Japan Press Weekly

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2009 April 15 - 21 [TOKYO]

Tokyo governor’s historical view again questioned

Tokyo Governor Ishihara Shintaro’s historical view was questioned by the foreign press at a press conference on April 16, the day when the International Olympic Committee evaluation team began touring Tokyo, one of the four cities that hope to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The press conference was held after Tokyo explained the concept behind its bid to the evaluation team.

A British reporter asked the governor if he is aware of the South Korean press claiming that Tokyo will not be chosen to be the Olympic host because its governor downplays Japan’s brutal acts in the past.

“I don’t think I have stated that all the things Japan did during its colonial role in South Korea were correct,” said Ishihara, and went on to say, “I have heard from South Korean (former) President Park that compared to European colonial rules in Asia, what Japan did was softer.”

In its latest-revised concept, Tokyo included “peace” as the principles of the Olympic games it is bidding to host. But many of Ishihara’s past remarks are considered contrary to the whole concept of peace.

Callum Murray from “sportcal.com”, who asked the question, said later that he was surprised because the governor did not reject what he brought up. How will the world respond to Ishihara’s latest remark?