Hitoshi Motoshima
| Hitoshi Motoshima | |
|---|---|
| 本島 等 | |
| Mayor of Nagasaki | |
|
In office 2 May 1979 – 1 May 1995 |
|
| Preceded by | Yoshitake Morotani |
| Succeeded by | Iccho Itoh |
| Representative for Nagasaki Prefectural Legislature | |
|
In office 1959–1979 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 20, 1922 Shin-Kamigotō, Japan |
| Died | October 31, 2014 (aged 92) Nagasaki, Japan |
| Political party | Liberal Democratic Party of Japan |
| Alma mater | Kyoto University |
| Occupation | Teacher |
| Religion | Christian |
| Motoshima survived an assassination attempt while serving as mayor of Nagasaki in 1990. His mayoral successor, Iccho Itoh, was killed in an unrelated assassination in 2007. | |
Hitoshi Motoshima (本島 等 Motoshima Hitoshi?, February 20, 1922 – October 31, 2014) was a Japanese politician. He served four terms as mayor of Nagasaki from 1979 to 1995. He publicly made controversial statements about the responsibility of Japan and its then-reigning Emperor for World War II and survived a retaliatory assassination attempt in 1990.
Motoshima was born on February 20, 1922 in Shinkamigotō, Nagasaki. During World War II the Japanese authorities suspected Motoshima of espionage because he was a descendant of Kakure Kirishitans and born out of wedlock. When he was twenty-one he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army and became an artillery officer; he was stationed near Kumamoto and did not see combat before the war ended. Motoshima witnessed the aftermath of the atomic bombing of his hometown when he returned to Nagasaki about six weeks after it was bombed.
He was admitted to the Kyoto University Engineering Department, but due to World War II did not graduate until he was twenty-seven years old. Motoshima worked as a teacher before entering politics.
Motoshima served as a Nagasaki Prefectural Legislature representative for five terms (twenty years) before being elected mayor of Nagasaki. While mayor he worked as chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party Nagasaki Prefecture Committee.
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