Motoshima Hitoshi

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Motoshima Hitoshi (r.) And Araki Takeshi (center) meet the Mayor of East Berlin Erhard Krack (l.)

Motoshima Hitoshi ( Japanese. 本 島 等 ; born February 20, 1922 in Shinkamigotō , Nagasaki Prefecture ; † October 31, 2014 ) was a Japanese politician and Mayor of Nagasaki from May 2, 1979 to May 1, 1995 .

Life

Motoshima was born in 1922 in Shinkamigotō, a town in Minamimatsura County , in a family of "secret Christians" ( Kakure Kirishitan ). During the Second World War he was suspected of espionage because of his Christianity.

Motoshima studied at Kyōto University , but did not graduate until the age of 27. He then worked as a teacher before moving into politics. After serving in the Nagasaki Prefecture Parliament for 20 years, he was elected mayor of Nagasaki City in 1979. During his tenure as mayor, Motoshima was chairman of the Association of the Liberal Democratic Party in Nagasaki Prefecture. However, he had to resign from this post in 1988 after critical statements about the role of the emperor in World War II: 「天皇 に 戦 争 責任 が あ る と 思 う。」 (German: “I am convinced that the emperor was to blame for the war. "). These statements brought him hostility: In 1990 a member of the right-wing Seiki-juku ( 正氣 塾 ) group finally carried out an assassination attempt, but Motoshima survived.

In the mayoral elections in 1991 he was supported by the Communist Party , which did not put up its own candidate for election. After his fourth term as mayor, he lost the 1995 election to his party rival Itchō Itō . Motoshima then withdrew from politics.

In 1998 Motoshima hit the headlines again when it justified the dropping of the atomic bombs at the end of World War II.

As of February 2007, Motoshima was diagnosed with cancer.

In July 2008, he inaugurated the monument to 33 Chinese forced laborers who were killed in the atomic bombing in Nagasaki.

Books

  • 長崎 市長 の こ と ば ( Nagsaki shichō no kotoba. ) Iwanami Shoten, Tokyo 1989, ISBN 4-00-003086-8 .
  • Yurusu kokoro, yurusanu kokoro: Wakai sedai to kataru heiwa, genbaku, ima, mirai. Hatsubaimoto Kiri Shobō, Tokyo 1992, ISBN 4-87647-177-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Former Nagasaki mayor Hitoshi Motoshima dies aged 92
  2. ^ Tiziano Terzani, Dieter Wild: Japan - Developing Country in Democracy . In: Der Spiegel . No. 6 , 1989, pp. 138-141 ( online ).
  3. ↑ youtube
  4. ↑ Chikako Yamamoto: Brisk jerk to the right . In: Die Zeit , No. 9/2007, p. 9
  5. ↑ Chinese A-bomb victims honored . In: The Japan Times Online
Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Motoshima is the family name, Hitoshi the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Motoshima, Hitoshi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 本 島 等 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese local politician, mayor of Nagasaki (1979–1995)
DATE OF BIRTH February 20, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Shinkamigotō , Nagasaki Prefecture
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 2014