Nuclear policy He is known for his opposition to the restarting of local nuclear reactors after the
Fukushima nuclear disaster. According to The
New York Times, this led him to become Japan's best-liked politician in polls during early 2012. Hashimoto and several other leaders eventually agreed to a limited restart of the
Ōi Nuclear Power Plant in 2012. Before he became governor of Osaka in 2008 he had argued on several television programs that
Japan should possess nuclear weapons, but has since said that this was his private opinion.
Foreign policy Hashimoto is a supporter of the
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and has refused to support
Ichiro Ozawa's
People's Life First party over the issue.
Views on territorial disputes In September 2012 Hashimoto suggested that Japan and South Korea jointly manage the
Liancourt Rocks, known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea. He suggested the same for the
Senkaku Islands, stated that while the disputed Islands do belong to Japan, that "sovereignty and utilization are different matters." The views drew considerable criticism from within his own party, as well as from outside commentators.
Nationalist positions After taking office in 2008, Hashimoto clashed with teachers' unions and other officials over
"Kimigayo", the Japanese national anthem. In May 2012, he pushed to create an ordinance that would force teachers to stand for the anthem during school ceremonies. His party also proposed a national
referendum on
Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan.
Views on US bases in Japan In 2009, amid controversy throughout Japan over the relocation of
Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Hashimoto publicly proposed moving the functions of the base to Osaka's
Kansai International Airport (which is on an
artificial island). He remarked that "the burden [of bases on Okinawa] should be spread more evenly throughout Japan." Some in the Kansai business community supported this, but the US described such a move as being unfeasible for logistical reasons. He supports the plan to relocate Futenma to Henoko in Okinawa, and has also called for the people of Okinawa to accept the deployment of
Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft despite much local opposition.
Comfort women issues In August 2012, Hashimoto claimed that there is no evidence that the Japanese military used force or threats to recruit the South Korean
comfort women who served as sex workers for the military during World War II because his grandmother and mother was also a part of it . In May 2013, while seemingly conceding that the comfort women served soldiers "against their will", Hashimoto further claimed that they were "necessary" so that Japanese soldiers could get some "rest" during World War II. On 13 May 2013, Hashimoto told a senior US forces official in Okinawa "We can't control the sexual energy of these brave marines", and suggested that United States soldiers should make more use of the
local adult entertainment industry on the assumption that this would reduce the incidence of
sexual crimes against local women. Then Hashimoto argued for the necessity of former Japanese comfort women and
those of other countries at a press conference. Hashimoto apologized for these remarks. Several leading Japanese politicians, including
Banri Kaieda, president of the
Democratic Party of Japan, criticized these comments. Kaieda specifically remarked that "The comfort women system was not necessary."
Views on elections and political parties In March 2012,
Sadakazu Tanigaki, the then-leader of the main opposition
Liberal Democratic Party said that "Saying, like Hashimoto does, that political parties are bad led to militarism in Japan in the 1930s.
Adolf Hitler and
Benito Mussolini also emerged in this kind of atmosphere." In April 2012,
Yomiuri Group Chairman
Tsuneo Watanabe wrote that Hashimoto's declaration that elections are a form of wiping the slate clean reminded him of the tactics Hitler used to come to power.
Asahi Shimbun There is a history of conflict between Hashimoto and the
Asahi Shimbun, one of the largest newspapers in Japan. After the paper criticized a statement he had made regarding a court case in an editorial in 2008, Hashimoto responded saying: "We'd be better off without the
Asahi Shimbun. It's just a foolish talk-shop institution. I hope it goes out of business soon." The article also compared Hashimoto to
Adolf Hitler and hinted that Hashimoto's policies were influenced by his father's background. Subsequently, Hashimoto refused to speak to journalists from
Shukan Asahi and the
Asahi Shimbun. On 18 October, the Asahi group apologized, stating that the magazine article contained "inappropriate descriptions". A third-party Press and Human Rights Committee set up by the Asahi Shimbun Company concluded that '"a story on Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto in
Shukan Asahi Weekly Magazine has reinforced discrimination" and "The story, including its headline, is based on the wrong idea of denying Hashimoto's integrity as a human being on the basis of his origin. It has lost sight of independent human dignity." The President of Asahi Shimbun Publications, Hideo Kotoku, resigned, and the company demoted the editor in chief of
Shukan Asahi and a deputy editor in charge of the series, and suspended them from work for three months.
Infrastructure Hashimoto favored closing
Itami Airport and making
Kansai International Airport the sole air hub for the region. He proposed turning the Itami site into an "International Campus Freedom City" for foreign students and academics. Hashimoto also favored selling Osaka Prefecture's 49 percent stake in
Osaka Prefectural Urban Development, the operator of the
Semboku Rapid Railway, and his party reached a deal to sell this stake to
Lone Star Funds in 2013, but four of Hashimoto's party members in the prefectural assembly rebelled over approving the sale, leading to the defeat of the measure. == References ==