Hideaki Kase
Hideaki Kase (加瀬 英明, Kase Hideaki, born December 22, 1936) is a Japanese diplomatic critic known for promoting historical revisionism. His father, Toshikazu Kase, was a diplomat under Shigenori Tōgō who negotiated an end to the Pacific war. Yoko Ono is his cousin.
Hideaki Kase | |
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加瀬 英明 | |
Born | |
Nationality | Japanese |
Occupation | Chairman of Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact Takushoku University Lecturer |
Known for | Historical revisionism |
Revisionist organizations
Kase is the Chairman of Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact,[1] a right-wing[2] organization promoting historical revisionism.[3] In an interview with BBC[4] journalist Bethan Jinkinson, Kase said: "The majority of our people believe that Japan was forced into war by the United States. America was making unreasonable demands upon us. So we were fighting a war of national self-defence". Kase wrote episodes of friendship with John Lennon for the Sankei Shinbun on 8 December 2016. Kase said to John Lennon, "the USA forced Japan to fight the USA and reluctantly Japan fought in self-defense. Japanese were the same as Vietnamese who were attacked by the USA." John Lennon visited many Japanese Shinto Shrines, and one of them was Yasukuni Shrine. Kase and Ono were in the family of Yasuda zaibatsu, and Yoko Ono was seen as a nuisance in this prestigious financial clan, but Hideaki Kase got along with Yoko Ono.[5]
Also a member of Nippon Kaigi, Kase said about that openly revisionist lobby: "We are dedicated to our conservative cause. We are monarchists. We are for revising the constitution. We are for the glory of the nation".[6]
Revisionist movies
Hideaki Kase has a history of promoting controversial movies that contest Japanese war crimes:
- Kase was the head of the production committee for the Japanese film "Merdeka 17805" (2001),[7] which caused minor outrage in Indonesia because it depicted Imperial Japan as a liberating force instead of the aggressor.
- Merdeka 17805 was produced in partnership with Katsuaki Asano, the president of Tokyo Film Production, also his partner in the movie "Pride, the Fateful Moment" (1998), that stirred debate by the way it depicted the Tokyo war crimes tribunal and General Hideki Tojo.
- Kase was also among the main advocates of the movie The Truth about Nanjing (2007), that negates Japan's responsibility in the Nanjing massacre.
See also
Notes
- "About Us". Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact. Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 28 April 2007.
- "Japan's 'nationalist' school books teach a different view of history".
- "Journalist backtracks on best-seller after Nanjing switcheroo".
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4145356.stm
- Linda Sieg, Reuters, June 15, 2006
- "War flick touting Japan's role in Indonesia's birth irks Jakarta". Japan Times. 27 March 2001.
External links
- Official Web Site (In Japanese)
- "World View: Hideaki Kase", Newsweek 24 March 2007. Retrieved 31 March 2007