ID :
29059
Sat, 11/08/2008 - 14:21
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/29059
The shortlink copeid
New Japan air force chief Hokazono vows to follow gov't policies+
TOKYO, Nov. 7 Kyodo - New Japanese Air Self-Defense Force chief Gen. Kenichiro Hokazono pledged Friday to follow the policies of the government including its stance on World War II, taking a hard look at the release by his predecessor Toshio Tamogami of an essay denying Japan's wartime aggression.
Hokazono apologized for Tamogami's making public his opinion which contradicted
the government position and said he will do his utmost to restore deteriorating
public confidence in the ASDF, as he held his first press conference after
being appointed to the post earlier Friday.
''First of all, we must be fully aware that it is fundamental that we should
embody and implement policies, views and positions in a serious and honest
manner as the leaders of an armed organization,'' the 57-year-old said.
''The action taken by former ASDF chief Tamogami was a problem from the
viewpoint of civilian control,'' he said.
Hokazono said Tamogami took ''inappropriate'' action in releasing an opinion
different from the position of successive governments and damaged people's
confidence in the ASDF.
Hokazono, who became the ASDF chief of staff after serving as head of the
Defense Ministry's Defense Intelligence Headquarters, also said his view on
Japan's aggression in other Asian countries before and during World War II is
''the same as that of the government.''
Successive Japanese governments follow a 1995 statement by then Prime Minister
Tomiichi Murayama stating that Japan inflicted tremendous damage and suffering
on Asian and other countries ''through its colonial rule and aggression.''
Tamogami, 60, was removed from the post of ASDF chief on Oct. 31 after writing
an essay justifying Japan's wartime military policy. His essay won the top
prize in a competition organized by hotel and condominium developer Apa Group,
whose head is a friend of Tamogami's.
Tamogami in the essay also challenged the restrictions on the use of arms by
the Self-Defense Forces overseas and the use of the nation's right for
collective self-defense under the U.S.-drafted pacifist Constitution.
Hokazono was promoted to general from lieutenant general after his appointment
as ASDF chief of staff was endorsed by Prime Minister Taro Aso's Cabinet on
Friday.
Hokazono has served in such key posts as commandant of the Joint Staff College
and the ASDF's Central Air Defense Force after joining the ASDF in 1974.
Meanwhile, Hokazono said that fact-finding in the ASDF showed that the total
number of ASDF personnel who authored essays for the competition rose by 16
from the initially reported number to 94.
The large number of applicants from the ASDF to the competition to which 235
people wrote essays has fueled suspicion that Tamogami may have led an
organized submission.
Of the 94, 63 are attached to the ASDF Komatsu base in Ishikawa Prefecture
where Tamogami served as a commander from 1998 to 1999. Apa Group has a major
office in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa and its head Toshio Motoya leads
a support organization for the Komatsu base.
But Hokazono declined to comment in detail about why so many ASDF personnel at
a single base submitted essays to the contest or about the relationship between
Tamogami and Motoya, saying, ''Our fact-finding is still under way.''
==Kyodo
Hokazono apologized for Tamogami's making public his opinion which contradicted
the government position and said he will do his utmost to restore deteriorating
public confidence in the ASDF, as he held his first press conference after
being appointed to the post earlier Friday.
''First of all, we must be fully aware that it is fundamental that we should
embody and implement policies, views and positions in a serious and honest
manner as the leaders of an armed organization,'' the 57-year-old said.
''The action taken by former ASDF chief Tamogami was a problem from the
viewpoint of civilian control,'' he said.
Hokazono said Tamogami took ''inappropriate'' action in releasing an opinion
different from the position of successive governments and damaged people's
confidence in the ASDF.
Hokazono, who became the ASDF chief of staff after serving as head of the
Defense Ministry's Defense Intelligence Headquarters, also said his view on
Japan's aggression in other Asian countries before and during World War II is
''the same as that of the government.''
Successive Japanese governments follow a 1995 statement by then Prime Minister
Tomiichi Murayama stating that Japan inflicted tremendous damage and suffering
on Asian and other countries ''through its colonial rule and aggression.''
Tamogami, 60, was removed from the post of ASDF chief on Oct. 31 after writing
an essay justifying Japan's wartime military policy. His essay won the top
prize in a competition organized by hotel and condominium developer Apa Group,
whose head is a friend of Tamogami's.
Tamogami in the essay also challenged the restrictions on the use of arms by
the Self-Defense Forces overseas and the use of the nation's right for
collective self-defense under the U.S.-drafted pacifist Constitution.
Hokazono was promoted to general from lieutenant general after his appointment
as ASDF chief of staff was endorsed by Prime Minister Taro Aso's Cabinet on
Friday.
Hokazono has served in such key posts as commandant of the Joint Staff College
and the ASDF's Central Air Defense Force after joining the ASDF in 1974.
Meanwhile, Hokazono said that fact-finding in the ASDF showed that the total
number of ASDF personnel who authored essays for the competition rose by 16
from the initially reported number to 94.
The large number of applicants from the ASDF to the competition to which 235
people wrote essays has fueled suspicion that Tamogami may have led an
organized submission.
Of the 94, 63 are attached to the ASDF Komatsu base in Ishikawa Prefecture
where Tamogami served as a commander from 1998 to 1999. Apa Group has a major
office in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa and its head Toshio Motoya leads
a support organization for the Komatsu base.
But Hokazono declined to comment in detail about why so many ASDF personnel at
a single base submitted essays to the contest or about the relationship between
Tamogami and Motoya, saying, ''Our fact-finding is still under way.''
==Kyodo
