Naoki Inose
From his wikipedia page:
Naoki Inose (猪瀬 直樹, Inose Naoki, born 20 November 1946) is a Japanese journalist, historian, social critic and biographer of literary figures such as Yukio Mishima and Osamu Dazai. He served as Vice Governor of Tokyo from June 2007 until becoming Acting Governor on 1 November 2012 following the resignation of Shintaro Ishihara. He was elected Governor in a historical landslide victory in December 2012,but announced his resignation on December 19, 2013, following a political funds-related scandal;his resignation was approved and became effective December 24, 2013.
Inose's 1983 book Shōwa 16-nen Natsu no Haisen (昭和16年夏の敗戦, literally, "Defeated in War in the Summer of 1941") describes the findings of the Total War Research Institute (総力戦研究所, Sōryokusen Kenkyūjo). During the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, the Institute would be accused of being part of Japan's militaristic machine, but Inose asserts that it was little more than a think-tank, of which the purpose was to examine dispassionately the consequences of a total war. Its conclusion was that "there [would] be no way for Japan to win the war because of its clear material inferiority. The war [would] be drawn out. The Soviet Union [would] butt in, and Japan [would] be defeated. Therefore, going to war with the United States must absolutely be avoided."[6]
This book was followed in 1987 by The Mikado's Portrait (帝の肖像, Mikado no Shōzō)[original research?], concerning the development of the image of the Emperor, and the biographies of Yukio Mishima, Osamu Dazai and Kikuchi Kan: Persona (Perusona, 1995), Picaresque (Pikaresuku, 2000), and The Realm of Heart (心の王国, Kokoro no Ōkoku,, 2004). In 2009, his 1993 book "The Century of Black Ships" (黒船の世紀, Kurofune no Seiki) was published in English. In 2012, Inose's 1995 biography of Mishima was published in English under the title Persona: A Biography of Yukio Mishima, edited and adapted by Hiroaki Sato and published by Stone Bridge Press.
Inose's examination of public affairs led him to bitter criticisms of Japan's ruling classes and their reluctance to enact reform. His longstanding proposal was for the privatisation of the four public highway corporations, and reform of the postal savings system that finances them.[8] As a result, he joined Prime Minister Junichirō Koizumi's taskforce and served on the commission to examine the Japan Highway Public Corporation (Nihon Doro Kodan). His insistence that cuts be made was so uncompromising that some other appointees declined positions on the board.
Inose said that Japan lost World War II because the government at the time ignored data suggesting Japan would be unable to defeat the Allies and forbade access to the information before Tokyo declared war in 1941. He has further argued that this action is being repeated today by bureaucrats with respect to the economy. He advocated that people share accurate information with respect to Japan's economic situation, that is not necessarily issued by bureaucrats, in efforts to help a debt-ridden Japan. He claims that "any reform can be implemented if people share more accurate and objective data than that (initially) released by authorities."
