Naoki Hyakuta, NHK Board of governors
More NHK themed hilarity this week, this time courtesy of Naoki Hyakuta, noted revisionist and member of the NHK board of governors. In fitting with theme of political neutrality, Hyakuta was speaking at a rally for Tokyo mayoral election front-runner Masuzoe when he claimed that the widely acknowledged Nanjing massacre of 1937 never happened. “In 1938,” said Hyakuta, “Chiang Kai-shek tried to publicize Japan’s responsibility for the Nanking Massacre, but the nations of the world ignored him. Why? Because it never happened” – an interesting position given that the Nanjing massacre was recognised by the Allied tribunal following the war, with general estimates putting the death toll at around 142,000, discounting the thousands of victims who died shortly after being brutally raped.
Hyakuta further argued that as the whole thing was a lie, there was obviously no need to teach children about it in school. Rather, he suggested, “children should be taught first what a wonderful nation Japan is”. Bringing the education debate into this is worryingly in line with the nationalist fervour making an unwelcome comeback in Japan, which ultimately seeks to do away with the constitution’s pacification clause. Whilst the situation between Japan, South Korea and China is always going to be complex, it seems to me that Japan is without a doubt the most volatile of the three, and whilst there are many who consider Abe to be the second coming, there are equally as many who detest the man for dragging the country back towards an age when it sent its own children off to die – an issue that still resonates today.
As mentioned, Hyakuta was exemplifying the political neutrality of the NHK by speaking at a rally for Masuzoe. Here’s what Masuzoe had to say about female politicians back in 1989 (thanks to Taz for the translation):
“I believe women are inherently unfit for being politicians. For example, there are almost no female orchestra conductors or composers. When I was thinking the reason behind this, I realized that conductors are very similar to politicians. Women lack the capability to lead an orchestra compared to man. Also, the reason behind there being very few composers is because women cannot bring together different components logically to construct a full package… Besides, there’s the physical issue. Politicians have to make important decisions 24/7. If that happens to coincide with her period, we have a problem. Women are not normal during their periods. They are abnormal. We don’t want them making national decisions, such as going to war in that mental state.”
That’s (probably) the next mayor of Tokyo speaking. Some guy eh?
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