Japan Press Weekly

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2016 August 3 - 9 [POLITICS]

New Tokyo governor appoints ultra-rightist to be her assistant

Tokyo Governor Koike Yuriko, as her first act as governor, on August 2 appointed a far-right former Tokyo assemblyperson who justifies Japan’s past war of aggression to be her special assistant.

Newly-appointed special assistant, Noda Kazusa, is a former Liberal Democratic Party member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. In the 2012 September session of the assembly, Noda voted for a petition calling for the abolition of the current Japanese Constitution and the reinstatement of the pre-war constitution which gave the emperor absolute power. He also proclaimed in regard to the comfort women issue that they were not forcibly taken away from their countries by the Imperial Japanese authorities and military.

After leaving the LDP, he ran in the 2012 general election on the ticket of the right-wing Japan Restoration Party (dissolved) but failed to secure a seat.

The governor can hire a special assistant without approval from the assembly. The metropolitan government shows a reluctance to withhold information regarding special assistant salaries by using the protection of personal information as an excuse.