| rdfs:comment | - Tamogami was dismissed with a 60 million yen allowance due to an essay he published on October 31, 2008, arguing that "it is a false accusation to say (Japan) was an aggressor nation" during World War II and that it was rather drawn into the war by Chiang Kai-shek and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had allegedly been manipulated by the Comintern. The essay also argues that the war brought prosperity to occupied China, Taiwan and Korea, that "it is often those who never directly saw the Japanese military who are spreading rumors about the army's act of brutality", that the Greater East Asia War is viewed in a positive way by many Asian countries and criticizes the war crimes trials which followed the war.
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| abstract | - Tamogami was dismissed with a 60 million yen allowance due to an essay he published on October 31, 2008, arguing that "it is a false accusation to say (Japan) was an aggressor nation" during World War II and that it was rather drawn into the war by Chiang Kai-shek and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had allegedly been manipulated by the Comintern. The essay also argues that the war brought prosperity to occupied China, Taiwan and Korea, that "it is often those who never directly saw the Japanese military who are spreading rumors about the army's act of brutality", that the Greater East Asia War is viewed in a positive way by many Asian countries and criticizes the war crimes trials which followed the war. Following the essay's publication, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada removed Tamogami from the post and ordered him to retire, since its viewpoint contradicted the government position and was likely to anger Japan's regional neighbors. Tamogami, on November 3, 2008 confirmed that the essay accurately expressed his views on the war and Japan's role in it. He had already written a similar essay in May 2007 for an ASDF internal publication. On 13 November, prime minister Tarō Asō said Tamogami decision's to write this essay was "extremely inappropriate" and the government was wrong in having overlooked Tamogami's views for many years. The essay which led to Tamogami's dismissal had been solicited for a writing contest organized and sponsored by his friend, prominent businessman and nationalist Toshio Motoya, under the theme "True Interpretation of Modern History." Motoya and the other judges, including Shoichi Watabe, an honorary professor at Sophia University, awarded Tamogami the competition's ¥3 million first prize. The piece later appeared in a book published by Motoya, "The Shocking Truth About Modern History," which also featured other essays entered in the competition.
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