Iccho Itoh

Infobox Politician
name = nihongo|Iccho Itoh|伊藤一長


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office = Mayor of Nagasaki, Japan
term_start = May 1, 1995
term_end = April 18, 2007
predecessor = Hitoshi Motoshima
successor = Tomihisa Taue
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birth_date = August 23, 1945
birth_place = flagicon|Japan Nagato, Japan
death_date = April 18, 2007
death_place = flagicon|Japan Nagasaki, Japan
party = Liberal Democratic Party [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/17/news/nagasaki.php Nagasaki mayor is shot and killed - International Herald Tribune ] ]
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alma_mater = Waseda University
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nihongo|Iccho Itoh|伊藤 一長|Itō Itchō|August 23 1945 – April 18 2007, born nihongo|Kazunaga Itoh|伊藤 一長|Itō Kazunaga, was the mayor of the Japanese city of Nagasaki; he first took office in 1995. He was a graduate from Waseda University, and majored in political science.

Career

He served as a member of the city assembly and later the prefectural assembly before he was elected as the mayor.cite web | url = http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/404145 | title = Nagasaki Mayor Ito dies after being shot by gangster; police raid suspect's home | date = 2007-04-18 | accessdate = 2007-04-18 | author = Kyodo News | publisher = Japan Today] As the mayor of the city where an atomic bomb was dropped just two weeks before his birth, he made a speech at the International Court of Justice in the Hague on November 7, 1995 and stressed that the use of nuclear weapons is a violation of international law. [cite web | url = http://disarm.igc.org/oldwebpages/icjquote.html#Japan: | title = World Court excerpts | accessdate = 2007-04-18]

Assassination

On April 17, 2007, while campaigning for re-election for his fourth term, he was shot twice in the back at point-blank range in front of his campaign office outside the Nagasaki train station. Itoh was taken to the Nagasaki University Hospital, where he died early the next morning due to loss of blood. [cite web | url = http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUST33398520070417 | title = Mayor of Japanese city dies after being shot | author = George Nishiyama | publisher = Reuters | date = 2007-04-17 | accessdate = 2007-04-18] Police arrested Tetsuya Shiroo on suspicion of the murder after he was detained by Itoh's entourage following the shooting. Shiroo is believed to have connections to the Yamaguchi-gumi, an organized crime group. As for the motive, "Shiroo reportedly clashed with Nagasaki city officials in 2003 after his car was damaged when he drove into a hole at the construction site." [cite web | url = http://iht.com/articles/2007/04/17/news/nagasaki.php | title = Nagasaki mayor is shot and killed | accessdate = 2007-04-19] There are also rumours that it is related to city construction projects. [http://www.mingpaonews.com/20070419/tas1.htm 明報新聞網 ] ] The Nagasaki district court sentenced Shiroo to death on May 26, 2008. [cite web|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/26/asia/AS-GEN-Japan-Mayor-Shooting.php|title=Gangster convicted, sentenced to death in Japanese mayor shooting|publisher=International Herald Tribune|date=2008-05-26|accessdate=2008-05-26]

A new mayoral election was held on April 22, 2007. nihongo|Makoto Yokoo|橫尾 誠|Yokoo Makoto, Itoh's son-in-law, and nihongo|Tomihisa Taue|田上 富久|Taue Tomihisa, a city official, filed for candidacy. [cite web| url = http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=310295 | author = Kyodo News|title = Funeral held for slain Nagasaki mayor, son-in-law runs for election | date = 2007-04-19 | accessdate = 2007-04-19] Taue was elected. [cite news |title="Ex-city official defeats murdered mayor's son-in-law in Nagasaki election" |work=Mainichi Daily News |date=2007-04-23]

Itoh was the second mayor of Nagasaki to be shot; his immediate predecessor nihongo|Hitoshi Motoshima|本島 等|Motoshima Hitoshi was shot in 1990, but survived.

Name

His first name was originally pronounced "Kazunaga" with "kun-yomi", but he elected to use more euphonious "on-yomi" form of "Itchō" for his mayoralty. [Cite web | url=http://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/mayor/mayor_profile.html |title = わたしのプロフィール (Nagasaki City Website) | language = Japanese | accessdate = 2007-04-19 ]

Itoh's name was romanized as "Itcho Ito" by Mainichi Shimbun [ [http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20070418p2a00m0na002000c.html "Nagasaki mayor dies after being shot by gangster"] "Mainichi Daily News" 19 April 2007] , Reuters [cite web | url = http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUST33398520070417 | title = Mayor of Japanese city dies after being shot | author = George Nishiyama | publisher = Reuters | date = 2007-04-17 | accessdate = 2007-04-18] , and Al-Jazeera [ [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/DA7BA999-EB2E-4F54-826A-FFCF240F8668.htm "Japanese mayor shot dead"] " Al-Jazeera .net" 18 April 2007] . CNN used the "Iccho Ito" romanization [ [http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/17/japan.mayor.ap/index.html "Murdered mayor sparks Japanese fears"] "CNN" 18 April 2007] . Asahi Shimbun used "Iccho Itoh" [ [http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200704180037.html "Nagasaki Mayor Itoh dies after being shot by gang member"] "The Asahi Shimbun" 18 April 2007] . Itoh spelled his name as "Iccho Itoh" in his English letter to George W. Bush. [cite web | url = http://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/abm/abm_e/kougi/usa_e.html | title = Protest against a Nuclear Test conducted by the United States of America | date = 2006-08-31 | accessdate = 2007-04-24 ]

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6565885.stm Japan PM denounces mayor's death] "BBC", April 18, 2007
* [http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUST36953220070417 Reuters article]
* [http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/404145 Japan Today article]