Author and former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, who left his mark on Japanese politics as a staunch hawk and whose nationalistic views often ruffled the feathers of Japan's neighbors, died Tuesday morning, his family said. He was 89.
Ishihara, who died at his home in Tokyo, was battling pancreatic cancer, his eldest son and former lawmaker, Nobuteru, told reporters. The younger Ishihara said his father "had put up a good fight against cancer but suffered a relapse in October last year."
The novelist and former politician, who also served as a lawmaker in the Diet, provoked a bitter diplomatic row between Japan and China in 2012 by announcing a plan for the Tokyo metropolitan government to buy a major part of the disputed Senkaku Islands, claimed by China, from a private Japanese owner.
The plan led to the central government eventually buying the three uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, resulting in a freeze in bilateral relations.
Ishihara also hoped that Japan would rewrite its U.S.-drafted Constitution. The same passion was apparently behind his return to national politics late into his life in 2012 after his 13-year stint as Tokyo governor.
Over the years, Ishihara has come under fire for making controversial remarks, including calling the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan "divine punishment" of the Japanese people, who have been tainted with egoism.
In an address to Ground Self-Defense Force members in April 2000, Ishihara, then Tokyo governor, called on them to control possible rioting by foreigners in Japan following a major earthquake, saying "atrocious crimes have been committed again and again by sangokujin and other foreigners."
Sangokujin is a Japanese term that translates as "people from third countries" and is considered derogatory. The term refers to people from former Japanese colonies in Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and their descendants.
Ishihara's death was mourned by prominent Japanese political figures, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida telling reporters at his office, "Another great leader in the world of politics has gone. I'm deeply saddened."
"He was a politician who kept challenging preconceived notions formed in the postwar era," said former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to whom Ishihara gave guidance when the former was elected to the lower house for the first time in 1993.
During a political career spanning nearly 50 years, Ishihara spent many years as a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker and assumed Cabinet posts before turning to take the helm of Japan's capital.
After quitting as governor, he led a small party that merged into but later broke with what was then a rising opposition party. He retired from politics with the loss of his Diet seat in the December 2014 general election.
Ishihara's family is sometimes referred to as the Kennedys of Japan, as Nobuteru is a former lower house member who has served as environment minister, while his third son, Hirotaka, is a lower house member. His second son, Yoshizumi, is a TV personality and his fourth son, Nobuhiro, is a painter.
Born in the western Japanese port city of Kobe on Sept. 30, 1932, Ishihara made a name for himself as an up-and-coming writer, winning the prestigious Akutagawa Award in 1956 for his novel "Taiyo no Kisetsu" (The Season of the Sun), which he wrote a year earlier at the age of 22 when he was a student at Tokyo's Hitotsubashi University.
The book became a best seller and created a social sensation, inspiring many to imitate the bohemian lifestyle depicted in the novel. His younger brother Yujiro, one of Japan's top film stars, who remains immensely popular decades after his death in 1987 at age 52, made his debut as an actor in a film adaptation of the novel.
Ishihara stirred up international controversy with the publication of his 1989 book "The Japan That Can Say No," which he co-authored with then Sony Corp. Chairman Akio Morita. In the book, he said Japan should tell the United States that it can protect itself and consider canceling the bilateral security treaty.
He entered politics in 1968 at age 35 with election to the House of Councillors, winning an unprecedented three million votes from the national constituency after covering the Vietnam War for major Japanese daily the Yomiuri Shimbun from 1966 to 1967.
In his books, Ishihara said the experience motivated him to consider the future of Japan and become a lawmaker.
Ishihara switched to the House of Representatives in 1972 and later served as chief of the then Environment Agency and transport minister in LDP governments but abruptly resigned during his eighth term in April 1995, citing despair over Japanese politics.
After he was first elected Tokyo governor in 1999, Ishihara pushed forward such initiatives as the introduction of a new tax system for major banks and strict diesel vehicle exhaust regulations.
As governor, Ishihara bid to host the Olympics in Tokyo in the summer of 2016, but the International Olympic Committee chose Rio de Janeiro instead. He later entered a bid to host the 2020 Olympics, which ultimately proved successful under his successor, Naoki Inose.
In a statement, Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike lauded Ishihara for initiating the move to bid for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and said, "He left many legacies in the governance of the capital, including regulations on diesel vehicles, which have taken root in Tokyo today."
In October 2012, Ishihara announced his resignation as governor to found a new party and return to national politics. Winning in a general election in December that year, he served his ninth term in the lower chamber until he lost in the election two years later.
Announcing his retirement from politics after his loss in the election, Ishihara said at a press conference in December 2014 that for the rest of his life, "I will say what I want to say and do what I want to do."
He authored numerous books, including a 2016 bestseller, "Tensai" (Genius), a biographical novel about former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, written as a monologue of one of the most popular and controversial politicians in postwar Japan.
He was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, a Japanese order, in 2015.
