Ishihara resigns as Tokyo Governor to form new political party
News On Japan via Bloomberg -- Oct 25
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, an advocate of Japan acquiring nuclear weapons and a longtime critic of China, said he will resign and form a new political party ahead of an election that must be called by August.
Ishihara, 80, said at a press conference today in Tokyo that he plans to run for a parliamentary seat in the elections.
Re-elected head of Japan's capital last year for a fourth term, Ishihara has called for rewriting the nation's pacifist constitution and said last year's record earthquake and tsunami was "divine punishment." His proposal in April to buy an island chain also claimed by China forced Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's government to purchase the territory, fanning a dispute that has hurt Asia's two biggest economies.
石原 慎太郎都知事が25日午後3時から都庁で会見を開き、25日をもって辞任することを表明した。
Source: Bloomberg
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