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Toshio Motoya

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Toshio Motoya (元谷外志雄, born 1943) is a Japanese essayist, publisher and real estate entrepreneur who is the president of APA Group,[1] which includes APA Hotels & Resorts, one of Japan’s largest hotel chains.

Business interests

Motoya founded the APA Group real estate business in Ishikawa Prefecture in 1971.[2] Its hotel division operates more than 70 properties across Japan.[3] Motoya's wife Fumiko is president of the hotel chain and is widely recognized in Japan, with her image appearing on billboards displayed prominently near major train stations around the country.[2] At least four of the company's hotels in 2007 were temporarily shut down after it was discovered they failed to meet Japan's stringent earthquake safety standards, and that an architectural firm had used flawed data in its safety assessment of the buildings' designs.[1][4]

Political involvement

A vigorous supporter of Liberal Democratic Party Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and fierce critic of former Democratic Party of Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Motoya is linked with right-wing political causes in Japan, and views the country's involvement in World War II in a generally positive light.[5] Motoya publishes a magazine called Apple Town, portions of which are translated into English, which is distributed through the APA Group's network of properties and which focuses on economic and foreign policy issues. In the magazine Motoya, under the pen-name Seiji Fuji, has written essays urging increases in Japan's defense budget[6] and suggesting that Japan's movement against nuclear power generation, which gathered momentum following the Fukushima nuclear accident, is part of a plot by the United States.[7]

Motoya has close ties to former Japanese Air Self-Defense Force chief Toshio Tamogami,[5] who was forced to resign amid controversy after an essay he wrote defending Japan's involvement in World War II came to public attention in 2008. Tamogami's essay, which argued Japan was forcibly drawn into World War II by Chiang Kai-shek[8] and Franklin D. Roosevelt,[9] had been written as part of an essay competition Motoya organized and sponsored under the theme "True Interpretation of Modern History." [10] Motoya was also the head of the judging panel which awarded Tamogami the competition's ¥3 million first prize.[5] After the revelation of Tamogami's involvement in the essay competition caused a political and media storm in Japan, Motoya defended the competition, saying it was motivated to have "proper historical views pave the way for Japan" to reinvent itself as a "true independent state." [10] Further cause of political controversy was the revelation that 98 of the competition's 235 entrants were members of Japan's armed forces, including Tamogami and 77 other officers in Japan's air force.[10] A book published by Motoya, "The Shocking Truth About Modern History," containing 13 essays selected from the competition field, including Tamogami's winning entry, went on sale in late 2008 at bookstores and APA hotels.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "Faked quake data shut two inns". The Japan Times. 26 January 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Innkeeper puts on her promotional face". The Japan Times. 17 August 2005. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Expedia Signs Global Partnership Agreement With One of Japan's…". Asia Press Release News. 21 October 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Osaka shuts down Apa hotel due to quake-safety flaws". The Japan Times. 15 February 2007. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  5. ^ a b c "The ghost of wartimes past". The Economist. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  6. ^ "Now is the Perfect Chance to Make Japan a Country Capable of its Own Defense". Apple Town. Apple Town. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  7. ^ Motoya, Toshio (September 2011). "The Idea of Abandoning Nuclear Power is a Plot by the United States to Make Japan Withdraw from the Nuclear Energy Market". Apple Town. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  8. ^ "ASDF chief justifies Japan's wartime aggression in Asia". Breitbart.com. 2008-10-31.
  9. ^ "Japan air force chief faces sack". BBC News. 2008-10-31.
  10. ^ a b c d Hongo, Jun (9 December 2008). "Essay judges defend Tamogami". The Japan Times. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
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