Tokyo fuhrer Shintaro Ishihara has paid his annual respects to Japanese war criminals at Yasukuni, saying Japan’s current government “is not Japanese” for choosing to stay away.
Talking to the media, he was characteristically outspoken:
[The DPJ cabinet aren’t visiting to pay their respects?]
“Shouldn’t Japanese pay their respects? That lot aren’t Japanese!”
Ishihara is of course a long time visitor to the shrine.
Yasukuni Shrine enshrines the souls of Japan’s 2,466,532 pre-1951 war dead; the major issue surrounding political visits to the shrine is the fact that in 1978 the souls of 14 Class A war criminals were explicitly enshrined as “martyrs.”
Other dubious fixtures at the shrine include a statue celebrating the sacrifice of kamikaze pilots, a statue honouring an Indian war crimes tribunal judge who insisted the USA was responsible for the war, and a revisionist war museum glorifying Japan’s attempt to “liberate” Asia.
The actual content of the shrine is determined by its own religious administration and various private groups. Due to the constitutional protection of freedom of religion and the post-war separation of Shinto and state, it is said to be impossible to compel the shrine’s administration to remove the war criminals.
In the eyes of critics, political visits to a shrine which goes to great lengths to honour fascists and mass murderers constitute a celebration of same, and since 1978 even the emperor has refused to visit the shrine out of concern over the enshrinement of war criminals (although he does despatch emissaries).
Since 1978, visits by politicians have taken on a strong foreign policy dimension, with Sino-Japanese relations ostensibly heavily influenced by whether an administration conducts visits.
PM Kan and his cabinet refrained from visiting Yasukuni at all, which can either be interpreted as a harmless diplomatic gesture of contrition to their overly sensitive Asian neighbours, or a slavish display of the subservient foreign policy they have become notorious for.
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...
this guy is just.... beyond comprehension
i'm not japanese, but that's because i'm superior.
I wonder if they ever read history
Only the one they've made up, note the revisionist museum noted in the article.
Now it's true that history is written by the victors, on the other hand it's quite possible to come to a more balanced view by looking at reports from all the sides involved.
Which is something the revisionist guys don't want to do, thus showing that they're not true Historians, but just a bunch of hacks.
Lot like Shota-boy up there in the picture.
As expected of a rape novelist to visit rapists.
He wants to be enshrined together with his fellow like-minded comrades as "The Man Who Butchered Manga and Anime"
If you take into account that Ishihara wants a military junta government and nukes, maybe destroying manga and anime as we know (and sometimes love) is just a hobby for him.
"Sepearation of Shinto and state", I can't help but wonder if it's really called that...
No, he wants the Japanese as a Military power to rape foreigners so that Japanese can be allow to rape anyone, anywhere, any time.
This man must die, that's a death "please do this" threat. It's on a websit, written down. Fucking kill him someone, it's for the betterment of the world.
@anon 10:57
but killing him (at least at the hands of an otaku) is exactly what he wants. Think about it: such a killing would only be refueling the negative public image of otaku that festered since the incidents with Tsutomu Miyazaki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Miyazaki), and god knows the son of a bitch wouldn't mind sacrificing himself to accomplish this. Even if he is a god damn nutjob, someone willing to murder over 2D isn't gonna look good for anybody, and will only give those who like 2D a bad name.
Sad as it is to say, we can only hope nature (or a rival politician or somebody with absolutely no ties to otaku subculture) manages to kill him off for us. Or, we can hope that Japan's voting population actually grows a brain and doesn't vote him back into power at some point (if Ishihara himself doesn't die soon, the elderly population that continually elects him will).
@ Myballz
MY GOD! I SEE! It's so clear to me now. Ishihara is a fucking genius!
He wants a world where rape is allowed to flourish naturally-where men (and sometimes women) are free to rape whoever they please and whenever they please without being judged. Just like the good lord intended them to.
And it solves Japan's population problem!
Good going, mein Furher!
@Yamato
or just kill him and make it look like an accident
do it ureself
most of us don't want to go to jail unfortunately ; ) (same person)
An 'accident' would be best.
Yamato: Lol, there are more old people in Japan by the day and will be until the pop stabilizes to 1-2-4-8. Learn demographics : )
otherwise, good points
@ anon 2:14
but what are the odds that future generations of elderly will still maintain his rightist values? As they die off, at some point they're bound to get overtaken by a population that ISN'T stuck in the post-war remodeling period.
I think that will just boost the number of people visiting the shrine... imagine legions of otakus as well as regular citizens who were forced to accept his self-restraint BS coming there just to pee and dump on his memorial.
Count me in. I'd consider it a party.
The man? You mean the LUNATIC!
He wants to be enshrined together with those died in the war?
Anybody care to help him realize his dream?
Yasukuni is a shrine dedicated to those who fought for their country.
War criminals were simply determined by the victor. If anything the Allies are just as guilty.
But you are not completely oblivious that it is used for exactly the wrong propaganda, time and again?
Seriously, there's a really wise saying: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
How long do people WANT to be played as fools? Ishithara's motives are crystal clear. He's not even trying to camouflage his insanity any longer.
I thought it was "Fool me once,shame on you. Fool me twice,sha... won't get fooled again."
Agreed. All the chinks and gooks are just too unreasonable about this. Just because some people died for a cause that was lost doesn't mean their lives are worthless and people should be BANNED from remembering them at all.
Nobody ban the family from remember them but if you going to make it a big deal there will be people that get piss off.
http://www.pacificwar.org.au/webgraphics/JapWarCrimes/Aussie_execution.jpg
http://www.pastreunited.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/4-24_japanese_war_crime_4.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731
or you could look it up yourself
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes
Human crimes? what are those? I guess it's just something determined by the victor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Mengele
[http://www.documentingreality.com/forum/attachments/f181/34437d1234939289-wwii-holocaust-buchenwald-camp-bodies-buchenwald-prisoners-april-1945..jpg]http://www.documentingreality.com/forum/attachments/f181/34437d1234939289-wwii-holocaust-buchenwald-camp-bodies-buchenwald-prisoners-april-1945..jpg
This!
The German dude approves!
@JC:
Wikipedia is not objective.
Obviously Japan committed some notable war crimes - human experimentation and the Rape on Nanking, etc.
However, Japan's war crimes are petty offenses compared to the offenses of the USA.
"Japan's war crimes are petty offenses compared to the offenses of the USA." hahahahaha ha ha sure bro...whatever you say. Give me some examples of crimes against humanity committed by the USA during the Second World War. Any? Even the known crimes USA has committed to this day cannot compare to the crimes committed by Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany in the past.
The USA has waterboarding, humiliation through sodomy, administration of STD's to prisoners in Guantanamo, JDAMs into civilian complexes, agent orange, nuclear irradiated survivors, rape, beat downs, and execution.
If you consider these acts to be worse than what the Japanese did in WWII alone then that's your own fucked up mentality.
That said, I don't have to go to Wikipedia to find evidence of the atrocities committed by Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany, it just happens to be the most convenient. Go visit your local library or talk to a history teacher. THE MOAR YOU KNOW*
As far as i know, pre-WW2 japan was not a signatory of the geneva conventions. They applied their concept of bushido to prisoners and invaded populace which was wrong, but it is just as wrong to judge them by our standards. However allot of those people were pretty scummy even by ultra right wing bushido standards.
Offenses by human kind in general, nationality has nothing to do with it imho.
Why not just hire some Yakuza to burn the tombs of the war criminals and start visiting the shrine again?
It is morally wrong to neglect honoring millions of soldiers who simply obeyed the emperor because of a few mass rapists.
Hate to break it to you but...the Yakuza are business partners with those guys.
Simplest solution would be, imnsho, to make a new memorial for those that perished and were not involved with warcrimes etc.
no, why this guy has been voted into public office and not into a mental institution is beyond comprehension
Between him and all the other options that run for his position... he is the lesser insane one.
It's funny how often the "lesser evil" turns into a complete nightmare to those who opted to do nothing.
reminds me of elections in Germany. As the old German saying goes: "Muss das kleinere Übel denn wirkklich so groß sein?"
(Why is the lesser evil so big?)
i would've voted for his communist opponent
The JCP is the least corrupt party in Japan, and it has the benefit of not having sided with either the Soviets or the Chinese in the Sino-Soviet split leaving it outside both Blocs and as such it is untainted by either.
Communism? Hell no.
Have you ever met your neighbours? Unless you're very lucky, you'll find that the best conversation you can have with them is the short kind that only touches upon the weather. And even then they might make you want to rip their throats out.
In unrelated news, Artefact should have the decency to spell Führer with an umlaut.
In Japan, it's even more funny if you catch some of them talking behind your back (which they will always do)and you confront them by answering in Japanese. They WILL become VERY silent and squirm back into their holes real fast.
Also, as a foreigner in their country, you will always face some sort of hostility. Even if you're from a country which they consider to be on very friendly terms. Americans usually get the full hate-treatment, just like Koreans and Chinese. They are surprisingly friendly when you reveal yourself to be a German (which a friend of mine can confirm) but they are nonetheless mildly hostile.
Because they're more concerned if the next Miku concert will show the holograms right or not and comiket.
Sad but true.
Because Japan's voting populace is completely dominated by elderly who are just as senile as Ishihara.
This guy is nuts.
He'd start a WWIII to try and conquer Asia all over again if given the chance.
if can do that then i might support him....only china
But I don't think Japan has the military power to do so.
why do you think he wanted some nukes ? :)
And Gundam Project is under way without any of us knowing.
@Anon 21:49
Oh yeah, that would be something.
Gundam: The Backstroke of the West
"He is in my behind"..I bet that Ishihara would love that.