Regarding the story "Former ASDF chief Tamogami arrested" in the April 15 edition, does this mean that the attached Yushukan museum at Yasukuni Shrine will withdraw Tamogami's revisionist books from its souvenir shop? Yes, Toshio Tamogami is something of a folk hero around Yasukuni Shrine.

What did he do with that ¥50 million in political donations? Did he take a cruise around the South Pacific? Tour the old battlefields of World War II in the Pacific? Donate money to the "comfort women" relief fund? Hit the casinos in Macau?

I didn't realize that there was so much money in right-wing politics and revisionist garbage. It's almost tempting to join his party, not.

If Tamogami's views are correct then he's calling Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a liar. Abe has repeatedly apologized for Japan's wartime aggression and crimes against humanity, though one wonders just how sincere such apologies really were?

It's almost second nature for Japan's right-wing leaders to dissemble or lie outright about Dai Nippon's wartime atrocities. Their lies are very juvenile, very childish. The world knows the truth. It doesn't depend on Japan's revisionists to verify what happened when Japan invaded China, the Philippines, Southeast Asia, various islands in the South Pacific, and Alaska before and during World War II. Tamogami is an ass, but until now he's proven to be a very popular ass.

Robert Mckinney

OTARU, HOKKAIDO

The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.