Former Tokyo governor Ishihara dies at 89

One of Japan's most controversial politicians of the past decades, former Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro, died today at 89. The outspoken nationalist and right-wing firebrand who did not mind antagonizing political opponents, East-Asian neighbours, and Western allies served as governor from 1999-2012. Ishihara was a famed writer, journalist and film director. He won the prestigious Akutagawa Award in 1956 for his novel "Taiyo no Kisetsu" (The Season of the Sun) and joined the LDP in the late 1960s. In 1989, he co-authored the book "The Japan That Can Say No" with Sony chairman Akio Morita, in which they urged Japan to turn away from the US and the West. He had become notorious for his racist remarks against the Chinese (using the derogatory term shinajin 支那人), Koreans, and other foreign residents he blamed for committing heinous acts in Japan. He called the "Nanjing Incident" a lie, spoke out against homosexuality, offended the French for their language and called childless women "useless". He was responsible for the political turmoil triggered by the plan to acquire the Senkaku Islands for Tokyo, and he was instrumental in Tokyo's Olympic bids in 2016 and 2020. In hindsight, he appears like a fatal concoction of Abe and Mori, only more intellectual and explosive.

May he rest in peace.

I remember the many times it seemed that former Tokyo-to Governor Ishihara seemed to speak to the public in ways that should remain in your living room when speaking with friends or colleagues. But that is what happens when you are living in a relatively democratic nation where one is allowed to go public with views that don't necessarily fit in with one's own views of this and that. Myself, I am not so sure if I am a left-leaning human or a right-leaning one or whatever. I suppose I only care about getting a particular job done properly and to heck with all the this-and-thats others want to voice opinions about.

And with former Tokyo-to Governor Ishihara it seems one thing is missing up there in the OP, and that is he did a good job in his duties as a governor of such a large community. I've never been any sort of governor like that, but I'd bet that it is not an easy job. I'd bet that to be in that job for as long as he was he must have put some serious sweat into his work and maybe lost many hours of sleep worrying about all sorts of things that affected the lives of millions of people.

So it is all well and good to point out that he had a big mouth, and let's face it, on the street we would just say he was a loud mouth bully; so what. Whole bunch of those types in the world. But he also must have been one hard working human and that might be something we could say was a good thing, yes?

JPeters said:

I'd bet that to be in that job for as long as he was he must have put some serious sweat into his work and maybe lost many hours of sleep worrying about all sorts of things that affected the lives of millions of people.

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Not speaking about him in particular but personally I believe most people that make it to those kind of roles are more likely to be strong salesmen and have the ability to forge personal relationships and do the necessary horse-trading and power brokering that's needed to remain there. Hard work and empathy and caring about millions of people is secondary if present at all. Just my opinion.

I have lived in Tokyo during most of his tenure and remember him mainly for his expletives against foreign residents and Asian neighbours. I am sure that he did a good job administrating one of the largest cities in the world and reforming its bureaucracy. And while he did good and meant well, his "big mouth" spread hatred and discord. I agree with his notion of making Japan more assertive, but not at the expense of others, by bullying minorities, and denying Japan's dark past. He should have stayed in literature and journalism.