If the Japan Restoration Party — headed by Toru Hashimoto, the mayor of Osaka, and former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara — needs a new political slogan, the proverb Kuchi ga wazawai no moto (The mouth is the source of great trouble) would do nicely.
Both leaders have a habit of making offensive statements that attract attention and disdain — and generate long press conferences.
Ishihara, now 80, is best known for remarks that offended women, foreigners and minorities — such as 2001's, "It's useless and a crime for women to go on living after they (get old and) lose the ability to breed children."