{{Infobox Politician
| name          = 
| image         = Shintaro Ishihara, 2006-Sep-1.jpg
| caption       = 
| small_image   = 
| office        = Tokyo
| term_start    = 1999
| term_end      = 
| predecessor   = 
| successor     = 
| constituency  = 
| majority      = 
| office2       = Member of the House of Councillors
| term_start2   = 1968
| term_end2     = 1972
| predecessor2  = 
| successor2    = 
| constituency2 = 
| majority2     = 
| office3       = Member of the House of Representatives
| term_start3   = 1972
| term_end3     = 1995
| predecessor3  = 
| successor3    = 
| constituency3 = Tokyo 2nd district
| majority3     = 
| birth_date    = 
| birth_place   =  Kobe
| death_date    = 
| death_place   = 
| party         = Liberal Democratic Party
| relations     = 
| residence     = 
| alma_mater    = 
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| religion      = 
| signature     = 
| website       = 
| footnotes     = 
}}
 is a Japanese author, politician and the governor of Tokyo since 1999. 

==Early life and artistic career==
Shintarō was born in Zushi, a beach city, where he started dinghy(sailboat). Ishihara later wrote that the small sailboat "changed and formed the life of Shintarō and Yujiro." He also said, "The sea is my life's <<halo>>". 海は(私にとって)人生の光背だ [http://www.sensenfukoku.net/sea/award.html]</ref> He had a younger brother named Yujiro.<ref>Yujiro who was two years younger than Shintarō. Yujiro died in 1987, at age of 52, a famous actor in Japan.</ref> 

In 1951, his father died suddenly at his office.<ref> when Shintarō was 19 years old.</ref> In 1952, he entered Hitotsubashi University, and graduated in 1956.
Just two months before graduation, Shintarō won the Yujiro played a supporting role in the screen adaptation of the novel, and the two soon became the center of a youth-oriented cult.<ref name="citymayors">"[http://www.citymayors.com/mayors/tokyo_mayor.html Mayors: Shintaro Ishihara: Governor of Tokyo]," CityMayors.com.</ref> 
thumb|left|250px|Shintarō Ishihara appearing in a bit part in the 1956 Japanese film "[[Season of the Sun" (太陽の季節), based on his novel of the same name.]]

In the early 1960s, he concentrated on writing, including plays, novels, and a musical version of ''Treasure Island''. He was involved in directing, ran a theater company, traveled to the North Pole, raced his own yacht, and crossed South America on a motorcycle. From 1967 to 1968, he covered the Vietnam War as a reporter for the ''Yomiuri Shimbun''.

One of his later novels, ''Lost Country'' (1982), speculated about Japan under the control of the Soviet Union.<ref name="TimeCover">Tim Larimer, "[http://cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/magazine/2000/0424/cover1.html Rabble Rouser]," ''TIME Asia'', April 24, 2000.</ref>

==Legislative career==
In 1968, Ishihara ran as a candidate on the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) national slate for the House of Representatives representing the second district of Tokyo, and again won election.

As a Diet member, Ishihara was often critical of the LDP. In 1973, he joined with thirty other LDP lawmakers in the anti-communist ''Seirankai'' or "Blue Storm Group"; the group gained notoriety in the media for sealing a pledge of unity in their own blood.<ref name="citymayors" />

Ishihara ran for Governor of Tokyo in 1975 but lost to the popular Socialist incumbent Ryokichi Minobe. He returned to the House of Representatives afterward, and worked his way up the party's internal ladder, serving as Director-General of the Environment Agency under Takeo Fukuda (1976) and Minister of Transport under Noboru Takeshita (1989). During the 1980s, Ishihara was a highly visible and popular LDP figure, but unable to win enough internal support to form a true faction and move up the national political ladder.<ref name="TimeInterview">"[http://cgi.cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/magazine/2000/0424/int.ishihara.html 'There's No Need For an Apology': Tokyo's boisterous governor is back in the headlines]," ''TIME Asia'', April 24, 2000.</ref>

In 1989, shortly after losing a highly contested race for the party presidency, Ishihara came to the attention of the West through his book, , co-authored with then-Sony chairman Akio Morita. The book called on his fellow countrymen to stand up to the United States.

Ishihara dropped out of national politics in 1995, ending a 25-year career in the Diet. In 1999, he ran on an independent platform and was elected governor of Tokyo.

==Family==
Ishihara is married to Noriko Ishihara and has four sons. Members of the House of Representatives Nobuteru Ishihara and Hirotaka Ishihara are his eldest and third sons; actor and weatherman Yoshizumi Ishihara is his second son. His youngest son, Nobuhiro Ishihara, is a jetsetting painter involved in accusations of nepotism [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070119f1.html]. Nationally famous deceased actor Yujiro Ishihara was his younger brother.

==Books written by Ishihara==
right|thumb|150px|Shintarō Ishihara (upper) and [[Yukio Mishima (lower) in 1956.]]

* ''Taiyo no kisetsu'' (太陽の季節) , ''Season of the Sun'', 1956 : Akutagawa Prize, The Best New Author of the Year Prize. 
* ''Kurutta kajitsu'' (狂った果実),  ''Crazed fruit'', 1956.
* ''Umi no tizu'' (海の地図), ''Map of the sea'', 1958.  
* ''Seinen no ki'' (青年の樹) , <!-- 1959 ? --> ''Tree of the youth''.
* ''Gesshoku'' (月蝕), ''Lunar eclipse'', 1959. 
* ''Seishun to wa nanda'' (青春とはなんだ), ''What is the youth ?'' <!--, 1965 ? -->.
* ''Oinaru umi e'' (大いなる海へ), ''To the great sea'', 1965. 
* ''Kaeranu umi'' (還らぬ海), <!--''Sea without return''?? -->  1966. 
* ''Kaseki no mori''(化石の森),  ''Petrified forest'', 1970 :  Minister of Education Prize
* ''Yabanjin no daigaku'' (野蛮人の大学), ''University of barbarian'' <!-- 1977 ? -->.
* '' 'No' to ieru nihon '' (「NO」と言える日本) ''The Japan That Can Say No'' (in collaboration with Akio Morita), 1989.
* ''Soredemo 'No' to ieru nihon. Nichibeikan no konponmondai'' (それでも「NO」と言える日本 ―日米間の根本問題―) ''The Japan That Can Say No. Principle problem of the Japon-US relations'',  (in collaboration with Shouichi Watanabe and Kazuhisa Ogawa), 1990.
* '' 'Chichi' nakushite kuni tatazu '' (“父”なくして国立たず) , 1997.
* ''Hisai'' (秘祭), ''Secret festival'' <!-- 1988? -->.
* ''Seikan'' (生還) , ''Return alive'', 1988.
* ''Waga jinsei no toki no toki'' (わが人生の時の時) , ''The sublime moment of my life'', 1990.
* ''Kaze ni tsuite no kioku'' (風についての記憶) , ''My memory about the wind'', 1994.
* ''Ototo'' (弟) , ''Yonger brother'', 1996 : Mainichibungakusho Special Prize.
* ''Sensenfukoku'' (宣戦布告「NO」と言える日本経済 ―アメリカの金融奴隷からの解放―), ''Proclamation of war'', 1998. 
* ''Hokekyou wo ikiru'' (法華経を生きる), ''To live the Lotus Sutra'', 1998. 
* ''Seisan'' (聖餐) , 1999.
* ''Kokka naru genei'' (国家なる幻影) , ''The nation, an illusion '' , 1999.
* ''Boku wa kekkon shinai'' (僕は結婚しない)  ''I will not marry'', 2001.
* ''Ima, 'Tamashii' no kyôiku'' (いま「魂」の教育),  ''Now, 'spirit' education'', 2001.
* ''Oi te koso jinsei'' (老いてこそ人生)  <!--"Life is beautiful for old person" ??  "Being old, life gets better." ?? -->, 2002.

Translation in English
*''The Japan That Can Say No'', Simon & Schuster,  1991, ISBN 0671726862.  Touchstone Books, 1992, ISBN 0671758535. Cassette version ISBN 0671735713. Disk version, 1993, ISBN 1882690230.

==Political views==
<!-- one of Japan's most widely known nationalist and popular politicians.-->
Ishihara is generally described as one of Japan's most prominent "right-wing" politicians. He has also generated controversy due to his support for historical revisionism and Chinese and Taiwan (Republic of China) in a possible move to irritate mainland China regarding the Chinese claim of sovereignty over the Taiwanese territory. He has also generated heat from PETA for the reduction of the 37,000 crows that populated Tokyo.<ref>"[http://www.metro.tokyo.jp/ENGLISH/GOVERNOR/SPEECH/2002/0201/6.htm Policy Speech by Governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara]," First Regular Session of the Metropolitan Assembly, 2002. </ref>
<!--He is known outside Japan primarily for his controversial statements regarding race.-->

===Policies as governor===

Among Ishihara's moves as governor, he:

* Cut metropolitan spending projects, including plans for a new Toei Subway line, and proposed the sale or leasing out of many metropolitan facilities.<ref name="TimeCover" />
* Imposed a new tax on banks' gross profits (rather than net profits).<ref>Andrew DeWit and Masaru Kaneko, "[http://www.jpri.org/publications/critiques/critique_IX_4.html Ishihara and the Politics of His Bank Tax]," ''JPRI Critique'' 9:4, May 2002.</ref>
* Imposed a new hotel tax based on occupancy.<ref>"[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0XPQ/is_2001_Dec_24/ai_83370932 Tokyo hotel tax plan enacted]," ''Kyodo News International'', December 24, 2001. </ref>
* Imposed restrictions on the operation of diesel-powered vehicles, following a highly publicized event where he held up a bottle of diesel soot before cameras and reporters.<ref>"[http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/03/business/diesel.php  Diesels may return to Japan roads]," Reuters, March 3, 2006.</ref>
* Proposed opening casinos in the Odaiba district.<ref name="TimeCover" />
* Declared in 2005 that Tokyo would bid for the Fukuoka.<ref>"[http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_6-8-2005_pg2_23 Tokyo governor suggests bid for 2016 Olympics]," ''Daily Times'', August 6, 2005. </ref>
* Set up the ShinGinko Tokyo bank to lend to SMEs in Tokyo. This bank has lost approximately 1 billion dollars worth of taxpayer's money through inadequate customer risk assessments. <ref>"[http://timesonline.typepad.com/urban_dirt/2007/08/shinginko-tokyo.html ShinGinko Tokyo: the crumbling icon of imbecility]," ''Times Online'', August 13, 2007. </ref>

===Foreign relations===
Ishihara has often been critical of Japan's foreign policy as being non-assertive. Regarding Japan's relationship with the US, he stated that "The country I dislike most in terms of U.S.-Japan ties is Japan, because it's a country that can't assert itself."<ref name="TimeInterview" />

thumb|Shintaro Ishihara am 1. September 2006
'''Shintarō Ishihara''' (jap. 石原 慎太郎 ''Ishihara Shintarō''; * Hauptstadtpräfektur Tokio (oft in westlichen Medien als Tokios „Bürgermeister“ bezeichnet).

Ishihara erhielt 1956 den bedeutendsten japanischen Literaturpreis, den LDP unterstützt. Er gilt als Politiker der harten Hand. 

== Werdegang ==
Ishihara schloss 1956 sein Studium an der Hitotsubashi-Universität ab. Kurz zuvor hatte er für seinen im Juli 1955 erschienenen Roman ''Taiyō no Kisetsu'' (, dt. „Jahreszeit der Sonne“, engl. Titel: ''Season of Violence'') den Akutagawa-Preis erhalten.<ref>http://uraaozora.jpn.org/akuta34.html</ref> In der Verfilmung des Romans hatte er einen ersten Auftritt als Filmschauspieler.<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0270685/ Taiyō no Kisetsu auf IMDb]</ref>

Von 1968 bis 1972 war er LDP-Abgeordneter im Oberhaus, anschließend bis 1995 im Unterhaus. Er war Leiter der Umweltbehörde (1976–77) im Kabinett von Fukuda Takeo und Verkehrsminister (1987–88) unter Premierminister Noboru Takeshita. Innerhalb der Partei leitete er ab 1983 die Faktion Jiyū Kakushin Dōyūkai () bis zu deren Beitritt zur Fukuda-Faktion ein Jahr später. 1989 kandidierte Ishihara für den LDP-Parteivorsitz, unterlag aber Toshiki Kaifu und Yoshirō Mori.<ref>[http://www.jimin.jp/jimin/jimin/ayumi/index.html Geschichte der Wahlen zum Parteivorsitz auf der LDP-Website]</ref>

== Politische Maßnahmen ==

=== Baupolitik ===
Die Yamanote-Eisenbahn-Ringlinie) ist vielerorts noch großflächig von [[Einfamilienhaus|Einfamilienhäusern
]] dominiert und hat circa zwei Millionen Einwohner. Für diese Innenstadt gab Ishihara die Steigerung der Bevölkerung um eine Million Einwohner, also um 50&nbsp;%, als mittleres Ziel aus. Das führt vor allem zu einer liberalen Genehmigungspolitik von Wohn-Hochhäusern und -Wolkenkratzern. 

Auch als Ausgleich sind private Bauherren nun verpflichtet, das Dach ihres Gebäudes mit Rasen oder Grünpflanzen zu begrünen, falls die Dachfläche 1000&nbsp;m² übersteigt. Von Ämtern der Präfektur (die unter anderem über 200.000 Wohnungen verwaltet) errichtete Gebäude müssen bereits ab 250&nbsp;m² Dachflächen begrünt werden.

Allerdings erteilte Ishihara gleichzeitig auch Privatfirmen die Erlaubnis, entbürokratisierende Maßnahme hat de facto zur Folge, dass sich Baufirmen, allen voran die allmächtigen zenekon in Japan nun selbst ihre Genehmigungen geben können.

== Rechtsnationalistische Gesinnung==
Bereits 1989 machte Ishihara durch sein Buch ''Wir sind die Weltmacht'' auf seine nationalistischen Ansichten aufmerksam. 

Inzwischen ist Ishihara mehrfach auch international durch rechtsextreme Äußerungen aufgefallen. So bezog er sich auf Korea und die Volksrepublik China mit dem alten japanischen Begriff, der diese Länder als Kolonien Japans während ihrer japanischen Besetzung charakterisierte. Auch nachdem das Thema in Ostasien Wellen geschlagen hatte, entschuldigte er sich nicht.