Shintaro Ishihara

Shintaro Ishihara was a Japanese politician and writer who was Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. He was one of the most prominent ultranationalists in modern Japanese politics, known for his controversial views and provocative remarks that often angered women and rights groups, as well as China and Korea. He was also a critic of relations between Japan and the United States, and a denier of the Nanjing Massacre. He started his career as a writer and film director, winning the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for his novel Season of Violence in 1956. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the film Punishment Room, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1960. He entered politics in 1968 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, and served in various positions, including Director General of the Environment Agency and Minister of Transport. He resigned from the LDP in 1995 and became an independent. He ran for the governorship of Tokyo in 1999 and won by a landslide, and was re-elected three times. As governor, he sparked a diplomatic spat with Beijing over the Senkaku Islands, which he proposed to buy from their private owners in 2012. He also pushed for Tokyo's bid for the 2020 Olympics, and implemented environmental and cultural policies. He resigned from the governorship in 2012 to co-lead the Sunrise Party, a right-wing political group. He then joined the Japan Restoration Party and returned to the House of Representatives in the 2012 general election. He unsuccessfully sought re-election in 2014, and officially left politics the following month. He continued to write until his death from pancreatic cancer in 2022, at the age of 89. He was survived by his wife and four sons, all of whom are also involved in politics or media.