Naoki Hyakuta

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (March 2016) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:百田尚樹]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ja|百田尚樹}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Naoki Hyakuta
百田 尚樹
Hyakuta in 2017
Leader of the Conservative Party of Japan
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 September 2023
Deputy	Takashi Kawamura
Preceded by	Position established
Personal details
Born	(1956-02-23) February 23, 1956 (age 68) Higashiyodogawa, Osaka, Japan
Political party	Conservative Party of Japan
Alma mater	Doshisha University (dropped out)
Writing career
Language	Japanese
Period	2006–2019
Genre	War, historical fiction, non-fiction, fiction
Notable works	The Eternal Zero A Man Called Pirate
Notable awards	Japan Booksellers' Award (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013)

Part of a series on
Conservatism in Japan
Ideologies Capitalist Fiscal State Corporate  Nationalist Minzoku Populist Shōwa Statism Ultra Neo Paternalistic Religious State Shinto Ultra
Principles Anti-communism Asian values Authority Bushido Discipline Duty Elitism Aristocracy Meritocracy Familialism Filial piety Heroism Hierarchy Imperialism Japanese culture Japanization Kokutai Law and order Loyalty Militarism Monarchism Nativism Patriotism Shinto Social order Sovereignty Tradition Yamato-damashii
History 1955 System Abenomics Anti-Comintern Pact CIA activities Empire Emperor system Tenkō Peace Preservation Law Red Purge Red Scare Satsuma Rebellion U.S.-Japan Security Treaty
Intellectuals Etō Fukuda Hasuda Hirata Hyakuta Kanokogi Kobayashi Masaki Mayuzumi Minobe Mizushima Mishima Miyake Nishibe Ōen Oh Ōkawa Oshikawa Sakurai Shiga Sono Sugiyama Suzuki Tadayuki Tsunetomo Watsuji
Literature Hagakure (Recorded 1709–1716) Bushido: The Soul of Japan (1899) The Book of Tea (1906) "Shinmin no Michi" (1941) An Investigation of Global Policy (1943) Patriotism (1960) Sun and Steel (1968) ”The Japan That Can Say No” (1989) The Dignity of the Nation (2005)
Politicians Abe Akao Asō Fukuda Hashimoto Hatoyama Hiranuma Inada Ishiba Ishihara Kawamura Kiichirō Koike Koizumi Konoe Nakagawa Nakasone Sugita Tarō Takaichi Tojo (Hideki) Tojo (Yuko)
Parties Active Conservative Party of Japan Democratic Party for the People Greater Japan Patriotic Party Happiness Realization Party Japan First Party Japan Innovation Party Liberal Democratic Party Tokyoites First Party Restoration Political Party Party of Do it Yourself Defunct Constitutional Government Association Imperial Rule Assistance Association Japan Renewal Party Japan Restoration Party New Conservative Party Party for Japanese Kokoro Party of Hope People's New Party Sunrise Party Your Party
Organisations Active Dentsu Ganbare Nippon Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform Nippon Kaigi Seikijuku Zaitokukai Defunct Black Dragon Society Genyōsha Kenkokukai Kokuryūkai Sakurakai Tatenokai
Media Bungei Shunjū Fuji Television Japanese Culture Channel Sakura Sankei Shimbun Shokun! Shufu no Tomo Shūkan Shinchō Yomiuri Shimbun
Movements Action Conservative Movement Anti-Americanism Green Minzoku-ha Netto-uyoku National essentialism Nihon shugi Shōwa Restoration Trumpism
Related topics Anti-Chinese sentiment Anti-Korean sentiment Nobility Daimyo Kazoku Kuge Samurai Hakkō ichiu Historical negationism History textbooks controversies Kokugaku Nihonjinron Politics in Japan Liberalism Pro-Americanism (postwar) Pro-Republic of China (postwar) Uyoku dantai Yamato nadeshiko Yasukuni Shrine Zaibatsu
Conservatism portal Japan portal
v t e

Naoki Hyakuta (百田 尚樹, Hyakuta Naoki, born February 23, 1956) is a Japanese former novelist, television producer and politician who is the co-founder and leader of the Conservative Party of Japan.^[1] He is known for his right-wing political views and denying Japanese war crimes prior to and during World War II.^[2] He is particularly known for his 2006 novel The Eternal Zero, which became a popular 2013 film,^[3] his controversial period as a governor of government broadcaster NHK, as well as his support of Nanjing Massacre denial.^[4]

Hyakuta has written a number of other books, several of which have been turned into films, such as Bokkusu^[5] and Monsuta.^[6]

In 2006 Hyakuta's novel The Eternal Zero was published. It became a best-seller, with four million copies sold.^[7] It was made into a popular 2013 movie.^[8] The novel was criticised by famed Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki as being "a pack of lies" about the war,^[9] leading to Hyakuta speculating that Miyazaki "wasn't right in the head".^[10]

In 2013, Hyakuta was selected by Shinzō Abe as one of 12 members of the board of governors of Japan's national broadcaster, NHK. This came after the re-election of the Liberal Democratic Party led by Abe. Hyakuta had supported in his bid to re-assume leadership of the LDP the previous year. The selection of Hyakuta as an NHK governor caused some criticism,^[11] but the diet approved Hyakuta's appointment in November 2013.^[12][13] His historical views denying the Nanjing Massacre sparked extended controversy^[14][15] after his speech in support of Toshio Tamogami's bid for the Tokyo governorship in 2014 bought renewed attention to his rightist views.^[16][17] He resigned as a governor in 2015.^[18]

On June 12, 2023, Hyakuta declared that if the LGBT Understanding Promotion Act, which was still being discussed and debated in the National Diet, were to pass, he would run for the Japanese House of Representatives and form a new political party.^[19] Four days later, on June 16, the bill was passed by the House of Representatives and became law.^[20] Consequently, he announced the formation of the Conservative Party of Japan on September 1, 2023 with Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura as its Vice President and journalist Kaori Arimoto as its Secretary General.^[21][22]

During a speech on March 3, 2014, in support of Toshio Tamogami's bid for the governorship of Tokyo, Hyakuta stated that the Nanjing Massacre "never happened", and stated that the Tokyo War Crimes Trials were a "sham" to cover up US war crimes such as firebombing and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He also stated that he didn't see a need to teach such things to children, as they should be taught what a great country Japan is.^[23] He said that claims about the Nanjing Massacre were brought up at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunals only to cancel out the war crimes the US had committed.^[24] A press officer at the US embassy in Tokyo described Hyakuta's views as "preposterous".^[25][26]

In 2014 as an NHK governor he claimed that it was wrong to state that ethnic Koreans were forcibly brought to Japan during the Japanese colonial period.^[27]

Hyakuta wrote a book called Jun'ai (2014) in memory of his recently deceased friend, the radio and TV show host Yashiki Takajin. The book, written as if it were a work of reporting, portrayed Takajin's daughter and his manager as callous, cruel individuals who abandoned him in his final days. Takajin's manager and daughter both sued for slander. Hyakuta claimed that although all the persons named were real, the book was a "fiction." He had relied heavily on uncritical interviews with Takajin's widow, and did not mention her bigamy in the text of the book, only admitting to it later.^[28] After multiple appeals, in December 2017 the Supreme Court of Japan found that Hyakuta had slandered Takajin's daughter and ordered 3.65 million yen paid in compensation.^[29] In November 2018 the Tokyo District Court found that Hyakuta had slandered Takajin's manager as well, ordering an additional 2.75 million yen in compensation and a written apology.^[30][31]

His 2018 book Nihon Kokuki (日本国紀), hailed by the publisher as "the ultimate overview of Japanese history",^[32] was discovered to contain fictitious statements as well as plagiarism from sources such as Wikipedia articles,^[33] the latter being admitted by the author himself.^[34] Author Yasumi Tsuhara [ja] criticized it as "a book praising one's own country filled with copy-and-pasted excerpts from the web."^[32]

On November 8 2024, Hyakuta discussed the declining birth rate issue on the program "News Asahi 8 o'clock!" He stated that the only way to reverse Japan's rapidly falling fertility rate is to change the social structure.

Hyakuta suggested policies such as "prohibiting women from not attending university after the age of 18," "banning women who are single at 25 from ever getting married," and "performing a hysterectomy on women who have not given birth by the age of 30."^[35]

The suggestions prompted public criticism, Hyakuta claimed that the media misinterpreted his words and he is merely "making suggestions based on science fictions".^[36]

• Nanjing Massacre denial
• The Eternal Zero

• Naoki Hyakuta at IMDb