(Bloomberg) -- Shintaro Ishihara, a Japanese writer-turned-politician known for his nationalistic views who triggered a stand-off with China over disputed islands, has died. He was 89.
Japan's top government spokesman, Hirokazu Matsuno, confirmed Ishihara's death at a news briefing Tuesday and offered condolences.
Ishihara parlayed his youthful popularity as a best-selling author into a career in politics, where he often pushed a hawkish line. As Tokyo governor, his unexpected attempt in 2012 to buy three islands claimed by China in the East China Sea from a private Japanese owner forced the national government to purchase them, triggering the worst crisis in bilateral ties in 40 years.
He shot to fame in 1955 with “Season of the Sun,” a debut novel he wrote as a university student that inspired a rebellious, disaffected postwar youth culture. He earned fresh notoriety with his 1989 book “The Japan That Can Say No,” co-written with then-chairman of Sony Corp Akio Morita, in which he argued that Japan should be more assertive with the U.S.
Noda Says Failure to Buy Islands Could Have Meant China Conflict
“He was a loose cannon and accomplished his agenda. Very effective but counterproductive,” said Jeff Kingston, professor of Asian Studies at Temple University's Japan campus. “He struck an incendiary stance toward China, taking every possible chance to make disparaging remarks. His role in sparking the Senkaku imbroglio has had an enormous and negative impact on bilateral relations,” he said referring to the Japanese name for the islands.
Ishihara was born in 1932 in the city of Kobe in western Japan, and graduated from high school in Shonan, near Tokyo, before attending Hitotsubashi University.
“Season of the Sun” won Ishihara the Akutagawa Prize, Japan's most prestigious literary award and was made into a movie featuring his brother Yujiro, who became one of the nation's most popular actors.
He also covered the Vietnam War as a reporter, raced yachts and toured South America by motorcycle.
Ishihara turned to politics and won a seat in parliament's upper house in 1968, switching to the more powerful lower house in 1972 and rising to become transport minister before leaving parliament in 1995.
He was elected as Tokyo governor in 1999, a position from which he declared the city would bid for the Summer Olympics, and established ShinGinko Tokyo Ltd., a bank for lending to small companies that later failed. He ordered a cull of crows and worked to improve air quality in the capital.
In a 2011 interview, Ishihara said Japan should possess nuclear weapons. He also said the earthquake and tsunami that year that left about 20,000 people dead or missing was “divine punishment” for the “egoism” of Japanese society -- remarks over which he later expressed regret.
In 2012, he tried to buy three of a group of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, known as the Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, and proposed building on them. Then-prime minister Yoshihiko Noda had the national government buy the islands, later saying he was forced to do so because allowing Ishihara's plans to go ahead could have sparked a conflict with China.
Japan to Buy Islands at Center of China Sovereignty Dispute
The purchase sparked violent demonstrations in China and damaged trade and tourism ties. While tensions later eased, ships and planes from both countries continued to tail one another around the area.
Ishihara stepped down as governor after his bid to buy the islands failed, returning briefly to the national parliament before losing his seat in December 2014 elections. He kept up his combative stance to the end.
“To live a free and broad-minded life, you need to destroy the communist party dictatorship,” he urged young Chinese people in a press conference after he left parliament. “I'm sure it won't be long until I die. Until then I want to say and do what I want and die being hated by people.”
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