ISHIHARA SHINTARO

   Ishihara Shintaro is a novelist, politician, and three-term governor of Tokyo. He was born in Kobe and graduated from Hitotsubashi University. He made his debut as an author before graduating from college with his novel Taiyo no kisetsu (1955; tr. Season of Violence, 1966), which won the Akutagawa Ryunosuke Prize and was later adapted into a film in which Ishihara appeared. Ishihara served as a member of the House of Councilors from 1968 to 1972 and as a member of the House of Representatives from 1972 to 1995. In 1999, he was elected governor of Tokyo. He has published over 25 books in his lifetime and continues to be a controversial political figure in Japan, largely for his nationalism.

   See also MISHIMA YUKIO.