Tokyo's leader loves France despite jibe
TOKYO (AFP) — Tokyo's outspoken governor, who was taken to court for a jibe against the French language, insists that he in fact loves France -- and even once had a French girlfriend.
Governor Shintaro Ishihara, known for his nationalist views, said in 2004 that French was disqualified as an international language as it was impossible to count in it.
Twenty-one scholars, teachers and translators, including seven French people who live in Japan, sued Ishihara for damages, saying they were defamed and their careers hurt. A judge threw out the suit.
Ishihara, 75, an acclaimed novelist who majored in French in university, stood by his remarks in an interview with AFP.
"Even the French ambassador told me he couldn't count in French," he said with a laugh.
But he added: "I love France. I was really good at French back in the day."
"But I forgot everything," he said.
Ishihara said he had a French girlfriend, who hailed from then French colony Madagascar, when he was in his 20s.
"She gave me a pistol as a souvenir but now it's too old to be of any use," said Ishihara, now the father of four sons including two who serve in parliament.
Ishihara said he was friends with French writer Andre Malraux and philosopher Raymond Aron. He was also the first to translate into Japanese some of the "Contes Cruels," or "Cruel Tales," by 19th-century author Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam.
Ishihara was also friends with New Wave filmmaker Francois Truffaut, who told him that he was influenced by a Japanese film entitled "Passion on the Beach."
"I had never heard of it by that title. So I asked him for the rough outline of the story and found out that I myself wrote the script," he said.
"So I am the forebearer of New Wave," the conservative said with a laugh.