The writer and former governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara, whose nationalism exacerbated neighboring countries and opened the territorial conflict between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands, has died at the age of 89, the public broadcaster NHK reported on Tuesday.
The novelist turned politician, who became deputy and briefly Minister of Transport, was currently best known for promoting the Japanese nationalization in 2012 of the Senkaku Islands, whose sovereignty Beijing claims, which opened a territorial dispute that still tarnishes their bilateral relations today.
Ultra-conservative, charismatic, populist and very talkativeIshihara was known for his views as chauvinistic, demagogic and xenophobic, and was considered an atypical public figure in Japan for his propensity to attract attention.
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“Japan, Taiwan, and all of us who believe in democracy need to insist Xi and the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party not to go down the wrong path.”
During his political career of more than 50 years, he held various positions in different cabinets of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) and was governor of Tokyo for 13 years, a position for which he presented himself as an independent but with the support of the formation.
born on September 30, 1932 in the port city of Kobe in western Japan, Ishihara was known by the nickname ‘Mister No’ following the most famous book he wrote in 1989 along with Sony founder Akio Morita, ‘The Japan That Can Say No’.
The manuscript advocates a greater international role for Japan outside the protection of the United States and called for the cancellation of their bilateral security treaty.
The manuscript defends a greater international role for Japan outside the protection of the United States
Graduated in Law in 1956, that same year he won his first literary award, the akutagawa award (the most prestigious Japanese award for new writers) for his best-selling novel ‘Estación del Sol’ and for a time he combined writing with his love of the sea, until he competed in several regattas.
It was not until 1968, at the age of 36, when he entered politics being elected a councilor to the Upper House with an unprecedented three million votes in the national constituency following covering the Vietnam War for the Yomiuri newspaper between 1966 and 1967.
In 1976 he was appointed Director General of the Environment and in 1987 Minister of Transport, a position in which he lasted one year.
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“By including ballistic missiles, it is a violation of the UN Security Council resolution, which we denounce and regret,” said the Japanese prime minister.
In 1989 Ishihara tried unsuccessfully to win the presidency of the PLD, but the choice fell on Toshiki Kaifu, deceased in January.
In April 1999, he won the mayoralty of Tokyo, a position for which he would be successively re-elected until he abandoned it in 2012.
Under his baton the candidacy of Tokyo would be developed as the 2016 Olympic host, who did not win but would end up materializing with his successor for the 2020 summer event, which took place in 2021.
After resigning as governor, Ishihara founded a new party and returned to national politics. He won his seat in 2012, but retired from politics following losing it in the 2014 elections.
