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was a Japanese diplomatic critic known for promoting
historical revisionism
In historiography, historical revisionism is the reinterpretation of a historical account. It usually involves challenging the orthodox (established, accepted or traditional) views held by professional scholars about a historical event or times ...
. His father,
Toshikazu Kase, was a diplomat under
Shigenori Tōgō
(10 December 1882 – 23 July 1950), was Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Empire of Japan at both the start and the end of the Axis–Allied conflict during World War II. He also served as Minister of Colonial Affairs in 1941, and assume ...
who negotiated an end to the Pacific war.
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
is his cousin.
Revisionist organizations
Kase was the Chairman of Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact, a right-wing organization promoting historical revisionism. In an interview with
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
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
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
for the
Sankei Shinbun
The (short for ) is a daily newspaper in Japan published by the It has the seventh-highest circulation for regional newspapers in Japan. Among Japanese newspapers, the circulation is second only to ''Yomiuri Shimbun'', Seikyo Shimbun, ''Asah ...
newspaper 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 Shrine
A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion.
Overview
Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings.
The ''honden''Also called (本殿, meanin ...
s, and one of them was
Yasukuni Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, 1894–1895 and 1937–1945 resp ...
. Kase and Ono were in the family of
Yasuda zaibatsu, and
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
was seen as a nuisance in this prestigious financial clan, but Hideaki Kase got along with
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
.
Also a member of
, Kase said about that openly
revisionist lobby: "We are dedicated to our conservative cause. We are
monarchists
Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...
. We are for revising the
constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these pr ...
. We are for the glory of the nation".
Revisionist films
Hideaki Kase had a history of promoting controversial films that contest
Japanese war crimes
The Empire of Japan committed war crimes in many Asian-Pacific countries during the period of Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese and Pacific Wars. These incidents have been described as an "Asian Holocaust". Som ...
:
*Kase was the head of the production committee for the Japanese film "''
Merdeka 17805
is a 2001 Japanese war film by Yukio Fuji which depicts a Japanese soldier who arrives in the Dutch East Indies during the occupation and stays to fight in the Indonesian National Revolution. The film emphasised the Empire of Japan's role in I ...
''" (2001), which caused minor outrage in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
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
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for crimes against peace, conv ...
and General
Hideki Tojo
Hideki Tojo (, ', December 30, 1884 – December 23, 1948) was a Japanese politician, general of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and convicted war criminal who served as prime minister of Japan and president of the Imperial Rule Assistan ...
.
*Kase was also among the main advocates of the movie ''
The Truth about Nanjing
is a 2007 film by Japanese nationalist filmmaker Satoru Mizushima about the 1937 Nanjing Massacre (Nanking Massacre).
Background and funding
Mizushima said he received more than 200 million yen (US$1.8 million) in donations from 5,000 of his ...
'' (2007), that negates Japan's responsibility in the
Nanjing massacre
The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the ...
.
Personal life and death
Kase died on 15 November 2022, at the age of 85.
See also
* Kowner, Rotem. "Hidea Kase, the Ultranationalist Figure Who wanted to Make Japan Great Again", online ''Haartz Weekend Brief'', 25 Nov. 2022.
*
Japanese nationalism
is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that the Japanese are a monolithic nation with a single immutable culture, and promotes the cultural unity of the Japanese. Over the last two centuries, it has encompassed a broad range of ideas ...
*
*
Nanking Massacre denial
Nanjing Massacre denial is the denial of the fact that Imperial Japanese forces murdered hundreds of thousands of Chinese soldiers and civilians in the city of Nanjing during the Second Sino-Japanese War, an extremely controversial episode in th ...
*
Historical revisionism (negationism)
Historical negationism, also called denialism, is falsification or distortion of the historical record. It should not be conflated with ''historical revisionism'', a broader term that extends to newly evidenced, fairly reasoned academic reinterp ...
Notes
External links
Official Web Site(In Japanese)
"World View: Hideaki Kase", ''Newsweek'' 24 March 2007.Retrieved 31 March 2007
1936 births
2022 deaths
Nanjing Massacre deniers
Japanese nationalists
Members of Nippon Kaigi
Columbia University alumni
Keio University alumni
Far-right politics in Japan
Takushoku University faculty
Recipients of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
People from Tokyo
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