Character Assassination

Since the famously photographed murder of a Socialist leader by a right-wing youth in 1960, being a Japanese politician has been hazardous to little more than one's ego. That may have changed with the shocking murder last Friday of Diet member Koki Ishii. The 61-year-old Ishii was steps away from his car outside his home when he was stabbed repeatedly with what appeared to be a 30-cm sashimi knife by Hakusui Ito, a 38-year-old with ties to right-wing extremists. Ito fled the scene but turned himself in to the police the following day. The news stunned lawmakers, many of whom were in the middle of a budget debate when the murder took place. "The use of violence to silence politicians is utterly unforgivable," said Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. "I am incredibly outraged." Police, however, caution that the motive for the murder remains unclear. As the outspoken head of a Democratic Party of Japan anti-corruption committee known as the "G-Man Squad," Ishii fashioned himself as Japan's Eliot Ness. Ironically, he may have been best known for his 2000 campaign to ban the ultraviolent Japanese teen movie Battle Royale. Murder, it seems, doesn't stop at the screen.