Hideki Tojo

Interview with election candidate who is WW2 leader's granddaughter

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• published: 21 Jul 2015
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AP Television Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo - 5 June 2007 1. Wide tilt-down of Yuko Tojo, the granddaughter of Japanese Military Chief and Prime Minister during World War II Hideki Tojo, walking towards Yasukuni Shrine 2. Mid of Tojo walking 3. Wide of Tojo approaching Yasukuni Shrine 4. Mid of Tojo praying in front of altar 5. Wide of Tojo in front of altar 6. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Yuko Tojo, Granddaughter of Hideki Tojo: "I want make it clear that I am not aiming to recover the right of Tojo as an individual and as a leader. The person called Hideki Tojo was responsible for the nation due to his position. I am not intending to mix my personal life with the public life. I made up my mind to run for the coming election in order to do what (Hideki) Tojo would do as he would be worried about the current Japan situation although what I can do could be a mere one hundredth or one (m) millionth of what he could have wanted to to do." File - Yuko Tojo - ++News Use Only - No Library++ 1941 7. STILL: Black and white photo of Yuko Tojo (in centre of photo) when she was a child, next to her grandfather, Hideki Tojo, dressed in his military uniform AP Television Yasukuni Shrine, Tokyo - 5 June 2007 8. SOUNDBITE: (Japanese) Yuko Tojo, Granddaughter of HIdeki Tojo: "This Yasukuni shrine, where the souls of those who sacrificed their lives for the country, became the political tool. Yet, the Japanese government is not dealing with the situation properly. I sincerely apologise to those enshrined here for that and I prayed that I will make this become a sacred place where they can rest in peace." File - AP Television Yasukuni Shrine. Tokyo - April 2006 9. Various of the Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary and now current Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, visiting Yasukuni Shrine STORYLINE: The granddaughter of wartime Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, who was executed for crimes against humanity, announced last month she will run for a parliamentary seat in July to "restore the honour" of those who gave their lives for Japan. Yuko Tojo will run as an independent from the Tokyo constituency for the legislature's upper house. General Tojo, who was prime minister from 1941 to 1944, unleashed a savage war of aggression on Japan's neighbours and has been widely remembered both at home and abroad as Asia's answer to Adolf Hitler. Tojo, who is enshrined with Japan's 2.5 (m) million war dead at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, also ordered the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour that plunged the United States into World War II. The Yasukuni shrine is vilified by critics as symbolising the country's militaristic past because it honours criminals such as Tojo, who was sentenced to death at the Tokyo war trials and executed in 1948. But, speaking on a visit to the shrine last week, Yuko Tojo said; "This Yasukuni shrine, where the souls of those who sacrificed their lives for the country, became the political tool. Yet, the Japanese government is not dealing with the situation properly. I sincerely apologise to those enshrined here for that and I prayed that I will make this become a sacred place where they can rest in peace." Yuko Tojo has also rejected suggestions that the war shrine stop honouring executed war criminals to allay views in China and South Korea that Japan has not fully atoned for its wartime atrocities there. Tojo's candidacy comes as the Japanese government takes steps toward a vote on revising its US-drafted pacifist Constitution, which prohibits the use of war in settling international disputes. China and South Korea refused to hold summits with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi, after he repeatedly visited Yasukuni. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/6bdff2748225abd4704a499ab3ea0e5b Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork