Japan Press Weekly

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2008 December 3 - 9 [SDF]

Tamogami question must be traced back to his appointment

Akahata editorial

Former Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen. Tamogami Toshio was removed from his position over his essay denying the historical fact that Japan waged a war of aggression. Instead of being dismissed, he received 70million yen in retirement allowance. He even continues to make public speeches.

This affair must not be reduced to just a personal matter. The government appointed Tamogami to the highest position in the ASDF, a person who overtly denies the Constitution established after a national self-examination of Japan’s war of aggression and the 1995 Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi statement apologizing for the aggression. Following the revelation of this scandal, the government dismissed him. The government must be held accountable for his appointment and disciplinary dismissal. It must not close the case without any examination of the background and the breeding ground for such outrageous remarks.

‘Not knowing’ does not exempt responsibility

Prime Minister Aso Taro and Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu replaced the ASDF chief of staff on the grounds that the Tamogami essay that was made public is “inappropriate” in that it argued that calling Japan an aggressor nation was a false accusation. However, Tamogami had long made similar statements inside and outside of the SDF. The government is only evading its responsibility by saying that his essay is “inappropriate.”

Tamogami served as the commander of the ASDF Air Defense Command before he became ASDF chief of staff. At that time, he already made public views that conflicted with the government policy in an article printed in Hoyu, the ASDF internal magazine, edited by the board of the Air Staff College. Tamogami in the capacity of ASDF chief of staff gave a view similar to the recent one in the May 2007 issue of Hoyu. In the House of Councilors Cabinet Committee on May 14, 1992, Koike Kiyohiko, director of the Defense Agency (presently Defense Ministry) Bureau of Education and Training, explained that the then Defense Agency has a responsibility to oversee the magazine Hoyu. The government cannot evade responsibility by pretending to be unaware of his essays.

On assuming the post of the Joint Staff College in 2002, Tamogami newly established a “views of history and the state” program inviting pro-Yasukuni scholars, who praise the past Japanese war of aggression, as lecturers. Tamogami used this program to indoctrinate commissioned officers to praise the “Great East Asia War” and attack the “International Military Tribunal for the Far East.”

Kumagai Tadashi, former professor at the Joint Staff College, stated that once the college has chosen lecturers, it reports to the Defense Ministry Education Bureau (November 20 evening edition of the daily Nikkei). It is a serious matter if the Defense Ministry has given tacit approvals to the Joint Staff College’s programs and its selection of lecturers.

After being replaced as ASDF chief of staff over the controversial essay, Tamogami said that his view is “shared” by two former prime ministers, including Mori Yoshiro. If these prime ministers endorsed Tamogami’s peculiar historical views, the matter is too serious to be overlooked. The hotbed that nurtured Tamogami’s view as expressed in the essay about the “false accusation” is the source of the problem. If the government is to prevent the recurrence of such a scandal, it is necessary to make clear the responsibility of the government and the Defense Ministry for the affair.

Stop military buildup

Even after stepping down as ASDF chief of staff, Tamogami is using lectures and interviews to continue to call for Japan to be allowed to exercise the right of collective self-defense and the right to be armed with offensive weapons, including nuclear weapons. He is arguing that he is speaking out in order to remove all restrictions on Japan’s military buildup.

The government and the Defense Ministry admit that Tamogami has made problematic remarks in violation of the principle of ‘civilian control’ and therefore he must be checked. But it has stopped short of investigating the true intention of Tamogami’s statements. Unless the government ends its weak-kneed attitude to the military organization, it will mean that the government actually recognizes that Tamogami’s views are in line with the government policies of building up the Japan-U.S. military alliance and sending SDF troops overseas. In order to stop the dangerous turn to ultra nationalism among uniformed members of the SDF officer corps, the government must discontinue these policies.