Japan Press Weekly

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2008 October 29 - November 4 [SDF]

Air force chief dismissed over essay on Japan's aggression during World War II

Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu on October 31 dismissed Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Gen Toshio Tamogami for publishing an essay stating that the argument that Japan was an aggressor nation in the Second World War is false.

Tamogami’s essay entitled “Was Japan an Aggressor Nation?” won the first prize in an essay contest sponsored by a hotel chain operator.

The essay justified Japan’s invasion of China as an action “based on a treaty allowing Japanese forces to be stationed in China.” He argued that the Comintern (Communist International) was the architect of the 1928 incident (which Japan used as the pretext for its invasion of China). “Japan was a victim that was drawn into the Sino-Japanese War,” he wrote.

He also said that Japan’s war of aggression against China and the Korean Peninsula was a “trap carefully set by the United States.”

Complaining that the present Japanese Self-Defense Forces are not allowed to exercise the right of collective self-defense, Tamogami raised questions about the government position that Japan cannot exercise the right of collective self-defense under the Constitution.

JCP Diet Policy Committee chair’s comment

Following the dismissal of Tamogami, Kokuta Keiji, Japanese Communist Party Diet Policy Committee chair, made the following comments:

Mr. Tamogami wrote the essay to present a historical view justifying and even praising the Japanese war of aggression, thus denying the fundamental principle of post-war politics as well as expressing outright opposition to the Constitution.

He has failed in his duty as an active SDF official to defend the Constitution by attacking the constitutional prohibition of the use of the right of collective self-defense and the prohibition of possession of offensive arms.

It is extraordinary that such a person was in the heights of command of the military. What is more, when the Nagoya High Court ruled in April that the Air Self-Defense Force missions in support of U.S. forces in Iraq are unconstitutional, Tamogami said, “That’s none of our business.” In fact, he knew exactly what he was saying.

It is natural that the defense minister dismissed him. At the same time, the prime minister and the defense minister must be held responsible for assigning such a person to a key SDF position.

We believe that it is necessary to subpoena him before the Diet for questioning.