Grand-Daughter of former PM Hideki Tojo To Run For Diet Seat
The Sankei Shinbun has reported that the grand-daughter of wartime prime minister (and convicted war criminal) Hideki Tojo is seeking political office:
On the 7th it was learned that grand-daughter of former PM Hideki Tojo, Yuko Tojo (67) has decided to run for an office in the House of Councilors, the upper house of the Japanese Diet this summer. It is expected that she will run as an independent from the Tokyo voting district.
According to Wikipedia, Yuko Tojo is “a right-wing activist who claimed Japan’s was a war of self-defense and that it was “unfair” that her grandfather was judged a Class-A war criminal.”
More details can be found at Neverland (the source of this translation).
Update: The story has since been picked up by Kyodo News:
A granddaughter of Gen. Hideki Tojo, Japan’s wartime prime minister who was hanged as a Class-A war criminal after World War II, revealed her plan Monday to run in the House of Councillors in July.
Yuko Tojo, 67, pledged to work to realize the enshrinement of all of Japan’s military war dead at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.
Her grandfather is one of the 14 Class-A war criminals honored at the Shinto shrine, the source of a diplomatic row with China and South Korea.
Tojo, who heads a nonprofit organization working on environment conservation, said she envisions running either in the Tokyo constituency as an independent or under the proportional representation system if she can obtain the backing of a political party.
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She’ll have to do better than a one-note “Grandpa was framed”. Her stance on the elderly could help, but it will be interesting to see if people are put off by her name. (I know it’s not remotely in the same league, but I have read that the last surviving descendants [not direct] of Adolf Hitler have agreed not have children to let the name die out – seems it would be easier just to change it. Something like Schicklgruber perhaps….)
“a right-wing activist who claimed Japan’s was a war of self-defense and that it was “unfair” that her grandfather was judged a Class-A war criminal.”
Hard to get away with the first point (though Bush has done similar), the second is a very valid critique. Justice Pal from India made those points in his 1000-page plus judgement when he acquitted the lot of them.
While I have my doubts she’d actually win, if she did I could only imagine the reactions we’d see from Korea and China.
I don’t think there’s much of a problem with her running. Just because she is related to Tojo doesn’t make her the ‘next’ Tojo. I hope people will give her accurate consideration and not judge a book by its cover.
Of course I’m saying this without knowing anything about the woman but none the less…
I’ve seen an interview with her – she has some very strident views on certain issues to do with the war and the Emperor etc, issues straight out of the more conservative members of the Tsukurai. Of course she won’t ever be the next Tojo, save in name, as the situation is radically different. It would be wonderful to see the hysterical reactions of China and Korea if she ever won though….
This is a good stuff to measure whether Japn is really getting nationalistic or not.
“It would be wonderful to see the hysterical reactions of China and Korea if she ever won though….”
I´m about to get hysterical !!!