Commentary: Who are the backstage sponsors of Japan's right wing forces?

As public outrage is spreading over Japanese hotel chain APA Group placing books denying the 1937 Nanjing Massacre and the forced recruitment of "comfort women" ever happened, in its guest rooms, the true face of APA CEO Toshio Motoya as a backstage sponsor of Japan's right wing forces has been completely unmasked.

In Japanese business circles, there are potent forces, which overtly or covertly fund right-wing scholars, groups and politicians and boost their popularity, with the aim to realize their personal ideological "aspirations."

Meanwhile, the right wing forces in Japan, with the support of their backstage sponsors, are able to display, convey or otherwise communicate such "ambitions" and in turn repay their backstage sponsors.

APA Chief Executive Officer Toshio Motoya is a businessman, but he plays a more active role in a variety of right wing activities. He is deputy director of "Anshin-Kai", a support group for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and has spent huge sums of money to fund a right wing politician in election campaigns.

Since 2008, he has also sponsored prize-giving essay contests with the theme of whitewashing Japan's history of wartime invasion. In 2011, he established "Shoheijuku", a forum gathering right wing scholars and politicians to propagate right wing historical views.

Over the past 20 years, he has continued to make comments aimed at whitewashing Japan's history of invasion during WWII in a monthly magazine called "Apple Town", which is edited by himself.

His fallacies and absurdities have, been ignored in real academic circles, however, his pernicious influence should not be ignored. For instance, some Japanese netizens have gone on to spread rumors such as "the Nanking Massacre did not actually happen", which is exactly what Japanese right wing forces like Toshio Motoya are preaching.

Right wing businessmen like Toshio Motoya are by no means rare in Japan.

Other examples are Kasai Yoshiyuki, honorary chairman of JR Central Japan Railway Company, who has provided long-term support to the "Taiwan independence" force, and maintained close relations with Abe and Lee Teng-hui, former Taiwanese leader and Kuomintang Chairman, who has long been engaged in activities aimed at separating Taiwan from China.

Katsuya Takasu, president of Takasu Clinic, which is based in Nagoya, has long been supporting the "Tibet independence" force. Moteki Hiromichi, president of the publishing company Sekai Shuppan, meanwhile, is both the secretary general of the Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact, a Japanese right wing group, and the secretary of Kuretakekai, which is also a Japanese right wing group.

In Japan's largest right wing organization known as Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference), many business tycoons and politicians hold senior positions.

Koichi Tsukamoto, founder of Wacoal Group, and Inaba Kosaku, president of Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (now renamed IHI Corporation), were the first and second President of Nippon Kaigi, respectively.

Ishii Koichiro, former chairman of Bridgestone Cycle Corp., successively served as vice president and consultant of Nippon Kaigi. Members of Nippon Kaigi's representative committee include Utsunomiya Tetsuhiko, Chairman of Nikka Corp., Kiuchi Yasumitsu, consultant of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., as well as Shibuki Masayuki, chairman of Kohken Co. Ltd.

At present, most members of Abe's Cabinet are members of Diet Representative "Japan Conference" Round-Table, which is a political wing of Nippon Kaigi. Abe's Cabinet is even called "Japan Conference Cabinet", reflecting the huge influence of the right wing organization.

In Japan, the official-business collusion has a long history. Japanese conglomerates known as "zaibatsu" had been strong supporters, direct participants and the biggest beneficiaries of Japan's war of aggression.

After World War II, the country's big zaibatsu including Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, and Yasuda, were once dismantled by the U.S. army. However, with the Cold War coming and indulgence taken by the United State, these zaibatsu were revived in succession.

This time, APA hotel's notorious conduct has been objectively exposed.

Why is it then that the Japanese right wing forces get so exasperated? The root cause is that the exposure of the latest incident has kicked them where it hurts most in their pockets.

Disgusted at APA's barefaced intentions to distort history, Chinese, South Korean and other international customers have boycotted the hotel and as a result its income has taken a notable hit.

With tourism as one of a very few pillars of economic growth in Japan, the country's economy is now continuing to struggle, amid the largest public debt in the industrialized world, slumping exports, falling wages and a demographic crisis which has led to soaring welfare costs.

The actions of Toshio Motoya and like minded rightists, could hurt Japan dearly and well beyond its drive to attract visitors to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Endit