View source for Shintaro Ishihara

{{Short description|Japanese politician (1932–2022)}}
{{for|the Japanese rugby union player|Shintaro Ishihara (rugby union)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Shintarō Ishihara
| native_name         = {{nobold|石原 慎太郎}}
| native_name_lang    = ja
| image               = Shintarō Ishihara 2003.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 2003
| office              = [[Governor of Tokyo]]
| monarch             = [[Akihito]]
| term_start          = 23 April 1999
| term_end            = 31 October 2012
| predecessor         = [[Yukio Aoshima]]
| successor           = [[Naoki Inose]]
| office1             = [[Ministry of Transport (Japan)|Minister of Transport]]
| primeminister1      = [[Noboru Takeshita]]
| term_start1         = 6 November 1987
| term_end1           = 27 November 1988
| predecessor1        = [[Ryūtarō Hashimoto]]
| successor1          = [[Shinji Satō]]
| office2             = [[Ministry of the Environment (Japan)|Director-General of the Environment Agency]]
| primeminister2      = [[Takeo Fukuda]]
| term_start2         = 24 December 1976
| term_end2           = 28 November 1977
| predecessor2        = [[Shigesada Marumo]]
| successor2          = [[Hisanari Yamada]]
| office3             = Member of the [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]]
| constituency3       = [[Tokyo proportional representation block|Tokyo PR]]
| term_start3         = 11 December 2012
| term_end3           = 21 November 2014
| predecessor3        = [[Ichirō Kamoshita]]
| successor3          = [[Akihisa Nagashima]]
| constituency4       = [[Tokyo 2nd district (1947–1993)|Tokyo 2nd]]
| term_start4         = 10 December 1976
| term_end4           = 14 April 1995
| predecessor4        = ''Himself'' (1975)
| successor4          = ''Constituency abolished'' (1996)
| constituency5       = Tokyo 2nd
| term_start5         = 10 December 1972
| term_end5           = 18 March 1975
| predecessor5        = [[Yoshirō Kikuchi]]
| successor5          = ''Himself'' (1976)
| office6             = Member of the [[House of Councillors]]
| constituency6       = [[House of Councillors national district|National district]]
| term_start6         = 8 July 1968
| term_end6           = 25 November 1972
| predecessor6        = 
| successor6          = 
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|1932|9|30|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Suma-ku, Kobe]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|2022|2|1|1932|9|30|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Ōta, Tokyo]], Japan
| party               = [[Independent politician|Independent]]<br>(1973–1976; 1995–2012)
| otherparty          = [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|LDP]] (1968–1973; 1976–1995)<br>[[Sunrise Party|Sunrise]] (2012)<br> [[Japan Restoration Party|JRP]] (2012–2014)<br>[[Party for Future Generations|PFG]] (2014–2015)
| alma_mater          = [[Hitotsubashi University]]
| profession          = Novelist and author
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[:ja:石原典子|Noriko Ishihara]]|1955}}
| children            = [[Nobuteru Ishihara|Nobuteru]]<br/>[[Hirotaka Ishihara|Hirotaka]]<br/>[[Yoshizumi Ishihara|Yoshizumi]]<br/>[[:ja:石原延啓|Nobuhiro]]
| relatives           = [[Yūjirō Ishihara]] (brother)<br/>[[Mie Kitahara|Mie Ishihara]] (sister-in-law)<br/>[[:ja:田中理佐|Risa Ishihara]] (daughter-in-law)
| religion            = <!-- Do not fill in this parameter. It is pretty obvious that Ishihara's religious views are, if they are even relevant, too complicated to be explained by a "label". Someone has been going around a large number of Japanese right-wing politicians and referring to them as "Shinto" without citing a source. The fact that this figure has visited Yasukuni Shrine does not mean he is not also a Buddhist. Virtually all Japanese (and foreigners who live in Japan) occasionally or regularly visit Shinto shrines. This does not mean the subject "IS a Shintoist and NOT a Buddhist", or any such thing. -->
}} {{ Shintaro Ishihara sidebar}}
{{nihongo|'''Shintaro Ishihara'''|石原 慎太郎|Ishihara Shintarō|30 September 1932 – 1 February 2022}}<ref name=nytimes/> was a Japanese politician and writer, who served as the [[Governor of Tokyo Metropolis|Governor of Tokyo]] from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the [[Far-right politics|radical right]] [[Sunrise Party]], later merged with [[Toru Hashimoto]]'s [[Japan Restoration Party]] out of which he split his faction into the [[Party for Japanese Kokoro]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Rydgren |first=Jens |year=2018 |title=The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=--5IDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT772 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=772–773 |isbn=978-0190274559 |access-date=2 August 2020 }}</ref> he was one of the most prominent [[ultranationalists]] in modern [[Politics of Japan|Japanese politics]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/09680884-03a2-11e2-bad2-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/09680884-03a2-11e2-bad2-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title= China protests spur Japanese nationalists|author=Michiyo Nakamoto|author2=Mure Dickie|newspaper=Financial Times|date=21 March 2012|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/article/ex-tokyo-governor-mayor-form-own-party-for-national-election/|title=Ex-Tokyo governor, mayor form own party for national election|author=The Associated Press|newspaper=CTV News|date=17 November 2012|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref> Ishihara was infamous for his [[Misogyny|misogynistic]] comments, his [[Xenophobia|xenophobic]] views and his racist remarks against [[Han Chinese|Chinese]] and [[Koreans]] in Japan, including his use of the antiquated pejorative term "[[sangokujin]]".<ref name="Mizuho Aoki">{{cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/16/national/politics-diplomacy/ishihara-bows-wants-war-china-compares-hashimoto-young-hitler|title=Controversial to the end, Shintaro Ishihara bows out of politics |author=Mizuho Aoki|newspaper=The Japan Times|date=16 December 2014 |access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2001/03/10/national/ishihara-slammed-for-racist-remarks/|title= Ishihara slammed for racist remarks|author=Kyodo|newspaper=The Japan Times|date=10 March 2001|access-date=13 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://asiatimes.com/2022/02/shintaro-ishihara-a-politician-who-peddled-in-hatred/|title = Shintaro Ishihara: A politician who peddled hatred|date = 4 February 2022}}</ref> He was also a [[Nanjing Massacre denial|denier of the Nanjing Massacre]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=David vs. Goliath: Resisting the Denial of the Nanking Massacre |url=https://apjjf.org/-Asia-Pacific-Journal-Feature/4786/article.html |access-date=2023-10-03 |website=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

A critic of [[Japan–United States relations|relations]] between [[Japan]] and the [[United States]], his artistic accomplishments included his authorship of a prize-winning novel, his authorship of best-sellers, and his work in theater, film, and journalism. His 1989 book, ''[[The Japan That Can Say No]]'', co-authored with [[Sony]] chairman [[Akio Morita]] (published in [[English language|English]] in 1991), called on the authors' countrymen to stand up to America.

After an early career as a writer and a film director, Ishihara served as in the [[House of Councillors (Japan)|House of Councillors]] from 1968 to 1972, then he served as in the [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]] from 1972 to 1995, just four years before he served as Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. He resigned from the governorship to briefly co-lead the [[Sunrise Party]], before he joined the [[Japan Restoration Party]] upon his return to the House of Representatives in the [[2012 Japanese general election|2012 general election]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121216x3.html |title=Ex-Tokyo Gov. Ishihara set to secure lower house seat |access-date=19 December 2012 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119194035/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121216x3.html |archive-date=19 January 2013 }}. [[Japan Times]]. 16 December 2012</ref> He unsuccessfully sought re-election in the [[2014 Japanese general election|general election of November 2014]], and officially left politics the following month.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sankei.com/politics/news/141216/plt1412160039-n1.html |script-title=ja:引退会見詳報 |trans-title=Full Report of Retirement Press Conference |language=ja |date=16 December 2014 |access-date=25 January 2016 |archive-date=12 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012202954/http://www.sankei.com/politics/news/141216/plt1412160039-n1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In October 2021, Ishihara was diagnosed with [[pancreatic cancer]] while his wife, Noriko had [[aortic aneurysm|ruptured aortic aneurysm]], and given only three months to live amid a routine physical exam. Ishihara died from its complications on 1 February 2022, at the age of 89.<ref name=nytimes/>

== Early life and artistic career ==
[[File:Ishihara family.png|thumb|left|Ishihara family; from left to right: Kiyoshi (father), [[Yūjirō Ishihara|Yūjirō]] (youngest brother), Mitsuko (mother), and Shintaro]]
Shintaro Ishihara was born on 30 September 1932 in [[Suma-ku, Kobe]]. His father, Kiyoshi Ishihara (1899–1951), an employee, later a general manager, of a [[shipping company]], and his mother, Mitsuko Ishihara (1909–1992), a daughter of Sannosuke Kato from [[Hiroshima]]. He grew up in [[Zushi, Kanagawa]], parts of [[Greater Tokyo Area]]. In 1952, Ishihara entered [[Hitotsubashi University]], and he graduated in 1956. Just two months before graduation, Ishihara won the [[Akutagawa Prize]] (Japan's most prestigious literary prize) for the novel ''[[Season of the Sun]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.i-shintaro.com/runner/index.html |title=太陽の季節：ここに始まる-炎のランナー |publisher=I-shintaro.com |access-date=28 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207112317/http://www.i-shintaro.com/runner/index.html |archive-date=7 February 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/GOVERNOR/PROFILE/index.htm |title=Profile of the Governor, Tokyo Metropolitan Government |publisher=Metro.tokyo.jp |access-date=28 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930081836/http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/GOVERNOR/PROFILE/index.htm |archive-date=30 September 2012 }}</ref> His brother [[Yujiro Ishihara|Yujiro]] played a supporting role in the movie adaptation of the novel (for which Shintaro wrote the screenplay).<ref name="citymayors">{{cite web|url=http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/tokyo_mayor.html |title=Mayors: Shintaro Ishihara: Governor of Tokyo|publisher=Citymayors.com|access-date=28 September 2012}}</ref> Ishihara had dabbled in directing a couple of films starring his brother. Regarding these early years as a filmmaker, he said to a ''[[Playboy Magazine]]'' interviewer in 1990 that "If I had remained a movie director, I can assure you that I would have at least become a better one than [[Akira Kurosawa]]".<ref>''Playboy'', Vol. 37, No. 10, p. 76.</ref><ref>Stonefish, Isaac (1 November 2013) [https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2013/11/01/the_man_who_would_be_warlord_shintaro_ishihara The Man Who Would Be Warlord]. Foreign Policy.</ref>

In the early 1960s, he concentrated on writing, including plays, novels, and a musical version of ''[[Treasure Island]]''. One of his later novels, ''Lost Country'' (1982), speculated about Japan under the control of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="TimeCover">Larimer, Tim (24 April 2000) [http://cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/magazine/2000/0424/cover1.html "Rabble Rouser"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408092720/http://cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/magazine/2000/0424/cover1.html |date=8 April 2013 }}, ''TIME Asia''.</ref> He also ran a theatre company, and found time to visit the [[North Pole]], race his yacht ''The Contessa'' and cross South America on a motorcycle. He wrote a memoir of his journey, ''Nanbei Odan Ichiman Kiro''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ezipangu.org/english/contents/news/naname/ishihara/ishihara2.html |title=Profile of Shintaro Ishihara |publisher=Ezipangu.org |access-date=28 September 2012}}</ref>

From 1966 to 1967, he covered the [[Vietnam War]] at the request of ''[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]'', and the experience influenced his decision to enter politics.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sensenfukoku.net/nation/nation.html |title=Sensen Fukoku |access-date=11 May 2014 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424022352/http://sensenfukoku.net/nation/nation.html |archive-date=24 April 2013 }}, accessed 22 December 2010. {{in lang|ja}}</ref> He also was mentored by the influential author and political "fixer" [[Tsûsai Sugawara]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Wani|first=Yukio|title=Barren Senkaku Nationalism and China-Japan Conflict|url=https://apjjf.org/2012/10/28/Wani-Yukio/3792/article.html|website=The Asia-Pacific Journal|publisher=apjjf.org|date=8 July 2012|access-date=8 April 2019}}</ref>

== Political career ==
In 1968, Ishihara ran as a candidate on the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP) national slate for the [[House of Councillors]]. He placed first on the LDP list with an unprecedented 3 million votes.<ref>Emmerson, John J., ''Arms, Yen & Power: The Japanese Dilemma'', (Tokyo: C.E. Tuttle, 1971), p. 339.</ref> After four years in the upper house, Ishihara ran for the [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]] representing the [[Tokyo 2nd district (1947–1993)|second district of Tokyo]], and again won election.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

In 1973, he joined with thirty other LDP lawmakers in the anti-communist ''Seirankai'' or "Blue Storm Group"; the group gained notoriety for sealing a pledge of unity [[Blood brother|in their own blood]].<ref name="citymayors" />

Ishihara ran for [[Governor of Tokyo Metropolis|Governor of Tokyo]] in 1975 but lost to the popular [[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|Socialist]] incumbent [[Ryokichi Minobe]]. Minobe was 71 at the time, and Ishihara criticized him as being "too old".<ref name=JT01/>

Ishihara returned to the House of Representatives afterward, and worked his way up the party's internal ladder, serving as Director-General of the Environment Agency under [[Takeo Fukuda]] (1976) and Minister of Transport under [[Noboru Takeshita]] (1989). During the 1980s, Ishihara was a highly visible and popular LDP figure, but was unable to win enough internal support to form a true faction and move up the national political ladder.<ref name="TimeInterview">"[http://cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/magazine/2000/0424/int.ishihara.html 'There's No Need For an Apology': Tokyo's boisterous governor is back in the headlines] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130408091806/http://cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/magazine/2000/0424/int.ishihara.html |date=April 8, 2013 }}," ''TIME Asia'', 24 April 2000.</ref> In 1983, his campaign manager put up stickers throughout Tokyo stating that Ishihara's political opponent was an [[Koreans in Japan|defector from North Korea]]. Ishihara denied that this was discrimination, saying that the public had a right to know.<ref>河信基 『代議士の自決ー新井将敬の真実』（河信基・三一書房）</ref>

In 1989, shortly after losing a highly contested race for the party presidency, Ishihara came to the attention of the West through his book ''[[The Japan That Can Say No]]'', co-authored with Sony chairman [[Akio Morita]]. The book called on his fellow countrymen to stand up to America.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

=== Governor of Tokyo ===
[[File:DN-SD-07-11440.jpg|thumb|right|Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara and U.S. Navy Commander Joseph Deleon at the Emergency Drill in [[Yokosuka]], [[Kanagawa Prefecture]], Japan, in September 2006]]
[[File:Shintaro Ishihara 2009828.JPG|thumb|right|Ishihara at the Tokyo Governor's office (2009)]]
In the [[1999 Tokyo gubernatorial election]], he ran on an independent platform and was elected as Governor of Tokyo. Among Ishihara's moves as governor, he:
* Cut metropolitan spending projects, including plans for a new [[Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation|Toei Subway]] line, and proposed the sale or leasing out of many metropolitan facilities.<ref name="TimeCover" />
* Imposed a new tax on banks' [[gross profit]]s (rather than [[net profit]]s).<ref>DeWit, Andrew, and Masaru Kaneko, [http://www.jpri.org/publications/critiques/critique_IX_4.html "Ishihara and the Politics of His Bank Tax"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826075602/http://www.jpri.org/publications/critiques/critique_IX_4.html |date=26 August 2016 }}, ''JPRI Critique'' 9:4, May 2002.</ref>
* Imposed a new hotel tax based on occupancy.<ref>"[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0XPQ/is_2001_Dec_24/ai_83370932 Tokyo hotel tax plan enacted]," ''Kyodo News International'', 24 December 2001.</ref>
* Imposed restrictions on the operation of [[Diesel fuel|diesel]]-powered vehicles, following a highly publicized event where he held up a bottle of diesel soot before cameras and reporters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/03/business/diesel.php|title=Diesels may return to Japan roads|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501224449/http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/03/business/diesel.php|archive-date=1 May 2008|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=7 May 2006}}, Reuters, 3 March 2006.</ref>
* Imposed [[Emissions trading|cap and trade]] energy tax.<ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-13/co2-trades-of-up-to-212-billion-opposed-by-japan-south-korean-companies.html Carbon Trades of Up to $212 Billion Opposed by Japan, South Korea Firms], Bloomberg, 13 January 2011.</ref>
* Proposed opening casinos in the [[Odaiba]] district.<ref name="TimeCover" />
* Declared in 2005 that Tokyo would bid for the [[2016 Summer Olympics]], which discouraged a bid by [[Fukuoka, Fukuoka|Fukuoka]].<ref>"[http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-8-2005_pg2_23 Tokyo governor suggests bid for 2016 Olympics] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930193834/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-8-2005_pg2_23|date=September 30, 2007}}," ''Daily Times'', 6 August 2005.</ref> Tokyo's bid lost to that of [[Rio de Janeiro]].
* Set up the ShinGinko Tokyo bank to lend to SMEs (small medium enterprises) in Tokyo. The project came under criticism- according to The Times, the bank had lost approximately 1&nbsp;billion dollars' worth of taxpayers' money through inadequate customer risk assessments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesonline.typepad.com/urban_dirt/2007/08/shinginko-tokyo.html|title=ShinGinko Tokyo: the crumbling icon of imbecility|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624074157/http://timesonline.typepad.com/urban_dirt/2007/08/shinginko-tokyo.html|archive-date=24 June 2009|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=3 March 2008}}, ''Times Online'', 13 August 2007.</ref>
* Served as Chairman of Tokyo's successful [[Tokyo bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics|bid]] to host the [[2020 Summer Olympics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/olympic_bids/future_bids_2016/1216135881.html|title=Japanese Olympic Committee To Appoint Chairman For Tokyo 2020 Bid|date=7 September 2011|publisher=GamesBids.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120918033834/http://www.gamesbids.com/eng/olympic_bids/future_bids_2016/1216135881.html|archive-date=18 September 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=17 September 2012}}</ref>
* Generated controversy from [[PETA]] for the culling of the 37,000 crows that populated Tokyo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/GOVERNOR/SPEECH/2002/0201/6.htm|title=Policy Speech by Governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205095730/http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/GOVERNOR/SPEECH/2002/0201/6.htm|archive-date=5 February 2012|url-status=bot: unknown|access-date=14 October 2006}}, First Regular Session of the Metropolitan Assembly, 2002. metro.tokyo.jp</ref>

He won [[2003 Tokyo gubernatorial election|re-election in 2003]] with 70.2% of the vote,{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} and [[2007 Tokyo gubernatorial election|re-election in 2007]] with 50.52% of the vote.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} In the [[2011 Tokyo gubernatorial election|2011 gubernatorial election]], his share of the vote dipped to 43.4% against challenges by comedian [[Hideo Higashikokubaru]] and entrepreneur [[Miki Watanabe]].{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

On 25 October 2012, Ishihara announced he would resign as Governor of Tokyo to form a new political party in preparation for upcoming national elections.<ref>{{cite web|title=Ishihara resigns as Tokyo governor to launch new political party|url=http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/ishihara-set-to-launch-new-political-party|date=25 October 2012|work=Japan Today|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512232349/http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/ishihara-set-to-launch-new-political-party|archive-date=12 May 2014}}</ref> Following his announcement, the [[Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly]] approved his resignation on 31 October 2012, officially ending his tenure as Governor of Tokyo for 4,941 days, the second-longest term after [[Shunichi Suzuki (governor)|Shunichi Suzuki]].{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

===Sunrise Party===
Ishihara's new national party was expected to be formed with members of the right-wing [[Sunrise Party of Japan]], which he had helped to set up in 2010.<ref name=JT01>Nagata, Kazuaki, [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121101a2.html "Ishihara leaves office with sights on Diet seat"], ''The Japan Times'', 1 November 2012.</ref> When announced by co-leaders Ishihara and SPJ chief [[Takeo Hiranuma]] on 13 November 2012, [[Sunrise Party]] incorporated all five members of SPJ. SP would look to form a coalition with other small parties including Osaka Mayor [[Toru Hashimoto]]'s [[Japan Restoration Party]] (Nippon Ishin no Kai).<ref name=JT02>Aoki, Mizuho (14 November 2012) [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121114a2.html "Ishihara, Hiranuma unveil new party"], ''The Japan Times''.</ref>

In November 2012, Ishihara and his co-leader Hiranuma said that the Sunrise Party would pursue "establishment of an independent Constitution, beefing up of Japan's defense capabilities, and fundamental reform of fiscal management and tax systems to make them more transparent". The future of [[nuclear power]] and the upcoming consumption tax hike were issues it would have to address with potential coalition partners.<ref name=JT02/>

===Sunrise Party merger with the Japan Restoration Party===
Only four days after the Sunrise Party was launched, on 17 November 2012, Ishihara and [[Tōru Hashimoto]], leader of the [[Japan Restoration Party]] (JRP), decided to merge their parties, with Ishihara becoming the head of the JRP. [[Your Party (Japan)|Your Party]] would not join the party, nor would Genzei Nippon, as the latter party's anti-consumption tax increase policy did not match the JRP's pro-consumption tax policy.<ref>[http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T121117003460.htm New parties merge forces / Taiyo no To dissolves to join Ishin no Kai; Ishihara named chief]. [[Daily Yomiuri]]. 18 November 2012</ref>

Reporting on a poll in early December 2012, ''Asahi Shimbun'' characterized the merger with Japan Restoration Party as the latter having "swallowed up" Sunrise. The poll, in advance of the 16 December Lower House elections, also said the association with SP could hurt JRP's chances of forming a ruling coalition even though JRP was showing strength relative to the ruling DPJ.<ref>Matsumura, Ai (4 December 2012) [http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201212040092 "Survey: DPJ snubbed, Japan Restoration Party favored as coalition partner"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121207232945/http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201212040092 |date=7 December 2012 }}. ''Asahi Shimbun''.</ref>

=== Party for Future Generations ===
In [[2014 Japanese general election|December 2014 general elections]], he was a candidate for the [[Party for Future Generations]], an extreme right-wing party, but he was defeated.<ref name="Mizuho Aoki"/> Following this, he retired from politics.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

== Political views ==
{{Japanese nationalism sidebar|Politicians}}
{{Conservatism in Japan|Politicians}}
Ishihara is generally described as having been one of Japan's most prominent [[Far-right politics|extreme right-wing]] politicians.<ref>{{cite book|editor=David S. G. Goodman, Gerald Segal |title=Towards Recovery in Pacific Asia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xeqAAgAAQBAJ&dq=far-right+Shintaro+Ishihara&pg=PA101 |quote= ... Shintaro Ishihara, one of the most extreme right-wing politicians and a fervent denier of the Nanjing Massacre, won privilege and notoriety by co-authoring in 1988 a book entitled The Japan That Can Say 'No' with Sony chairman and ...|date=2002 |page=101 |publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781134594061 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor=Steven B. Rothman |editor2=Utpal Vyas |editor3=Yoichiro Sato |title=Regional Institutions, Geopolitics and Economics in the Asia-Pacific: Evolving Interests and Strategies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T6i8DgAAQBAJ&dq=far-right+Shintaro+Ishihara&pg=PA2015-IA22 |quote= ... While this was done in order to keep the Tokyo municipal government under leadership of far-right Governor Shintaro Ishihara from buying the islands and using them to further provoke China, the perceived unilateral change of the status ...|date=2017 |page=2015 |publisher=[[Routledge]]|isbn=9781351968560 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=Howard W. French |title=Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China's Push for Global Power |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVdxDAAAQBAJ&dq=far-right+Shintaro+Ishihara&pg=PA213 |quote= ... DPJ governments had begun to embolden conservative forces in Japan, though, and in particular it energized prominent populist nationalists, like the far-right independent governor of Tokyo, the veteran politician Shintaro Ishihara. ...|date=2017 |page=213 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=9780385353335 }}</ref> He was called "Japan's [[Jean-Marie Le Pen|[Jean-Marie] Le Pen]]" on a program broadcast on Australia's [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/stories/s546099.htm |title=The World Today Archive – Japan's Le Pen |publisher=Abc.net.au |date=2 May 2002|author=Hall, Eleanor }}</ref> He was affiliated with the openly ultranationalist organization [[Nippon Kaigi]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/opinion/tea-party-politics-in-japan.html|title=Tea Party Politics in Japan |author=Norihiro Kato |newspaper=The New York Times |quote=Their vagueness reminds me of the title of a book that the conservative politician (and Nippon Kaigi officer) Shintaro Ishihara published in English in 1991... |date=12 September 2014 |access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref>

=== Foreign relations ===
Ishihara was a long-term friend of the prominent [[Aquino family]] in the [[Philippines]]. He is credited with being the first person to inform future President [[Corazon Aquino]] about the [[Assassination of Ninoy Aquino|assassination]] of her husband [[Ninoy Aquino]], a former senator and exiled critic of [[Ferdinand Marcos]], on 21 August 1983.<ref>"24 hours that changed Philippine history." ''[[Philippine Daily Inquirer]]'', 21 August 2013. Accessed 28 August 2021. https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/470559/24-hours-that-changed-philippine-history.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Juico|first=Philip Ella|title=Tokyo governor extols heroism of Ninoy Aquino|url=https://www.philstar.com/other-sections/letters-to-the-editor/2010/05/13/574400/tokyo-governor-extols-heroism-ninoy-aquino|access-date=16 September 2024|work=[[The Philippine Star|Philstar.com]]|publisher=Philstar Global Corp.|date=13 May 2010|location=[[Manila]], Philippines}}</ref>

Ishihara was often critical of Japan's foreign policy as being non-assertive. Regarding Japan's relationship with the U.S., he stated that "The country I dislike most in terms of [[Japan–United States relations|U.S.–Japan ties]] is Japan, because it's a country that can't assert itself."<ref name="TimeInterview" /> As part of the criticism, Ishihara published a book co-authored with the then [[Prime minister of Malaysia]], [[Mahathir Mohamad]], titled ''"No" to ieru Ajia – tai Oubei e no hōsaku'' in 1994.<ref>{{cite book|title=「NO」と言えるアジア (対欧米への方策) |last1=Ishihara|first1=Shintaro|author-link1=Shintaro Ishihara|last2=Mohamad|first2=Mahathir|year=1994|publisher=光文社 |author-link2=Mahathir Mohamad|language=ja|isbn=978-4-334-05217-1|trans-title=The Asia that can say no}}</ref>

Ishihara was also long critical of the communist government of the [[China|People's Republic of China]]. He invited the [[Dalai Lama]] and the [[President of the Republic of China|President of Taiwan]] [[Lee Teng-hui]] to Tokyo.<ref name="TimeCover" />

Ishihara was deeply interested in the [[North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens|North Korean abduction issue]], and called for economic [[sanctions against North Korea]].<ref name="NPQInterview">{{cite web | url = http://www.digitalnpq.org/global_services/global%20viewpoint/10-23-03.html | title = Ishihara: Only Sanctions Will Force North Korea to Disarm; Japan Needs Its Own Missile Shield | date = 22 October 2003 | publisher = New Perspectives Quarterly | access-date = 14 July 2008 | archive-date = 3 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231845/http://www.digitalnpq.org/global_services/global%20viewpoint/10-23-03.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> Following Ishihara's campaign to bid Tokyo for the [[2016 Summer Olympics]], he eased his criticism of the PRC government. He accepted an invitation to attend the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] in [[Beijing]], and was selected as a torch-bearer for the Japan leg of the [[2008 Summer Olympics torch relay]].<ref>{{cite web | publisher = CCTV | script-title=zh:石原慎太郎受邀参加北京奥运开幕式 |language=zh | url = http://news.cctv.com/china/20080111/101582.shtml|date=11 January 2008}}</ref>

=== Views on foreigners in Japan ===
On 9 April 2000, in a speech before a [[Japan Self-Defense Forces|Self-Defense Forces]] group, Ishihara said crimes were repeatedly committed by illegally entered people, using the pejorative term ''[[sangokujin]]'', and foreigners. He also speculated that in the event a natural disaster struck the Tokyo area, they would be likely to cause civil disorder.<ref>original in Japanese: "今日の東京をみますと、不法入国した多くの三国人、外国人が非常に凶悪な犯罪を繰り返している。もはや東京の犯罪の形は過去と違ってきた。こういう状況で、すごく大きな災害が起きた時には大きな大きな騒じょう事件すらですね想定される、そういう現状であります。こういうことに対処するためには我々警察の力をもっても限りがある。だからこそ、そういう時に皆さん（{{=}}自衛隊）に出動願って、災害の救急だけではなしに、やはり治安の維持も1つ皆さんの大きな目的として遂行して頂きたいということを期待しております。"</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=日本弁護士連合会：Alternative Report to the First and Second Periodic Report of JAPA on the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination|url=https://www.nichibenren.or.jp/activity/international/library/human_rights/race_report_jfba_en.html|access-date=2022-02-09|website=www.nichibenren.or.jp}}</ref> His comment invoked calls for his resignation, demands for an apology and fears among residents of [[Zainichi Korean|Korean descent in Japan]],<ref name="TimeCover" /> as well as being criticised by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2001-03-10|title=Ishihara slammed for racist remarks|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2001/03/10/national/ishihara-slammed-for-racist-remarks/|access-date=2022-02-09|website=The Japan Times|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Japan's Rightward Swing and the Tottori Prefecture Human Rights Ordinance|url=https://apjjf.org/2013/11/9/Arudou-Debito/3907/article.html|access-date=2022-02-09|website=The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus}}</ref>

Regarding this statement, Ishihara later said:{{blockquote|I referred to the "many ''sangokujin'' who entered Japan illegally." I thought some people would not know that word so I paraphrased it and used ''[[gaikokujin]]'', or foreigners. But it was a newspaper holiday so the news agencies consciously picked up the sangokujin part, causing the problem.

... After World War II, when Japan lost, the Chinese of Taiwanese origin and people from the Korean Peninsula persecuted, robbed and sometimes beat up Japanese. It's at that time the word was used, so it was not derogatory. Rather we were afraid of them.

... There's no need for an apology. I was surprised that there was a big reaction to my speech. In order not to cause any misunderstanding, I decided I will no longer use that word. It is regrettable that the word was interpreted in the way it was.<ref name="TimeInterview" />}}

On 20 February 2006, Ishihara also said: "Roppongi is now virtually a foreign neighborhood. [[African diaspora|Africans]]—I don't mean [[African Americans]]—who don't speak English are there doing who knows what. This is leading to new forms of crime such as car theft. We should be letting in people who are intelligent."<ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aqkKn5G.sOhk Japan Threatened by China, Its Own Timidity: Ishihara]", ''Bloomberg'', 20 February 2007.</ref>

On 17 April 2010, Ishihara said "many veteran lawmakers in the ruling-coalition parties are naturalized or the offspring of people naturalized in Japan".<ref>与党の党首や幹部は帰化した人の子孫が多い</ref>

=== Other controversial statements ===
In 1990, Ishihara said in a ''Playboy'' interview that the [[Rape of Nanjing]] was a fiction, claiming, "People say that the Japanese made a holocaust but that is not true. It is a story made up by the Chinese. It has tarnished the image of Japan, but it is a lie."<ref>''Playboy'', Vol. 37, No. 10, p. 63.</ref><ref name=":0">[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/02/opinion/l-historical-forces-drove-us-and-japan-to-war-rape-of-nanking-105491.html Historical Forces Drove U.S. and Japan to War; Rape of Nanking]. New York Times. 2 December 1991 .</ref> He continued to defend this statement in the uproar that ensued.<ref>[[Iris Chang|Chang, Iris]] (1997) ''[[The Rape of Nanking (book)|The Rape of Nanking]]'', [[Basic Books]], {{ISBN|0-465-06835-9}}, pp. 201–2.</ref> He also backed the film ''[[The Truth about Nanjing]]'', a Japanese film that denies the atrocity, framing it as Chinese communist propaganda.<ref>Hongo, Jun (25 January 2007){{cite web|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20070125a3.html |title=Filmmaker to paint Nanjing slaughter as just myth |access-date=1 November 2012 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122084420/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20070125a3.html |archive-date=22 November 2012 }}, ''[[The Japan Times]]''.</ref>

In 2000, Ishihara, one of the eight judges for a literary prize, commented that [[homosexuality]] is abnormal, which caused an outrage in the gay community in Japan.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0XPQ/is_2000_April_3/ai_61635352/|title=Ishihara's homophobic remarks raise ire of gays | work=Japan Policy & Politics | year=2000}}</ref>

In a 2001 interview with women's magazine ''Shukan Josei'', Ishihara said that he believed "old women who live after they have lost their reproductive function are useless and are committing a sin", adding that he "couldn't say this as a politician." He was criticized in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly for these comments, but responded that the criticism was driven by "tyrant... old women."<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Japan Civil Liberties Union]]|url=http://www.jclu.org/katsudou/seimei_ikensho/20030127e/03speech.html|title=Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, The Third Consideration of Japanese Governmental Report: Proposal of List of Issues for Pre-sessional Working Group|access-date=28 September 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121123132001/http://www.jclu.org/katsudou/seimei_ikensho/20030127e/03speech.html|archive-date=23 November 2012}}</ref>

During an inauguration of a university building in 2004, Ishihara stated that French is unqualified as an international language because it is "a language in which nobody can count", referring to the counting system in French, which is based on [[vigesimal|units of twenty]] for numbers from 70 to 99 rather than ten (as is the case in Japanese and English). The statement led to a lawsuit from several language schools in 2005. Ishihara subsequently responded to comments that he did not disrespect French culture by professing his love of French literature on Japanese TV news.<ref>Reed, Robert (28 July 2005) [https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20050728TDY18001.htm "The governor's artistic side"]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''Daily Yomiuri''.</ref>

At a Tokyo [[IOC]] press briefing in 2009, Governor Ishihara dismissed a letter sent by environmentalist Paul Coleman regarding the contradiction of his promoting the Tokyo Olympic 2016 bid as 'the greenest ever' while destroying the forested mountain of [[Minamiyama]], the closest '[[Satoyama]]' to the centre of Tokyo, by angrily stating Coleman was 'Just a foreigner, it does not matter'. Then, on continued questioning by investigative journalist Hajime Yokota, he stated 'Minamiyama is a Devil's Mountain that eats children.' Then he went on to explain how unmanaged forests 'eat children' and implied that Yokota, a Japanese national, was betraying his nation by saying 'What nationality are you anyway?' This was recorded on film<ref>{{cite web | title = Tokyo Governor and His Shocking Response to a Question Regarding the 2016 Tokyo Olympic Bid | publisher = YouTube | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSWxdHDuDrc |date=7 July 2009 |access-date=15 April 2012}}</ref> and turned into a video that was sent around the world as the [[Save Minamiyama Movement]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Ning |title=Minamiyama |url=http://minamiyama.ning.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714184132/http://minamiyama.ning.com/ |archive-date=14 July 2011 }}</ref>

In 2010, Ishihara claimed that [[Korea under Japanese rule]] was absolutely justified due to historical pressures from [[Qing dynasty]] and [[Imperial Russia]].<ref>{{cite news | script-title=ja:『与党は帰化した子孫多い』 石原知事 | date=18 April 2010 | url =http://megalodon.jp/2010-0418-1750-39/www.tokyo-np.co.jp/s/article/2010041890070655.html | work =Tokyo Shimbun | access-date = 21 April 2010 | language = ja }}</ref>

In reference to the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami]] and the subsequent [[Fukushima nuclear disaster]], which claimed the lives of 20,000 people, Ishihara said that "the triple disaster was 'divine punishment from heaven', because Japanese people have become a greedy":<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110314/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake_130|title=Tide of bodies overwhelms triple disaster-hit Japan|publisher=Associated Press|author1=Alabaster, Jay|author2=Pitman, Todd|name-list-style=amp|date=14 March 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110318084945/http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110314/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake_130|archive-date=18 March 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.asahi.com/special/tokyo/TKY201103140356.html |title=asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：「大震災は天罰」「津波で我欲洗い落とせ」石原都知事 – 東京都知事選 |publisher=Asahi.com |date=14 March 2011 |access-date=28 September 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://article.wn.com/view/2011/03/15/Tokyo_Governor_Ishihara_says_earthquake_and_tsunami_was_divi/ |title=Tokyo Governor Ishihara says triple disaster was a "divine punishment" - Worldnews.com |publisher=Article.wn.com |date=15 March 2011 |access-date=17 September 2012}}</ref>

{{blockquote|America's identity is freedom. Japan has no sense of that. Only responsible, material, and monetary greed. For many years, in the heart of Japanese people, who had always bounded with devil. This greed bounds with populism. Japanese people's identity is greed. These things need to be washed away from triple disaster. I think this is a divine punishment from heaven.<ref>{{cite web|script-title=ja:朝日新聞 |date=March 14, 2011 |publisher=Asahi |url=http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0314/TKY201103140356.html |quote=アメリカのアイデンティティーは自由。フランスは自由と博愛と平等。日本はそんなものはない。我欲だよ。物欲、金銭欲 |language=ja |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010081743/http://www.asahi.com/national/update/0314/TKY201103140356.html |archive-date=October 10, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | language = ja | quote = 我欲に縛られて政治もポピュリズムでやっている。それを（津波で）一気に押し流す必要がある。積年たまった日本人の心のあかを | publisher = 朝日新聞 |title=(untitled)| date = 14 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | quote = 日本人のアイデンティティーは我欲。この津波をうまく利用して我欲を1回洗い落とす必要がある。やっぱり天罰だと思う | script-title=ja:朝日新聞 | date = 14 March 2011| language = ja }}</ref>|Ishihara Shintaro}}

However, he also commented that the victims of triple disaster in Japan were pitiable.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=Asahi Shimbun|date=14 March 2011|language=ja}}</ref>

This speech was quickly caused many controversies and critical responses from the public opinion, both inside and outside Japan. The governor of [[Miyagi Prefecture|Miyagi]] expressed displeasure about Ishihara's speech amid [[Akihito]]'s response the victims of triple disaster in Japan. Then, Ishihara had to apologize for his comments.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = Japan Today | url = http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/ishihara-apologizes-over-Divine-punishment-remark#show_all_comments | title = Ishihara apologizes over triple disaster in Japan, was divine punishment remark }}{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

During the [[2012 Summer Olympics]], Ishihara stated that "Westerners practicing judo resembles beasts fighting. Internationalized judo has lost its appeal." He added, "In Brazil they put chocolate in norimaki, but I wouldn't call it sushi. Judo has gone the same way."<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Daily Yomiuri |url=http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/topics/news/20120803-OHT1T00324.htm |script-title=ja:石原都知事「西洋人の柔道はけだもののけんか |date=3 August 2012 |language=ja |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812051250/http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/topics/news/20120803-OHT1T00324.htm |archive-date=12 August 2012 }}</ref>

Ishihara has said that Japan ought to have [[Japanese nuclear weapons program|nuclear weapons]].<ref>Herman, Steve (15 February 2013) [https://www.voanews.com/a/rising-voices-in-south-korea-japan-advocate-nuclear-weapons/1604309.html "Rising Voices in S. Korea, Japan Advocate Nuclear Weapons."]. Voanews.com. Retrieved on 11 May 2014.</ref>

==== Proposal to buy the Senkaku Islands ====
On 15 April 2012, Ishihara made a speech in Washington, D.C., publicly stating his desire for Tokyo to purchase the [[Senkaku Islands]], called the Diaoyu Islands by mainland China and Diaoyutai Islands in Taiwan, on behalf of Japan in an attempt to end the [[Senkaku Islands dispute|territorial dispute]] between China and Japan, causing uproars in Chinese society and increasing tension between the governments of China and Japan.<ref>{{cite news | title = Tokyo governor seeks to buy islands disputed with China | work = Reuters | date = 17 April 2012 | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-japan-china-islands-idUSBRE83G0C020120417 | access-date = 2 July 2017 | archive-date = 24 September 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924163511/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/17/us-japan-china-islands-idUSBRE83G0C020120417 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title = Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara riles Beijing with plan to buy islands in a disputed area of the East China Sea | work= GlobalPost | date = 17 April 2012|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asia-pacific/120417/tokyo-governor-shintaro-ishihara-riles-beijing-plan-buy-is}}</ref> The government of Japan bought the islands in an effort to preempt the provocative bid, although the Chinese side viewed the purchase as an effort by Japan to bring the islands under Japanese sovereignty.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |title=The dragon roars back : transformational leaders and dynamics of Chinese foreign policy |date=2023 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=978-1-5036-3088-8 |location=Stanford, California |pages=106 |oclc=1331741429}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Ishihara married to Japanese essayist, [[:ja:石原典子|Noriko Ishihara]] (石原典子, b. 1 January between 1933 and/or 1938{{efn|1933 or 1938 are most commonly cited as the year of her birth, though sources range from 1933 to 1938. Some sources inaccurately cite the date as 1 January 1933. At the time of her death on 8 March 2022, her son, Nobuteru stated that she was 84 or 89, which also places her birth in 1933 or 1938 (1933 if born in January).}} &ndash; d. 8 March 2022) (formerly real name as Yumiko Ishida), a Hiroshima bombing survivor. The couple have four sons: [[Nobuteru Ishihara|Nobuteru]] (b. 19 April 1957), a politician; [[Yoshizumi Ishihara|Yoshizumi]] (b. 15 January 1962), an actor and weatherman; [[Hirotaka Ishihara|Hirotaka]] (b. 19 June 1964), a politician; and [[:ja:石原延啓|Nobuhiro]] (b. 22 August 1966), a painter and artist.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ishihara defiant, teflon to scandal |newspaper=Japan Times |author=Hongo, Jun |url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070119f1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929120450/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070119f1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 September 2007 |date=19 January 2007 }}</ref>

His younger brother, [[Yujiro Ishihara]] (1934–1987) was an actor and singer; his sister-in-law, [[Mie Kitahara|Mie Ishihara]] (b. 1933) was an actress; and his daughter-in-law, [[:ja:田中理佐|Risa Ishihara]] (b. 1 August 1963), was an actress and woman talent.

== Illness and death ==
In October 2021, Ishihara was diagnosed with [[pancreatic cancer]] and given only three months to live. As Ishihara wanted to spend his last days at home without feeling pain, according to his son, Nobuteru, who asked a doctor specializing in terminal care to prescribe him painkilling medication. His wife, Noriko, was also unwell due to [[aortic aneurysm|ruptured aortic aneurysm]].

The couple's four sons and one daughter-in-law spent [[Japanese New Year|New Year's Day]] and other holidays at the house on a rotating basis with a resident nanny. Shintaro repeatedly told his son, Nobuteru, "Dying and boring", and "Please take care of everything else", as he wrote manuscripts on his sickbed.

Ishihara died at his home in [[Tokyo]] on 1 February 2022, at aged 89.<ref name=nytimes>{{Cite news|last1=Kwai|first1=Isabella|last2=Inoue|first2=Makiko|date=2022-02-02|title=Shintaro Ishihara, Hawkish Ex-Governor of Tokyo and Writer, Dies of Pancreatic Cancer at 89|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/world/asia/shintaro-ishihara-dead.html|access-date=2022-02-02|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Hawkish ex-Tokyo governor and author Ishihara dies of pancreatic cancer at 89|url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2022/02/24a90dbb4bfe-breaking-news-ex-tokyo-gov-shintaro-ishihara-dies-at-89-source.html|access-date=2022-02-03|work=[[Kyodo News]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Shintaro Ishihara, Hawkish former governor of Tokyo and writer, dies of pancreatic cancer at 89|url=https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14537506|access-date=2022-02-03|work=[[The Asahi Shimbun]]|language=en}}</ref> About a month later on 8 March of the same year, his wife, Noriko had collapsed and died at aged 84.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} According to statements by his family and [[Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare|Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare]], in both cases the cause of death was unrelated to Fukushima disaster and COVID-19 infection. Both of their bodies were [[Cremation|cremated]] after their private funerals, and both of ashes were scattered at the sea.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

They were survived by four sons, [[Nobuteru Ishihara|Nobuteru]], [[Hirotaka Ishihara|Hirotaka]], [[Yoshizumi Ishihara|Yoshizumi]], and [[:ja:石原延啓|Nobuhiro]]; and a daughter-in-law, [[:ja:田中理佐|Risa]].{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

== Books written by Ishihara ==
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2022}}
[[File:Ishihara Mishima.jpg|thumb|Shintaro Ishihara (upper) and [[Yukio Mishima]] (lower) in 1956 at the [[Bungeishunjū]] Building]]
* ''Taiyō no kisetsu'' (太陽の季節), ''[[Season of the Sun]]'', Winner of the [[Akutagawa Prize]],<ref>{{cite web|title= Ishihara Shintarō Biography|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ishihara-Shintaro#ref1078279|website=Britannica|quote=While still in school, he published his first novel, Taiyō no kisetsu ("Season of the Sun"), to great acclaim, winning the Akutagawa Prize in 1956, the year he graduated.}}</ref> 1956
* ''Kurutta kajitsu'' (狂った果実), ''[[Crazed Fruit]]'', 1956
* ''Kanzen Na Yuugi'' (完全な遊戯), ''The Perfect Game'', 1956
* ''Umi no chizu'' (海の地図), ''Map of the Sea'', 1958
* ''Seinen no ki'' (青年の樹), ''Tree of the Youth'', 1959
* ''Gesshoku'' (月蝕), ''Lunar Eclipse'', 1959
* ''Nanbei ōdan ichi man kiro'' (南米横断1万キロ), ''10 Thousand Kilometers Motoring across South America''
* ''Seishun to wa nanda'' (青春とはなんだ), ''What does Youth Mean?'', 1965
* ''Ōinaru umi e'' (大いなる海へ), ''To the Great Sea'', 1965
* ''Kaeranu umi'' (還らぬ海), ''Unretreating Sea'', 1966
* ''Suparuta kyōiku'' (スパルタ教育), ''[[Sparta]]n education'', 1969
* ''Kaseki no mori'' (化石の森), ''Petrified Forest'', Minister of Education Prize, 1970
* ''Shintarō no seiji chousho'' (慎太郎の政治調書), ''Shintaro's Political Record'', 1970
* ''Shintarō no daini seiji chousho'' (慎太郎の第二政治調書), ''Shintaro's Second Political Record'', 1971
* ''Shin [[Wakan rōeishū]]'' (新和漢朗詠集), ''New [[Wakan rōeishū]] (Collection of Japanese and Chinese poems)'', 1973
* ''Yabanjin no daigaku'' (野蛮人の大学), ''University of Barbarians'', 1977
* ''Boukoku -Nihon no totsuzenshi'' (亡国 -日本の突然死), ''The Ruin of a Nation - Japan's Sudden Death'', 1982
* '' 'Nō' to ieru Nihon '' (「NO」と言える日本), ''[[The Japan That Can Say No]]'' (in collaboration with [[Akio Morita]]), 1989
* ''Soredemo 'Nō' to ieru Nihon. Nichibeikan no konponmondai'' (それでも「NO」と言える日本 —日米間の根本問題—), ''The Japan That Still Can Say No - Principal problem of the Japan–US relations'' (in collaboration with [[Shōichi Watanabe]] and [[Kazuhisa Ogawa]]), 1990
* ''Waga jinsei no toki no toki'' (わが人生の時の時), ''The Sublime Moment of my Life'', 1990
* ''Danko 'No' to ieru Nihon'' (断固「NO」と言える日本), ''The Japan That Can Strongly Say No'' (in collaboration with [[Jun Etō]]), 1991
* ''Mishima Yukio no nisshoku'' (三島由紀夫の日蝕), ''The Eclipse of [[Yukio Mishima]]'', 1991
* '' 'No' to ieru Asia'' (「NO」と言えるアジア)，''The Asia That Can Say NO'' (in collaboration with [[Mahathir Mohamad]]), 1994
* ''Kaze ni tsuite no kioku'' (風についての記憶), ''My Memory about the Wind'', 1994
* ''Otōto'' (弟), ''Younger brother'', [[Mainichi Publishing Culture Award]] Special Award,<ref>{{cite web|title= Ishihara Shintaro Author Introduction|url=https://www.jlpp.go.jp/jp/works/author01_02.html|website=JLPP}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= 石原慎太郎の絶筆「死への道程」余命宣告を受けて『文藝春秋』に最後の投稿 4月号にて一挙掲載|url=https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000158.000043732.html|website=PRTimes Japan|date=9 March 2022 |language=Japanese}}</ref> 1996
* '' 'Chichi' nakushite kuni tatazu '' ("父"なくして国立たず), ''No Country can Stand without "Father"'', 1997
* ''Sensen fukoku 'Nō' to ieru Nihon keizai -Amerika no kin'yū dorei kara no kaihō-'' (宣戦布告「NO」と言える日本経済 —アメリカの金融奴隷からの解放—), ''Declaration of War, Economy of Japan That Can Say No - Liberation from America's financial slavery'', 1998
* ''Hokekyō o ikiru''(法華経を生きる), ''To Live the [[Lotus Sutra]]'', 1998
* ''Seisan'' (聖餐), ''Eucharist'', 1999
* ''Kokka naru gen'ei'' (国家なる幻影), ''An Illusion called Nation'', 1999
* ''Amerika shinkō wo suteyo 2001 nen kara no nihon senryaku'' (「アメリカ信仰」を捨てよ —2001年からの日本戦略), ''Stop worshipping America - Japan strategy from 2001'', 2000
* ''Boku wa kekkon shinai'' (僕は結婚しない), ''I Won't Marry'', 2001
* ''Ima 'Tamashii' no kyōiku'' (いま「魂」の教育), ''Now, 'Spirit' Education'', 2001
* ''Ei'en nare, nihon -moto sōri to tochiji no katariai'' (永遠なれ、日本 -元総理と都知事の語り合い), ''Japan Forever – A Talk between Ex-Premier and Tokyo governor'' (in collaboration with [[Yasuhiro Nakasone]]), 2001
* ''Oite koso jinsei'' (老いてこそ人生), ''To get Old is the Life'', 2002
* ''Hi no shima'' (火の島), ''Island of Fire'', 2008
* ''Watashi no suki na nihonjin'' (私の好きな日本人), ''My Favorite Japanese People'', 2008
* ''Saisei''(再生), ''Recovery'', 2010
* ''Shin Darakuron -Gayoku to tenbatsu'' (新・堕落論-我欲と天罰),''New "On Decadance" - Greed and Divine Punishment'', 2011

===Translation work===
* [[Robert Ringer]]: ''Winning Through Intimidation'', 1978

===Translations in English===
* ''[[The Japan That Can Say No]]'' (in collaboration with [[Akio Morita]]), Simon & Schuster, 1991, {{ISBN|0-671-72686-2}}. Touchstone Books, 1992, {{ISBN|0-671-75853-5}}. Cassette version {{ISBN|0-671-73571-3}}. Disk version, 1993, {{ISBN|1-882690-23-0}}.

== Film career ==
He acted in six films, including ''[[Crazed Fruit]]'' (1956) and ''[[The Hole (1957 film)|The Hole]]'' (1957), and co-directed the 1962 film ''[[Love at Twenty]]'' (with [[François Truffaut]], [[Marcel Ophüls]], [[Renzo Rossellini (producer)|Renzo Rossellini]] and [[Andrzej Wajda]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/person/p0225970.htm|title=Ishihara Shintarō|publisher=[[Japanese Movie Database]]|access-date=13 May 2009|language=ja}}</ref> He wrote the story for films such as ''[[Pale Flower]]'' (1964).

== Allusions in film ==
Ishihara served as a model for the character of Shinsaburô Ishiyama, a fictional Japanese Minister of Defence invariably replying No! to all foreign requests, in the 2006 satiric comedy ''[[Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu]].''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=V. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Axt_DAAAQBAJ&dq=Nihon+Igai+Zenbu+Chinbotsu&pg=PA152 |title=East Asian Cinemas: Regional Flows and Global Transformations |date=2011-04-12 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-30718-6 |language=en}}</ref>

== Honours ==
* [[Akutagawa Prize]] (1956)
* [[File:JPN Kyokujitsu-sho 1Class BAR.svg|55px|ribbon bar]] Grand Cordon of the [[Order of the Rising Sun]] (2015) <ref>{{cite web|title=Former Tokyo Governor and Writer Shintaro Ishihara Dies of Pancreatic Cancer at 89|url=https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2022020100697/|website=Nippon.com|date=February 2022|quote=Ishihara was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun in 2015.|access-date=27 November 2022|archive-date=27 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127025631/https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2022020100697/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Shintaro Ishihara, hawkish former governor of Tokyo and writer, dies of pancreatic cancer at 89|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Obituaries/Shintaro-Ishihara-hawkish-former-governor-of-Tokyo-dies-at-89|website=Asia Nikkei|quote=He was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, a Japanese order, in 2015.|access-date=27 November 2022|archive-date=29 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129115337/https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Obituaries/Shintaro-Ishihara-hawkish-former-governor-of-Tokyo-dies-at-89|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|Tokyo|Politics|Conservatism}}
* [[Racism in Japan]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* [http://www.sensenfukoku.net/ Sensen Fukoku (Declaration of War) – Ishihara's official website (in Japanese)]
* {{IMDb name|0410982|Shintarô Ishihara}}
* Fackler, Martin, [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/world/asia/shintaro-ishihara-right-wing-japanese-politician-makes-gains.html?hp "A Fringe Politician Moves to Japan's National Stage"], New York ''Times'', 9 December 2012. "Shintaro Ishihara, a novelist turned political firebrand, promises to restore Japan's battered national pride."
* [http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/authors/item/939-shintaro-ishihara J'Lit | Authors : Shintaro Ishihara | Books from Japan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812094325/http://www.booksfromjapan.jp/authors/item/939-shintaro-ishihara |date=12 August 2016 }}

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{{s-ttl|title=Oldest member of the [[House of Representatives of Japan]]|years=2012–2014}}
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{{Governors of Tokyo}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ishihara, Shintaro}}
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