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Naoki Hyakuta | |
|---|---|
百田 尚樹 | |
 Hyakuta in 2017 | |
| Leader of theConservative Party of Japan | |
| Assumed office 1 September 2023 | |
| Deputy | Takashi Kawamura |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Member of theHouse of Councillors | |
| Assumed office 29 July 2025 | |
| Constituency | National PR |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1956-02-23)February 23, 1956 (age 69) |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | Doshisha University (dropped out) |
| Writing career | |
| Language | Japanese |
| Period | 2006–2019 |
| Genre | War,historical fiction,non-fiction,fiction |
| Notable works | |
| Notable awards | Japan Booksellers' Award(2009, 2011, 2012, 2013) |
Naoki Hyakuta (百田 尚樹,Hyakuta Naoki; born February 23, 1956) is a Japanese formernovelist,television producer, andpolitician. He is the co-founder and leader of theConservative Party of Japan.[1] Hyakuta is particularly known for his 2006 novelThe Eternal Zero, which was adapted intoan eponymous 2013 film.[2] Other books of his, several of which have also been adapted into films, includeBokkusu[3] andMonsuta.[4] From 2013 to 2015, he served as a governor of the public broadcasterNHK.
Hyakuta is known for his right-wing political views, including his denial ofJapanese war crimes before and during World War II,[5] particularly theNanjing Massacre.[6] On October 30, 2023, party leader Hyakuta and secretary general Arimoto made derogatory remarks against theKorean people on a Niconicolive stream, with both stating that the "Korean people are human scum" and "I want to sever diplomatic relations withSouth Korea and go to war."[7][disputed –discuss]
In 2006 Hyakuta's novelThe Eternal Zero was published. It became a best-seller, with four million copies sold.[8] It was made into apopular 2013 movie.[9] The novel was criticised byStudio Ghibli directorHayao Miyazaki as being "a pack of lies" aboutWorld War II,[10] leading to Hyakuta speculating that Miyazaki was not "right in the head".[11]
In 2013, Hyakuta was selected byShinzō Abe as one of 12 members of the board of governors of Japan's national broadcasterNHK. This came after the re-election of theLiberal Democratic Party (LDP) 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,[12] but the diet approved Hyakuta's appointment in November 2013.[13][14] His historical viewsdenying the Nanjing Massacre sparked extended controversy after his speech in support ofToshio Tamogami's bid for the Tokyo governorship in 2014 bought renewed attention to his rightist views.[15][16][17][18] He resigned as a governor in 2015.[19]
On June 12, 2023, Hyakuta declared that if theLGBT Understanding Promotion Act, which was then being discussed and debated in theNational Diet, were to pass, he would run for theJapanese House of Representatives and form a new political party.[20] Four days later, on June 16, the bill was passed by the House of Representatives and became law.[21] Consequently, he announced the formation of theConservative Party of Japan on September 1, 2023 withNagoya mayorTakashi Kawamura as its vice-president and journalist Kaori Arimoto as its secretary-general.[22][23]
In the 2025 Upper House election, Hyakuta ran as a candidate for the Conservative Party under the proportional representation district and was elected councilor.[24]
During a speech on March 3, 2014, in support ofToshio Tamogami's bid for the governorship of Tokyo, Hyakuta stated that theNanjing Massacre "never happened", and stated that theTokyo War Crimes Trials were a "sham" to cover up US war crimes such as firebombing and theatomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He also stated that he did not see a need to teach such things to children, as they should be taught the greatness of Japan, and 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.[25][26]
In 2014, as the NHK governor, he claimed that it was wrong to state thatethnic Koreans were forcibly brought to Japan during theJapanese colonial period.[27]
Hyakuta wrote a book calledJun'ai (2014) in memory of his then-recently deceased friend, the radio and TV show hostYashiki 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 herbigamy in the text of the book, only admitting to it later.[28] After multiple appeals, in December 2017 theSupreme 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 bookNihon Kokuki (日本国紀), hailed by the publisher as "the ultimate overview ofJapanese history",[32] was discovered to contain fictitious statements as well asplagiarism from sources such as Wikipedia articles,[33] the latter being admitted by the author himself.[34] AuthorYasumi 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 thedeclining birth rate issue on the program "News Asahi 8 o'clock!", where he stated that the only way to reverse Japan's rapidly falling fertility rate was to change the social structure.[35]
He suggested policies such as "prohibiting women from attendinguniversity after the age of 18," "banning women who are single at 25 from ever gettingmarried," and "performing ahysterectomy on women who have not given birth by the age of 30."[36]
The suggestions prompted public criticism. Hyakuta claimed that the media misinterpreted his words and that he was merely "making suggestions based on science fictions".[37]
