Tamogami stands by controversial essay
Written by Writer on Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
Tamogami stands by controversial essay
The Yomiuri Shimbun
“I still don’t think there was even the slightest mistake in what I wrote,” former Air Self-Defense Force chief Toshio Tamogami said during questioning by a Diet panel Tuesday over his controversial essay justifying Japan’s wartime actions.
Tamogami, 60, refused to cede any ground over the content of the prizewinning essay that led to his dismissal as ASDF chief of staff on Oct. 31, telling the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the House of Councillors that Japan “was falsely accused of being an aggressor nation” in the Sino-Japanese and Pacific War.
He also reiterated his dissatisfaction with his dismissal, saying: “SDF personnel have the right of free speech, too…The only reason the government dismissed me was because my essay happened to get so much attention.”
During the 160-minute session Tamogami continued to press his case, at one point trying to outline his own interpretation of the Constitution, before he was cut off by the committee chairman.
Asked how he felt as he arrived at the Diet building in the morning, Tamogami beamed at reporters and said, “Oh, I feel really great.”
When the session commenced at 10 a.m., committee chairman Toshimi Kitazawa of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan told Tamogami, “You should be aware that this isn’t the place for expressing your personal political views.”
Tamogami looked slightly discomfited by Kitazawa’s words, and appeared somewhat ill at ease as he took his seat.
Early on during the questioning the panel focused on Tamogami’s relationship with Shishio Motoya, 65, president of APA Group, the hotel and condominium developing firm that organized the essay competition in question, and which awarded the first place cash prize of 3 million yen to Tamogami.
Tamogami admitted that he had attended a party the company hosted in Makuhari, Chiba Prefecture, on June 2.
He was then asked about his essay, titled, “Was Japan an Aggressor Nation?”
“I don’t think my view [about Japan's wartime past] conflicts with the Murayama statement,” he said, referring to the statement made in August 1995 by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama that recognized Japan’s responsibility.
Tamogami then tried to turn the subject to his views on the war-renouncing Constitution, saying, “The Constitution, for that matter…” only to be cut off by Kitazawa.
Tamogami flatly denied instructing ASDF personnel to participate in the essay contest.
“If I’d given an instruction, more than 1,000 [ASDF personnel] would have submitted essays, instead of the about 70 or 90 that did,” he said referring to news reports that of the 235 entries in the essay contest, 94 came from ASDF personnel.
One committee member asked Tamogami, “As a top SDF officer with experience of serving as principal of the Joint Staff College, didn’t you have any qualms about telling innocent SDF members something that was quite different from the government’s views?”
There were chuckles around the committee when Tamogami replied: “Students at the Joint Staff College are at least 40 years old, you know? They can hardly be called ‘innocent.’”
After the session, Tamogami was asked by some reporters about his remarks in the session that he had no intention of voluntarily returning a lump-sum retirement allowance worth about 60 million yen.
“I’d like to use it,” he said. “My family and I are having a hard time making ends meet.”
(Nov. 12, 2008)
