Japan Officer’s Coup Suggestion Irks Army Chief
- Share via
TOKYO — An army officer has provoked outrage from Japan’s defense chief by suggesting that a coup is needed to clean up Japan’s corrupt political system.
“History has shown that a military solution is the only way left when democracy does not work properly and justice is not done,” Maj. Shinsaku Yanai wrote in Shukan Bunshun, a major weekly magazine.
He criticized public prosecutors for letting former Liberal Democratic Party Vice President Shin Kanemaru get away with only a token fine for receiving illegal political funds from a mob-affiliated firm. On Wednesday, Kanemaru, Japan’s most powerful politician, resigned from Parliament over the scandal.
Sohei Miyashita, director of the Japan Defense Agency, told reporters Thursday that Yanai’s article was outrageous. “We shall look into his real intentions and deal with the case appropriately,” he said.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
