Shinzo Abe surrounds himself with Nazi sympathizers.

[AgentOrange]

How embarrassing. But is anyone really surprised? Maybe they can visit Auschwitz together and honor the camp guards after they visit the war criminals at Yasakuni.

Neo-Nazi photos pose headache for Shinzo Abe | World news | The Guardian

Neo-Nazi photos pose headache for Shinzo Abe

Two newly promoted political allies of Japanese PM shown smiling alongside far-right figure Kazunari Yamada

Justin McCurry in Tokyo
The Guardian, Tuesday 9 September 2014 00.18 EDT
Jump to comments (150)

Pictures from Japanese neo-Nazi Kazunari Yamada’s website show him posing with Shinzo Abe’s internal affairs minister, Sanae Takaichi, and his party’s policy chief, Tomomi Inada. Photograph: Guardian

Barely a week after Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, overhauled his administration amid flagging popularity, two of his senior colleagues have been forced to distance themselves from rightwing extremism after photographs emerged of them posing with the country’s leading neo-Nazi.

Sanae Takaichi, the internal affairs minister, was among a record-equalling five women selected by Abe as he attempts to make his cabinet more female voter-friendly and to increase women’s presence in the workplace.

Takaichi, an Abe ally on the right of the governing Liberal Democratic party (LDP), was pictured posing alongside Kazunari Yamada, the 52-year-old leader of the National Socialist Japanese Workers party, on the neo-Nazi party’s website.

A smiling Takaichi and Yamada appear together standing in front of a Japanese flag.

Yamada has voiced praise for Adolf Hitler and the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre. In a YouTube video Yamada’s supporters are seen wearing swastika armbands, while he denies the Holocaust took place and criticises postwar Germany’s ban on the Nazi salute, accusing the country of being “no different from North Korea”.

Takaichi met Yamada “for talks” at her office in the summer of 2011, according to her office. Confirming the photographs were genuine, a spokesman for Takaichi claimed her office had been unaware of Yamada’s extremist views at the time.

 

[Aepsilons]

The Minister is not a Nazi sympathizer, its just unfortunate that Yamada went there as a photographer. At the time, it was not know that he even had any links to any supremacist groups. Anyways, I don't think it is fair for all news media to take things out of proportion , and twist things to suit an agenda.

 

[Beidou2020]

The right wing in Japan are very much pro-Nazis. They believe in Nazi ideology.

 

[C130]

seems edgy to me.

 

[Aepsilons]

These guys hate Abe. Why? Because Abe Sensei is pro global participation and welcome foreigners into Japan.

 

[AgentOrange]

The Minister is not a Nazi sympathizer, its just unfortunate that Yamada went there as a photographer. At the time, it was not know that he even had any links to any supremacist groups. Anyways, I don't think it is fair for all news media to take things out of proportion , and twist things to suit an agenda.

Edit: On further research, I doubt this is a coincidence.

The Minister is not a Nazi sympathizer, its just unfortunate that Yamada went there as a photographer. At the time, it was not know that he even had any links to any supremacist groups. Anyways, I don't think it is fair for all news media to take things out of proportion , and twist things to suit an agenda.

The Minister is a historical revisionist and a fascist. She's the Japanese version of a Holocaust denier. You'll very typically try to deny that of course but Japanese two-faced disingenuousness doesn't fly outside of Japan. She wasn't "misrepresented or taken out context" (the standard cowardly Japanese response to idiotic comments/behavior) when one takes into account her past history of Japanese war crime denial. China and South Korea know what Abe is about and what Abe supporters like her are about.

If you don't want things to be taken out of proportion then maybe your leaders shouldn't take photos with Nazis?

seems edgy to me.

I dare you to walk into your local synagogue and tell them Neo-Nazis seem edgy to you. But you would never say something like that to another person, face to face. And we all know why.

 

[Aepsilons]

It was a random picture taking , which most politicians do with citizens. Don't take things out of context , and from the body of your post, you already have a vehement anti-Japanese agenda. So , thus you feel the need to post such trite news.

 

[AgentOrange]

It was a random picture taking , which most politicians do with citizens. Don't take things out of context , and from the body of your post, you already have a vehement anti-Japanese agenda. So , thus you feel the need to post such trite news.

Refute what I said. But you can't of course. Best to ignore or pretend it never happened and play the part of the victim. That's certainly what many Japanese are good at given the amount of sanctimonious wailing and "why us! what did we possibly do to deserve this?" on display at every Hiroshima/Nagasaki nuke day.

 

[Aepsilons]

Japan PM's new picks deny neo-Nazi links

Tokyo (AFP) - Two newly-promoted Japanese politicians moved Monday to distance themselves from allegations of extremism after pictures emerged of them posing alongside the leader of a domestic neo-Nazi party.


Minister Sanae Takaichi and party policy chief Tomomi Inada are seen in separate photographs next to Kazunari Yamada on the home page of the National Socialist Japanese Workers Party.

The pictures will add fuel to claims that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is increasingly surrounding himself with people on the right of Japanese politics.

Yamada's blog postings indicate admiration for Adolf Hitler and praise for the 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre.

In video footage posted on the website, Yamada is seen wearing a stylised swastika during street demonstrations.

Captions for the photographs claim they were taken "sometime in June or July 2011 when (Yamada) visited the conservative lawmakers for talks".

Spokesmen for both senior lawmakers acknowledged Monday that the photographs were genuine and had been taken in their offices over the last few years, but denied there was any political affiliation.

"He was an assistant for an interviewer, and was taking notes and photos," a member of staff at Takaichi's office told AFP, referring to Yamada.

"We had no idea who he was back then, but he requested a snap shot with her. (The minister) wouldn't refuse such requests."

Following media enquiries, the office has asked that the pictures be removed, he said.

"It was careless of us," he said, adding that Takaichi did not share Yamada's view "at all... it is a nuisance".

A staffer at Inada's office said the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) policy chief did not subscribe to Nazi ideology.

"It is disappointing if there are people who would misunderstand that she does," he said.




Japan PM's new picks deny neo-Nazi links - Yahoo News

 

[AgentOrange]

Rather tepid response. No categorical refutation of what Nazis stand for. And certainly no categorical refutation of what WW2 Imperial Japanese Nazis stand for. She sounds more upset that someone noticed and she was caught. But of course, she was "misunderstood." Standard Japanese two-faced behavior at work. Oh those Nazis...such a "nuisance" they were when they and their Japanese friends murdered tens of millions of people.

 

[Aepsilons]

It is an official repudiation of false accusations of her links to any such fringe groups. The Minister is not a member of any neo Nazi groups, nor has any official links. The denial of this official policy is yours, which does not change policy.


Domo Arigadou Gozaimasu,