Takami Eto
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Takami Eto | |
|---|---|
江藤 隆美 | |
 Takami Eto | |
| Director-General of the Management and Coordination Agency | |
| In office 8 August 1995 – 13 November 1995 | |
| Prime Minister | Tomiichi Murayama |
| Preceded by | Tsuruo Yamaguchi |
| Succeeded by | Masaaki Nakayama |
| Minister of Transport | |
| In office 10 August 1989 – 28 February 1990 | |
| Prime Minister | Toshiki Kaifu |
| Preceded by | Shinjirō Yamamura |
| Succeeded by | Akira Ōno |
| Minister of Construction | |
| In office 28 December 1985 – 22 July 1986 | |
| Prime Minister | Yasuhiro Nakasone |
| Preceded by | Yoshiaki Kibe |
| Succeeded by | Kōsei Amano |
| Member of the House of Representatives | |
| In office 19 July 1993 – 10 October 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Toshihisa Matsuura |
| Succeeded by | Taku Etō |
| Constituency | Miyazaki 1st (1993–1996) Miyazaki 2nd (1996–2003) |
| In office 28 December 1969 – 24 January 1990 | |
| Preceded by | Yoshimitsu Kawano |
| Succeeded by | Toshihisa Matsuura |
| Constituency | Miyazaki 1st |
| Member of the Miyazaki Prefectural Assembly | |
| In office 1955–1967 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 April 1925 |
| Died | 22 November 2007 (aged 82) |
| Party | Liberal Democratic |
| Children | Taku Etō |
Takami Eto (江藤 隆美, Etō Takami; 10 April 1925 – 22 November 2007) was a Japanese politician and former member of Japan's House of Representatives.
Born in Hyūga, Miyazaki, Takami Eto studied at the Tomitaka business school (now Kadokawa High School), and graduated the Miyazaki Agriculture and Forestry College (now University of Miyazaki). After graduation, he ran for the Miyazaki prefecture assembly, and was elected three terms.
A conservative politician, Takami Etō joined in 1973 the political club Seirankai (青嵐会 - 'Mountain wind') founded by Shintaro Ishihara, one of Japan's most prominent "far right" politicians.[1] He was called "Japan's Le Pen" on a program broadcast on Australia's ABC.[2]
Eto was once considered a major power broker in Japan's Liberal Democratic Party.[3]
Eto served as the Japanese construction minister during the early 1990s, but resigned from the Management and Coordination Agency in 1995 following controversial comments regarding Japan's treatment of occupied countries during World War II.[3]
Etō retired from politics in 2003.[3]
Takami Etō was found dead in his hotel in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on November 22, 2007.[3] He was 82 years old when he died and had been in Vietnam on a private agriculturally related visit.[3] Japan's Kyodo News reported that Etō had died of an apparent heart attack.[3]
Historical negationism
Etō was known for his negationist views, and his denial of Japanese war crimes. He resigned from his post as minister in 1995 following comments in which he stated that Japan "did some good things" when it governed Korea, including building railroads, roads and schools.[3] Etō's comments threatened to cancel an important summit between South Korea's then President Kim Young-sam, whose government objected to Etō's comments, and then Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, a socialist who led Japan's coalition government, before Etō's resignation.[3]
Additionally, Etō defended the 1910 Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty which gave Japan control over Korea.[3] He stated in a speech, "Why was the country-to-country treaty called an invasion?...What's the difference between that and a merger of a town and a village?"[3] Etō also actively lobbied against school textbooks which mentioned so-called "comfort women" Comfort women were women from across Asia, including Koreans, whom Japanese troops forced into sexual slavery during World War II.[3]
Etō also denied the existence of the Nanjing Massacre, which he considered to be a hoax.[4]
