Sorry! English version is now under construction. But you can read Ishihara's troublesome remarks in English translated by Iwakawa Yasuhisa.

A series of indiscreet and irresponsible remarks by Ishihara Shintaro, Tokyo governor, who tries to force the "militarization of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government"

Ishihara's troublesome remarks that were done
between August 1999 and February 2000.
April 9, 2000.
Inoue Sumio


No competition for 4 years, enabling Ishihara to act like a president.

(An interview in a conservative monthly magazine "VOICE" with Ijiri Kazuo, president of the Research Institute on Japanese Culture, Takushoku University)

Ishihara:
Once I am elected as governor, I can do whatever I want for 4 years. The position has more legitimacy than those of prime minister and other cabinet ministers, so I can exercise "executive" power.
("VOICE", August 1999 edition, published by the PHP Research Institute)


Ishihara's perception : "Japan will disappear if I died".
(Related remarks are introduced from "My View of War", that appears later)

(From a talk with Kobayashi Yoshinori, cartoonist who has justified Japan's mistakes committed during the Second World War era)

Ishihara:
I think that anybody should make up his mind to do anything he wants if he perceives he is someone chosen.
I, I do believe that Japan will disappear as a nation once I was dead (smile).
So to speak, I have a sense of unity with Japan in my body.

("SAPIO", August 25 and September 8, 1999 editions. SAPIO is a conservative magazine published by Shogakukan)


Japan's postwar Constitution should be annulled and replaced by a new one to raise the Emperor as the head of state and to have Japan become the world-strongest defense nation.

(From a talk with Kobayashi Yoshinori, above-mentioned)

Ishihara:
Japan is always dependent on others, but the United States is trying to do anything by itself. This is the most crucial difference between the two countries. Japan should be able to act in accordance with its national ability. If the constitution is an obstacle for Japan's independent actions, we simply annul it. However, it is technically impossible to change it, so the Diet (Japan's parliament) should make a motion to annul it. The resolution passes the Diet if the majority voted in favor. If a new constitution were created, the right of self-defense can be clearly defined in it. My strong belief is that Japan should become the world-strongest defense nation to make as many world's best fighter planes as possible and to sell them to foreign countries. This is what Japan should do.

("SAPIO", August 25 and September 8, 1999 editions. A talk with Kobayashi Yoshinori)

(An interview with the "Shukan Post", Japan's weekly magazine)

Interviewer: How should the constitution be?

Ishihara:
As Mr. Nakasone (Yasuhiro, Japan's former prime minister) insists, it should be written in noble Japanese appealing to the sensitivity of the Japanese people, based on all the ethnicity and tradition of Japan.
However, the Article 9 (forbidding Japan from being involved in any war) of the Japanese Constitution is out of the question. The most important role of a nation is to be sovereign and protect the lives and property of the people, isn't it? The Article 9 has let Japan forget about the role and fully depend on the US.
("Shukan Post", January 14/21, 2000 edition. "Bombshell remarks" : The constitution that is favorable to the US cannot defend people's lives and property - Ishihara Shintaro "The present constitution must be 'annulled', not be 'revised'".

(An interview with Oshima Shinzo, chief editor for the "Seiron", another conservative monthly magazine)

Ishihara:
The Emperor should definitely be the head of state.

("Seiron", March 2000 edition. Title: "Judging men and women in Nagatacho". Nagatacho: The district where Japan's parliament is located)


That war was moving after all.

(A talk with Kobayashi Yoshinori, above-mentioned)

Ishihara:
I was going to the Shonan Junior High School that was like a preparatory school to become a marine. If I had been there two years earlier, I would be in a battlefield as a navy officer.
I want to talk about my experience in summer of 1945, the final year of World War II. We students were mobilized to an airfield in Atsugi (50 km west of Tokyo). We became friends with soldiers just in a week. One day, we heard a secret rumor "There will be a large-scale air battle today", and 27 or 28 fighter planes were dispatched to the south. Most of them didn't come back, and the maintenance staff said, "If they didn't return till that time, they won't for ever. We heard some planes land on the way back or dive out everywhere, but we were not sure because we could not access telephones very easily.
Some reserve soldiers were just sitting down beside the runway, being worried about their fellows. Still, one plane made an emergency landing, and all of us helped carry the injured fighter.
That was a nation. I never feel sad whenever I remember this scene. It was really moving. I think from the deep bottom of my heart that I was together with the soldiers for the nation (Ishihara wipes his tears).
Another thing I remember is that I encountered air attacks on my way home from school. We were running to a train that was stopping. Then, we were attacked by enemy carrier-based planes. We hid, but one of us was shot. We tried to rush into the forest ahead. Other planes came close to us while we were among low furrows of potatoes. There was nowhere to hide and we had to keep running, but the places never shot us. Why? Because they were dark brown and marked with the rising sun, symbol of Japan. It was so vivid and made our bodies tremble. That feeling was even stronger than the joy from seeing the Japanese flag in the Olympic games.

("SAPIO", August 25 and September 8, 1999 editions. A talk with Kobayashi Yoshinori)

(A talk with Fukuda Kazuya, conservative critic)

With regard to war, it is easy to condemn it as being cruel, but the reality is that various kinds of technology could be developed as a result of full of human wisdom to fight all-out war. Moreover, we human beings have accumulated our history probably from a mixture of ridiculous and noble things in battlefields. This is our fate. Nobody knows whether such a situation as no war is possible is totally virtue for the people and countries.
("Sankei Shimbun", January 4, 2000. Title: "A New Year Seiron Talk" with Fukuda Kazuya. Seiron: A sound argument)


(War cooperation) Local governments need to be prepared to throw their lives.

(In an interview with "VOICE")

Ishihara:
Once a war broke out near Japan and it could destroy this country, there is no choice for local governments. They have no room to insist on their egoism. In such a case, I will totally cooperate to the nation.

("VOICE", August 1999 edition. Published by the PHP Research Institute)

(A talk with Kobayashi Yoshinori)

Ishihara:
In the (Japan-US Defense Cooperation) Guidelines, the US completely assumes a war with China over Taiwan. If there were some local governments that would not cooperate the guidelines, this may cause the disappearance of our country with regard to China's possession of nuclear weapons. I'm the governor of Tokyo, but I will say, "Please use all the Tokyo Metropolitan Government facilities necessary to the defense of Japan in case of emergency". Local governments need to be prepared to die for defending our nation.

("SAPIO", August 25 and September 8, 1999 editions. A talk with Kobayashi Yoshinori)

(In an interview with Oshima Shinzo, chief editor for the "Seiron" magazine)

Ishihara:
A certain media sent a questionnaire to all the governors in Japan. The question was "How does your prefecture cooperate with the new Guidelines once they become effective?" It was only me who answered that I would cooperate with the nation unconditionally. The nation first, then comes Tokyo.

("Seiron", March 2000 edition. Title: "Judging all the men and women in Nagatacho)


Thanks to Japan's participation in the war over colonies, they could gain independence after World War II.

(A talk with Kobayashi Yoshinori)

Ishihara:
Modern history must be taught at schools. However, the only historical principle in the modern era was imperialism. Colonized by the Western powers or colonizing. These were the only choices at that time. That was because Japan joined such colonizing nations. But, thanks to Japan, nationalism emerged everywhere in the world and ex-colonies could gain independence after the end of World War II. Right?

("SAPIO", August 25 and September 8, 1999 editions. A talk with Kobayashi Yoshinori)

(A talk with Fukuda Kazuya)

Park Chung Hee, former Korean president, told me about this story. Ex-soldiers around him start to say, "Japan is evil" as they get drunk. Then, Mr. Park begins to talk about his experience, calming them, "Just a moment".
He came from a very poor farming family, so he nearly gave up taking a higher education. However, young Park could go to school thanks to Japan's introduction of a compulsory education system into Korea that was under the Japanese rule. He graduated from the Manchuria Military School at the head of his class. This enabled him to continue his study at the Army Academy in Japan, and he could graduate from it. Japan gave such opportunities to such Korean boys as young Park. Mr. Park reminisced about the past, saying, "Japanese did some wrong things like having forced us to change our names into Japanese ways, but in general, they were fair to us".

("Sankei Shimbun", January 4, 2000. Title: "A New Year Seiron Talk" with Fukuda Kazuya)


An explicit anti-China sentiment - "We must divide China".

(The Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters on November 24, 1999 for the first time since he was inaugurated into the post last April. He received an explanation from Noda Ken, Chief of the Police, about the increasing number of crimes committed by foreigners, such as illegal stays of Chinese. After the visit, Mr. Ishihara told news reporters as follows)

There are too many crimes committed by illegally staying Chinese. I don't know how the Chinese government recognizes, but, with regard to the money to aid a country manufacturing hydrogen bombs, it is much better for Japan to spend it for the safety of Tokyo and the prevention of crimes of Chinese.
("Asahi Shimbun", November 25, 1999)

(A talk with Fukuda Kazuya)

Ishihara:
If Japan followed the US blindly and abandoned Taiwan, it will be a very critical historical error for Japan because our country will then become a dependency of China.
Fukuda: That's right, because Okinawa wouldn't be able to stay as a part of Japan.
Ishihara:
I agree with you. Then, Senkaku and Uozuri Islands, on which I built lighthouses, will sink in an instant, and Spratly Islands and Hoansa Islands will be completely annexed by China. That is, its expansionism will be almost accomplished. What can we do to stop the expansion of Chinese?
What is a strategy for Japan? What ability does Japan have? It is a financial asset that is abundant. I always say that we should go ahead with such a strategy as create autonomous regions around China immediately by using the Japan money.
If this move spread throughout China, Japan can spend its money more effectively instead of using it in favor of Beijing and encourage activities to divide China.
Yes, we must divide China. Japan should help accelerate such actions as much as possible and take the initiative once the division is in sight.

("Shokun", a conservative monthly, March 2000 edition. A talk with Fukuda Kazuya. Title: In a country without strategy - Are we simply waiting for Japan's fall in the international society?)

(In an interview with Oshima Shinzo, chief editor for "Seiron")

Interviewer: The majority of foreign criminals (in Japan) are Chinese and Iranians.
Ishihara:
I visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters on November 24 of last year (1999). In the Scientific Investigation Research Institute, I knew how cruel the Chinese Black Society (mobster world) is.
They peal the skin in the face of traitors as a warning. I saw the face be back to normal thanks to the technology of the institute. Such a cruel act has never been seen here in Japan. New styles of crimes have appeared, that Japanese have never thought of.
("Seiron", March 2000 edition. Title: "Judging all the men and women in Nagatacho)

(In response to a question from Yamazaki Yasushi in a plenary session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. February 29, 2000)
With regard to a question, "How shall we deepen the friendship with the city of Beijing which has continued for 20 years?", I don't feel the sense toward it so strongly as the governor. The Communist regime has recently started to say such a stupid thing as "Okinawa used be a territory of China". It wants not only the Senkaku Islands but also Okinawa.
("Tokyo Shimbun", March 1, 2000. A commentary on the report: The friendship cities relationship between Tokyo and Beijing was established in 1979. Its history is the second longest after that with New York, which began in 1960)


I will carry out a comprehensive drill to cope with an earthquake disaster by mobilizing the Self Defense Forces on September 3, 2000.

(In a talk with Tokuda Torao, director general of the Tokushu-kai, a medical corporation)
Tokuda: I heard a joint disaster-prevention drill be carried out between the Ground, Marine and Air Self Defense Forces and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in September, next year (2000). This is a very good plan. I recommend you to add medical staffs.
Ishihara:
Of course, I will do it. I have various ideas including medical care for the drill. I'm not sure how strong the next earthquake will be in Tokyo, but if pedestrian overpasses fell down, nobody can go over the rubbles without using tanks. Of course, doctors cannot get to the disaster-stricken sites. How can we invite those who have experienced parachuting training in the Self Defense Forces? How shall we establish medical bases for them? It will cost a large amount of money only for the preparation, but I think we should do whatever necessary to prepare for the worst case.
("Shincho 45", another conservative monthly, December 1999 edition. A special talk : "Doctors can never be cured unless they die")

(In an interview with Oshima Shinzo, chief editor for "Seiron")

Ishihara:
Tokyo is clean.
Oshima: Cleanliness and safety are the most important for towns.
Ishihara:
Westerners who come to Japan are impressed with its cleanliness and safety, but the safety has been threatened by illegally staying foreigners. The contents and ways of crimes committed in Tokyo have dramatically changed.
Taking a suggestion from Mr. Nakasone (Yasuhiro, former prime minister), we will carry out a comprehensive drill to cope with an earthquake disaster on September 3, this year. Prime minister Obuchi (Keizo) also agreed to this plan. We will mobilize all the Ground, Marine and Air Self Defense Forces then.
Then, I said, "It was a pity that many Koreans were killed due to demagoguery when there was the Great Kanto Earthquake, but I'm afraid that they will be murdering us Japanese when the next big earthquake hits Tokyo".
As seen in Los Angeles, illegally staying foreigners may loot such shopping districts as Shinjuku and Ikebukuro. I requested training to blockade towns by the use of tanks and armored cars as a demonstration to cope with such plunder.
Oshima: Oh, please take care. If you say something like 'tanks', the media will sensationalize it.
("Seiron", March 2000 edition. Title: "Judging all the men and women in Nagatacho)


Abandon "worship to the US" and create the "Greater Asia Yen Sphere".

(In an interview with "Gendai", a monthly magazine)
Ishihara:
Japan is so exploited by the US. It is also a financial slave of the US. Why is it so afraid of America? Japan doesn't need to care the security treaty with the US at all. If America complains to Japan about the treaty, we just ask the US Army to get out of Japan. At present, this country has enough military technology and budget, so we make it become a strong defense nation by using its money and ability. Then, we should do what the US is most afraid of. Japan sell US Treasury bonds (it has bought about 3 trillion dollars). It will be criticized as pulling a trigger of the Depression, but this is Japan's turn to drop atomic bombs.
The world economy will sink after Japan sells all its Treasury bonds. Then, which country or region will recover first? It will be Japan and East Asian Nations that can make high quality products. The best manufacturing country, Japan, as admitted by the US, will survive. And the East Asian nations also have manufacturing technology and a high standard of education. Therefore, the "Greater Asia Yen Sphere" will be established.
("Gendai", December 1999 edition. A special story: A series of 10 exciting opinions "I can't leave without saying this")


"New ethical training"

(In street oratory during the gubernatorial election campaign. April 5, 1999)
Junior high school and high school girls prostitute themselves by using telephone clubs. This is because we left everything to the Ministry of Education and Culture about education. I would like to start new ethical training to be introduced to all the schools in Tokyo. It must begin at elementary schools.

(In an interview with the "Shukan Asashi Geino", a weekly magazine)
Ishihara:
We should introduce new ethical training, not the moral training (that was done before World War II). It will take about 15 years to achieve a success. It is much better to do it than not to do it. The Ministry of Education and Culture didn't do anything at all. Everybody do nouvelle vague, because all local governments follow what Tokyo does.
("Shukan Asahi Geino", April 15 edition. Title: "Ishihara Shintaro declares independence of 'Tokyo'")


Remarks to discriminate the handicapped people.

(In a press conference after Ishihara visited the Fuchu Care Centre that houses those heavily mentally and physically impaired in Fuchu city on September 18, 1999)

Do they have personalities? I was really shocked. I haven't drawn a conclusion. I wonder how you feel.
They can never be cured. They don't know who they are. They were born as human beings but have been in such situations... However, it will be only Japan that does this kind of thing.
Somebody will say it is great. On the other hand, Westerners will abandon such people, I think. I suppose this is a difference of religious views. That issue seems to lead to euthanasia.
(Asked why he referred to euthanasia) I meant that someone would connect that issue with euthanasia. I never say, "have them be euthanized".
("Asahi Shimbun", September 18, 1999, morning edition)


The Yokota Air Base should be used jointly by the military and the civilians.

(In an interview with the "Shukan Asahi Geino")
Interviewer: What are you going to do once you were elected as the Tokyo governor? Is the first thing the return of the Yokota Air Base to Japan?
Ishihara:
Yes, that is one of the things. I knew it was a bean ball, a sort of bluff. The base won't be totally returned to Japan. However, it can be used jointly by the military and the civilians like those in Bonn and Frankfurt, Germany.
Interviewer: How is the base used specifically?
Ishihara:
It can be used jointly, as I said. Like the Misawa Air Base (in the northern tip of the Honshu main Island). It can be used as the Tokyo's third airport (after Narita and Haneda). International flights can be operated from there. Then, it is much more accessible for the people in Yamanashi Prefecture (a neighboring prefecture to Tokyo in the west). Also, the people in the Tama area (a Western part of Tokyo) told me that they needed to stay one night at Narita when they used that airport (to take international flights). That's because I insist that Yokota should be used as the third airport. I think the US will accept this request.

("Shukan Asahi Geino", April 15 edition. Title: "Ishihara Shintaro declares independence of 'Tokyo'")

Airport has the ripple effect economically. Look at Haneda. It can be operated 24 hours a day now and was equipped with one more runway. Then, its economic effect is more than a trillion yen.
("VOICE", August 1999 edition. Published by the PHP Research Institute)