio Motoya, a far-right figure who denies the

Nanjing Massacre The Nanjing Massacre, or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly Chinese postal romanization, romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians, noncombatants, and surrendered prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army in Nanji ...

and the forcing of comfort women to work. In April 2018, Gilbert was appointed visiting professor at Okayama University of Science.

References

External links

*
Gilbert, Kent S. 1952-
in libraries (

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catalog) * *
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(blog, last update Aug. 25, 2017) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Kent 1952 births Living people 20th-century Mormon missionaries American expatriates in Japan American lawyers Latter Day Saints from Utah American Mormon missionaries in Japan Brigham Young University alumni Expatriate television personalities in Japan Nanjing Massacre deniers People from Orem, Utah Comfort women denial American historical negationists