China outraged as Japan calls for nuclear arms

A TROUBLING insight into ultra-conservative thinking at the top of Japan’s armed forces has emerged after the dismissal of Toshio Tamogami, the chief of the air staff.

He has become a hero to right-wing groups since being sacked last year for writing an article that said imperial Japan was not an aggressor in the second world war. His popularity has caused outrage in China and it could provide an early diplomatic headache for the opposition Democratic Party of Japan if, as expected, it wins the general election on August 30.

A book outlining his philosophy has sold 100,000 copies since March and 20,000 copies of a second book calling for Japan to develop an atomic bomb were printed earlier this month. Tamogami, 61, is giving 20 speeches a month on conspiracy theories and anti-western themes of Japanese victimhood. More