Mr Shintaro Ishihara was the Goethe of Japan. I was his pupil, someone in the same profession, and his escort runner. In this chapter, I have woven together more of my private recollections, spanning as long as twenty-plus years and "my unfulfilled promise" to him. ー Shin Ushijima
Chapter 2.4: A History of Complicated Relations
Read other chapters in My Mentor, Shintaro Ishihara
Shintaro Ishihara was worth much more than the official honors conferred upon him. I firmly believe so because I once had the following conversation with him.
When we were alone one day, Mr Ishihara said to me with a serious face, "The truth is, the emperor was active in commanding war strategies, telling the army to land here or attack there."
I don't remember why the emperor came up in our conversation. We were arguing that the International Military Tribunal for the Far East was nothing but one-sided revenge by the victorious nations. And possibly, on that occasion, we may have referred to the Emperor.
Mr Ishihara told me the story of when he went to watch the Tokyo Trials wearing geta (wooden clogs). An American military policeman ordered him to take them off, claiming that the sound they made was a nuisance. I vaguely remember him saying that he reluctantly complied and walked on, barefoot, putting them inside his clothes. Inside his clothes? I suppose he was wearing a Japanese yukata (light cotton summer kimono). After all, it was very hot that day.
The story of the emperor's war command, as Mr Ishihara related it, left a vivid impression on my memory. I was already familiar with Jun Eto's interpretation of history and believed that, as a constitutional monarch, the emperor was not empowered to oppose the commencement of the war. However, by the time the war ended, the constitutional monarchy no longer functioned. Therefore, he was compelled to make the "sacred decision" and lead Japan in surrender. As a consequence, when I heard the emperor had taken command of the war, I could not immediately accept it.
The Shintaro Ishihara Histories
Eiji Oshita addresses this in his book The History of Shintaro Ishihara (石原慎太郎伝, MdN Book Publishing Corporation, 2022, pp 56 - 57). He says: "As usual, blinking his eyes as is often his habit when he is nervous, Mr Ishihara asked me a question as though shooting me with an arrow."
Immediately thereafter is a scene where Ishihara provokes Oshita, saying, "Why do you think Japanese have become such undignified people who won't take responsibility for their actions?"
Oshita just mumbles, "Well…," trying to find the right words to answer.
Then, Mr Oshita tells us, "Instead of waiting for my reply, Mr Ishihara spoke fiercely as though he was really impatient to spit it out. 'It's because His Imperial Majesty, who should have taken the most responsibility for the nation, didn't commit seppuku (ritual disembowelment) on August 15, 1945, when Japan was defeated in the Pacific War.'"
Mr Ishihara reportedly told Mr Oshita he could report the remark, cautioning only that "It wouldn't be convenient to publish it during my lifetime, but you can write it after I'm gone." (P 58)
The same statement was also introduced in Naoki Inose's recent book, Man of the Sun – A History of Shintaro Ishihara (2023, Chuokoron Publishing Co).
Since Mr Inose wrote about it, Mr Ishihara truly must have said it.
Wartime Words and Deeds
He may have said the same thing to me, but unfortunately, I don't remember it if he did. Certainly, I recall Mr Ishihara saying that the emperor had taken command during the war. But for the life of me, I cannot remember him saying that the emperor should have committed seppuku.
Now I am of the opinion that it would have been unreasonable to demand seppuku from His Imperial Majesty, who was not a samurai warrior. To me, the more convincing theory is that the emperor would have liked the United States to continue occupying Okinawa for good. With no armed forces of his own, the emperor knew very well that if his army was not dependable, he had no choice but to turn to the United States. I was taught that this was not such a deviant idea.
After I learned Mr Ishihara's view on the emperor, I did some research on my own regarding how deeply the emperor was involved in the war. Through my research, I found that, much as the emperor sought peace, in fact, he also thought it could be realized only after a decisive physical blow.
Although Mr Ishihara did not use strong language with me, it seemed as though he was reiterating his own theory, conveying what he believed was right after thinking about it for a long time. Judging from the way he spoke, it did not sound as if he agreed with the theory of peace after only one clash of arms.
I imagine that a person of consequence like Mr Ishihara may have had a lot of opportunities to learn about the words and deeds of Emperor Showa.
Privy to 'Various Things'
Here, Okinori Kaya comes up again. He served as Minister of Finance during the war and would often proudly say, "It is all thanks to my managing the finances that such an uninfluential tiny country like Japan was able to hold on fighting against the United States and the United Kingdom for more than three years." (My Favorite Japanese People (私の好きな日本人, Gentosha, 2014, at p 183.)
Okinori Kaya was privy to various things and must have shared that information with Mr Ishihara.
The following episode illustrates just how remarkable a man Kaya was.
"Japan was defeated, so we needed someone to be a scapegoat and take responsibility," he wrote. Like a hot knife cutting butter, he positioned himself in this way in the Tokyo Trials. Kaya rationalized that spending 10 years in Sugamo prison was worthy of respect. In his autobiography, Kaya states, "In all the years of my life, I consider that my mind was clearest and most organized during my time in Sugamo Prison. As an individual, it was a good life." (Eighty Years Before and After the War (戦前・戦後八十年, at p 181)
Of course, Okinori Kaya did not endorse the Tokyo Trials.
In the confrontation between Hideki Tojo and Chief Prosecutor Joseph Keenan, Kaya declared Tojo the outright winner. Kaya was a person of keen intellect, someone who understood the greater truth that, after all, this is what the world of flesh is about.
Okinori Kaya's Perception
I learned that even in prison, Kaya had busied himself trying to save Class-B and Class-C war criminals. He demonstrated exactly the exemplary behavior that people in the elite class should exhibit.
"It would be best, I think, to devote oneself to the arts or academics. But unfortunately, I have no talent and am hopeless at such fields. So for me, it would be best to contribute to society even a little through politics and social matters."
Probably ー no, without a doubt ー he believed so.
I wonder whether Okinori Kaya saw Mr Ishihara as a politician or as an artist?
He must have viewed Ishihara as one-of-a-kind, a man talented in both fields. Kaya had considered passing down his constituency to Mr Ishihara, along with his connections in and out of Japan. Had he done so, he would have had great expectations that Shintaro Ishihara would do something significant as a politician.
But the artist Shintaro Ishihara stood in the way. Undeniably, Mr Ishihara achieved great things as a politician because he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun. But that was only a part of what made Mr Ishihara who he was.
In history, Shintaro Ishihara, the politician, does not have a significant presence. But Shintaro Ishihara, the artist, will be appreciated long into the future. As long as Mr Ishihara continues being appreciated as a politician or a person of eminence, it may be difficult to recognize his true qualities as an artist. It could take time, but that day will surely come.
Kenzaburo Oe's Advice
"It seems that the intolerance of Japanese society doesn't allow a prominent politician to write great novels." (The Life of a Man Called ”I”, 「私」という男の生涯, Gentosha Publishing Co, 2022, at p 214.)
Ishihara told of how his old friend, Kenzaburo Oe, "kindly advised me, 'You should set down those unique experiences of yours in a conte.' And following his advice, I published short stories of those kinds of experiences in a collection entitled Moments of my Life" (わが人生の時の時, 2001, Shinchosha Publishing Co). Then, expressing his frustration, he told me it was apparently considered for a certain literary prize, but was rejected in the final selection based on a judge's opinion that, 'This cannot be called a novel.'" (The Life of a Man Called "I" at P 215.)
After the Farewell
Following the farewell service, I took the expressway to return to my office. It was so quick that I was able to make it to a luncheon meeting starting at noon at my firm. Without changing, I sat in on the law firm meeting wearing the same dark suit and orange tie.
At the service, I received a smallish brochure folded several ways. Featured on the cover was a photo of Mr Ishihara on a yacht, bare-chested with what appeared to be a captain's cap. It was from this cover that I first learned that his name, Shintaro, is written 愼太郎, not 慎太郎. It may well be that the older form of the kanji character 愼 was used because he was born in 1932, the seventh year of the Showa era.
That night, after completing everything for the day, I looked at the brochure again.
On the back cover, I found what was labeled his death poem. It read, "Oh, lighthouse beacon ー what words will you proclaim as I am about to leave this world? Who can say my teeming passion was wrong?"
On seeing the word passion, I recalled what Mr Ishihara once said to me:
"Ushijima-san, novels are the fruit of passion. Emotion! Fervor!" Thus, Mr Ishihara tried to encourage me.
Certainly, Mr Ishihara was a man of passion with intense and irresistible emotions.
Find the Table of Contents
(To read the book in Japanese, please visit the publisher's website.)
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Author: Shin Ushijima
