Tokyo’s 78-year-old governor Shintaro Ishihara has said he will not stand for election to a fourth term as Tokyo governor.
Previously he had apparently indicated he would stand, but his son, who in the best traditions of Japan’s cronyistic hereditary democracy is also the secretary general of the LDP, recently told party supporters his father did not intend to stand for re-election.
Whether he could actually win another election is not clear, but optimism about the prospects for repealing his manga ban may yet be misplaced – the LDP, with which he is most closely associated, fiercely supported the ban and is packed with pro-censorship authoritarian conservatives, whilst the main opposition party, the supposedly liberal DPJ, went along with the ban after it was reworded to be even more draconian.
The other parties and candidates are none too reassuring either – the Koumeito is run by a Buddhist cult of fervently moralistic character, and wealthy restaurant entrepreneur Miki Watanabe’s independent candidacy has already been marred by his response to questions about what he would do about the ban.
Watanabe’s statement with respect to the ban that “a restoration of confidence and consideration of revision is required,” along with his pro-business outlook, is on the face of things promising, but the manner in which he arrived at this statement is far from reassuring – his first tweet on the subject:
“I don’t normally look at adult manga so I asked my secretary to buy me 4 representative examples, and I read them, and frankly I was sickened by the content.”
[The “adult manga” language he uses actually suggests he was brought 18+ ero-manga which are unaffected by the ban in any case, rather indicating an abysmal level of familiarity and research on the topic]
He goes on to condemn freedom of expression:
“I can’t understand how people can defend complete freedom as ‘freedom of expression.’ So I definitely think the manga ban was the right choice.”
However, he soon changes his tune when he realises this might actually cost him some votes – his response to people calling him out as a neo-Ishihara:
“I apologise for my comments about the manga ban, which were based on a lack of understanding. I think restoration of industry confidence in the government and due consideration of a revision of the law is necessary.
Many people became worried about me and were kind enough to explain the situation in emails. Thank you very much. I was talking about a situation in which I wanted to do something about the excess of harmful material, but it seems that is not the matter at issue here. I didn’t know enough about what I was talking about.”
A disturbing reflection on his candidacy in several aspects, from his willingness to make statements about topics he knows nothing about to his complete lack of familiarity with the entire issue and clear preference for political expediency over support for freedom of expression or the publishing industry.
Only the Japanese Communist Party’s candidate Akira Koike has said unequivocally that he would repeal the legislation entirely if elected – however, even the most ardent opponents of the ban could be forgiven for being sceptical of the merits of electing a full-blown communist to office just to get rid of the ban, given the rest of his political agenda.
The election, due in April, has been described as “a free-for-all,” so just who will be elected is not clear – though what is clear is no candidate even approaches Ishihara in terms of their demented hostility towards manga, freedom of expression and foreigners, so even the worst case scenario is likely to be an improvement.
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Ishihara quits? Finally, some good news...
to be replaced by his 60 yr.old son
If voters fail to vote
thats if it does even exist in Japan...
and even if they do, it doesn't look good for the freedom of expression in their country.
He has no son it's just going to be him with a fake mustache and a hat!
Japan's leadership sucks whoever it is.
sadly
current japanese leaders have neither brains (manga industry bashing) nor balls (china's and even sea sheperd's bitch)
That independent candidate didn't even have the balls to buy ero-manga, he made his secretary do it for him...
A secretary that would have had some bias or another. He should have asked for a list of what would have been banned and picked 4 at random and told her to buy them if he was still unwilling to do it himself.
Why soil your hands and risk getting photographed when you have peons to carry it out for you?
No balls indeed.
We are getting some Ishihara news lately; this old man is starting to bore me.
To be honest, the government should have never condoned illegal fishing to the point where Sea Shepard would make a total mockery out of them. Japanese government also being one of the most openly corrupt modern governments with Yakuza ties isn't helping either. Most of my older relatives TOTALLY gave up on politics back home.
Politics is like wrestling with a pig. The more you fight it, the dirtier the both of you end up. And the pig likes it.
Shoot the pig instead, game over.
Stop lying.....Japanese whaling was not illegal.
That goes for most countries. People just don't have a good choice. It always seems to be just a matter of choosing the less of two evils instead of a choice for progress.
In politics basicly you just want to vote for who ever isn't going to screw you over the most
you will get screwed over by someone just one more then another
I very much agree to this Sylar.
Politicians more than often talk of stuff they either haven't the faintest idea about or only did half the research they should have, before passing judgement.
To Ishihara I say good riddance, can't say i'll be missing him.
It sucks so much having a communist in power might just shake the rest of the foundation enough to common sense.
there's only one answer I must take over the world
... I think you meant "revolutionize"
And the world would hate you, then the cycle continues...
Anyways, should the royal family do something about the government? Then again, they can't do it!
heyyy dont forget the legend Junichiro Koizumi!
It's like knowing you're going to get the shit beat out of you come April, but on the plus side this time around they won't focus so much on kicking you in the balls.
Just like Alien Vs. Predator.
Whoever wins, we lose.
Probably he knows that he will lose if he try to run again for UNPOPULAR Decisions.
Finally, he's getting OFF the stage for once...
All he needs now is a fitting exit...
Snipers, where are you? :>
"Snipers, where are you? :>"
It's a classic way to go, but we need something much more..."Special" for Mr. Ishihara...
Maybe someone dressed as a certain, silver-haired Final Fantasy villain should impale him behind the back with a ridiculously long sword after he makes his speech...
-Azure Xuchilbara
(account suspended)
I really hope you guys calling for his death aren't serious, the last thing we need is for him to become a martyr.
A martyr to whom exactly?
bah, though camper never around when you nee-
i bet a candlejack sniper can do the j-
you wouldn't happen to have 3 million dollars would you ?
5 internetz to whoever gets the refference :D
beezlebub?
Duke Togo aka Golgo 13 is my guess.
.
waiting for the right moment to kill him and his whole family with just one bullet ಠ_ಠ
With Ishihara's thick head, you'd be lucky to get a Trifecta.
O.o you got a magic bullet ?
I dont think so , but all velto need is for the governor and his famil to stay in a line and a good old 50cal.
This guy is more like a troll.
Plain stupid and ignorant ≠ troll.
id vote for the communist. we only hear the bad things that communism brings, because of people. at its heart, communism is the closest form of a utopia yet developed, however to fully realize communism you have one of the latter steps is to fully relinquish your power. something no government is willing to do.
i honestly believe that a communist in power, will have enough checks and balances, as in other party members, that he cant fully fuck up the country, but has enough power to adaquitly change it for the better, especially in japans case.
Communism can't work due to human nature (greed) unfortunately.
Heck, probably the closest thing we've got to a positive portrayal of what is essentially a communist regime, would be the Federation, from Star Trek.
And even that is highly idealized.
living in america, the majority of people are su fucking stupid to only listen to what people say where are in some possession of power as the gospel, or reject everything as a conspryacy.
i mean the people who are in power now (teachers, parents, and many, if not all, in government) lived when communism was seen as the devils, and you would get beaten if open about your beliefs.
its coming out the worst here with health care.
To be perfectly honest, this is quite possibly the only being on earth whom i'd wish death upon. Sure, there are other vile humans running around the globe, i'm perfectly aware of that but this guy really, really makes my blood boil. No other person ever managed that before.
yup.. same here..
i feel really mad at him, especially after he being bit@h again, announce internet censorship plan after succeed in manga ban..
damn old man
Wait... You'd wish death on some crazy senile moron for hating on manga, but not guys like Kim Jong Il, Pinochet, or those Muslim dictators who stone young girls to death for the crime of being raped?
Priorities, man... priorities.
@Anon 14:30
Read the post carefully. Anon 06:28 was talking about about people who are directly having an effect on his interests.
To clarify: It's easy to to hate terrorists and wish death on them but for most of us, those are mostly people who are not relevant for their daily lives. It's true and you have to take that into consideration. Anon 06:28 also said that he is aware of that.
Ishihara, on the other hand, is a very real threat for his interests.
You're talking about sad, pathetic otakus here. They're a different species of (sub)humans.