Tamogami's A-bomb speech plan slammed

A plan by former Air Self-Defense Force chief Toshio Tamogami to deliver a speech in Hiroshima on the day it remembers the U.S. atomic bombing in 1945 is an "act full of malice" being conducted in the name of freedom of speech, a former Japanese diplomat has written.

Toshio Tamogami

Tamogami was sacked last year when it was learned he had written a prizewinning essay justifying Japan's militarist past and colonialism.

In a recent essay, Naoto Amaki, a former ambassador to Lebanon, wrote: "It's not too late yet. The government, intellectuals, citizens, supporters of the Constitution, proper rightists who love the country, everybody should join hands by going beyond their positions to postpone Mr. Tamogami's speech in Hiroshima planned on Aug. 6 for the sake of Japan."

Tamogami has said he will give a speech titled "Casting doubt on the peace of Hiroshima" on the day the atomic bomb was dropped on the city 64 years ago, at a venue close to Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park, where the annual memorial ceremony is held.

"Forcing his way to speak flatly against the ceremony on the same day and at the same site is an act full of malice in the name of freedom of speech," said Amaki, who left the Foreign Ministry after being pressured to quit for opposing the Iraq war.

Referring to a proposal by Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba that Tamogami change the date of his speech, Amaki said, "It is natural (for the city) to ask him to change the date of his speech at least. They are not asking him to cancel the event indefinitely."

In a letter dated June 29, the Hiroshima mayor told the organization hosting Tamogami's event, "Giving the speech on Aug. 6 could increase the sorrows of atomic-bomb survivors and bereaved families even more as they are going to console the souls of those who were killed by the bombing from early morning."

But Japan Conference Hiroshima, the group that hosts the event, announced that it will not postpone the speech in an ad carried by a local newspaper on July 27.

"I am infuriated by their moves and can't help worrying about the future of this country," said Amaki, stressing the importance of Aug. 6, when Japanese citizens make their annual appeal against nuclear weapons via the memorial service. Japan is the only country to have been attacked with nuclear weapons.

Amaki was also critical of the government, media and citizens for not restraining Tamogami by raising a voice of protest against his words and actions.

"It was we who allowed Mr. Tamogami to run this wild," Amaki said.

Tamogami was removed as ASDF chief of staff in late October 2008 after an essay he wrote was made public. In it, he argued that Japan was a benevolent colonial ruler and not the aggressor before and during World War II, a stance the government rejected.

Earlier in April last year, Tamogami also mocked a ruling by the Nagoya High Court that the ASDF mission in Iraq was unconstitutional, borrowing a popular comedian's signature phrase "Sonna no kankei nee" ("That doesn't matter") at a press conference while he was the ASDF chief.