Author and fiery nationalist Shintaro Ishihara — a former Tokyo governor whose outbursts and views stoked anger among both Japan’s neighbors and allies — died Tuesday after a reoccurrence of pancreatic cancer last October, his family said. He was 89.
Ishihara, an award-winning writer before turning to politics, served nearly three decades in both houses of Japan’s parliament under the banner of the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party before being elected governor of Tokyo in 1999, a post he held through 2012.
Known abroad for stoking international controversy during the peak of Japan’s bubble era with the publication of his 1989 book "The Japan That Can Say No," co-authored with then-Sony Corp. chief Akio Morita, Ishihara used the tome to urge Japan to forge a more independent path.
In the book, he insisted that Japan bring an end to what he believed was its postwar servility to the U.S. by scrapping its security treaty with Washington and protecting itself, while also touting Japanese technological superiority that would propel it to superpower status.
More recently, Ishihara helped fuel a bitter diplomatic row between Tokyo and Beijing in April 2012, the twilight of his time as the capital’s governor, by announcing a plan for the metropolitan government to purchase a major part of the disputed Senkaku Islands, claimed by China, from a private Japanese owner.
The proposal ultimately forced the Democratic Party of Japan-led government at the time, which had been pushing for closer ties with Beijing, to buy three uninhabited islands in the Senkaku chain, setting the stage for the intensified dispute over the islets in the East China Sea that is still seen today.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has held many of the same positions as Ishihara, voiced surprise Tuesday at the news of his death and commended the former Tokyo governor’s career.
“He was a politician who continued to challenge various conventional notions that were formed after World War II,” public broadcaster NHK quoted Abe as saying. “He was not afraid of criticism and was consistent in saying what needed to be said.”
Born in Kobe on Sept. 30, 1932, Ishihara first rose to national fame as a young writer, winning the prestigious Akutagawa Award in 1956 for his novel "Taiyo no Kisetsu" ("Season of the Sun"), which he wrote a year earlier at the age of 22 while a student at Tokyo's Hitotsubashi University. The book became a best-seller, and Ishihara’s younger brother, Yujiro, who would go on to become one of Japan's top film stars, made his debut as an actor in the novel’s film adaptation.
Although his younger brother died in 1987, the Ishihara lineage has remained in the public eye. The former Tokyo governor’s eldest son, Nobuteru, is a former environment minister and LDP faction leader, while his third son, Hirotaka, is a Lower House lawmaker. His second son, Yoshizumi, is a TV personality.
Although his time as a celebrity author is remembered by many, it was the firebrand Ishihara’s brash outspokenness and dramatic flourish — as well as a number of racist statements — that often made headlines in Japan and overseas.
In 1973, Ishihara caused a sensation as the leader of a rightwing group of lawmakers in parliament known as the Seirankai (Summer Storm Club) after he led the group in signing its manifesto in blood, in line with an old samurai rite.
Years later in 2014, with prime ministerial ambitions on his mind, Ishihara told an interviewer that one of his top ambitions would be to “fight and win a war with China.” Beyond the stir the statement itself caused, Ishihara also drew criticism for his use of the word “Shina” for China — a Japanese word widely considered derogatory and often associated with Tokyo’s military occupation during the World War II — instead of the normally used “Chugoku.”
For many, he represented a far-right Japanese ideology that was viewed and dismissed as a mere curiosity and relic.
Ishihara, however, called himself a “realist” — a view that perhaps reflected those of Japanese voters who on four occasions elected him as Tokyo governor and sent him to parliament for a total of 28 years.
In explaining his resignation after 13 years at the helm of the world’s largest city in November 2012, Ishihara delivered remarks that had backstopped his political positions for years.
“I cannot allow myself to die until my Japan, which has been made a fool of by China and seduced as a mistress by the United States, is able to stand up again as a stronger, more beautiful nation,” he said.
With his passing, it remains an open question whether his goal was realized.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.