[3][4] Ishihara was infamous for his misogynistic comments, his xenophobic views and his racist remarks against Chinese and Koreans in Japan, including his use of the antiquated pejorative term "sangokujin".

His 1989 book, The Japan That Can Say No, co-authored with Sony chairman Akio Morita (published in English in 1991), called on the authors' countrymen to stand up to America.

[11] In October 2021, Ishihara was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer while his wife, Noriko had ruptured aortic aneurysm, and given only three months to live amid a routine physical exam.

Regarding these early years as a filmmaker, he said to a Playboy Magazine interviewer in 1990 that "If I had remained a movie director, I can assure you that I would have at least become a better one than Akira Kurosawa".

[17] He also ran a theatre company, and found time to visit the North Pole, race his yacht The Contessa and cross South America on a motorcycle.

[20] In 1968, Ishihara ran as a candidate on the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) national slate for the House of Councillors.

[22] Ishihara 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 was unable to win enough internal support to form a true faction and move up the national political ladder.

[23] In 1983, his campaign manager put up stickers throughout Tokyo stating that Ishihara's political opponent was an defector from North Korea.

[24] In 1989, shortly after losing a highly contested race for the party presidency, Ishihara came to the attention of the West through his book The Japan That Can Say No, co-authored with Sony chairman Akio Morita.

[citation needed] In the 2011 gubernatorial election, his share of the vote dipped to 43.4% against challenges by comedian Hideo Higashikokubaru and entrepreneur Miki Watanabe.

[citation needed] On 25 October 2012, Ishihara announced he would resign as Governor of Tokyo to form a new political party in preparation for upcoming national elections.

[34] In November 2012, Ishihara and his co-leader Hiranuma said that the Sunrise Party would pursue "establishment of an independent Constitution, beefing up of Japan's defense capabilities, and fundamental reform of fiscal management and tax systems to make them more transparent".

The future of nuclear power and the upcoming consumption tax hike were issues it would have to address with potential coalition partners.

[35] Reporting on a poll in early December 2012, Asahi Shimbun characterized the merger with Japan Restoration Party as the latter having "swallowed up" Sunrise.

"[23] As part of the criticism, Ishihara published a book co-authored with the then Prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, titled "No" to ieru Ajia – tai Oubei e no hōsaku in 1994.

[45] Following Ishihara's campaign to bid Tokyo for the 2016 Summer Olympics, he eased his criticism of the PRC government.

[46] On 9 April 2000, in a speech before a Self-Defense Forces group, Ishihara said crimes were repeatedly committed by illegally entered people, using the pejorative term sangokujin, and foreigners.

[47][48] His comment invoked calls for his resignation, demands for an apology and fears among residents of Korean descent in Japan,[17] as well as being criticised by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

... After World War II, when Japan lost, the Chinese of Taiwanese origin and people from the Korean Peninsula persecuted, robbed and sometimes beat up Japanese.

[52] In 1990, Ishihara said in a Playboy interview that the Rape of Nanjing was a fiction, claiming, "People say that the Japanese made a holocaust but that is not true.

[55] In 2000, Ishihara, one of the eight judges for a literary prize, commented that homosexuality is abnormal, which caused an outrage in the gay community in Japan.

Then, on continued questioning by investigative journalist Hajime Yokota, he stated 'Minamiyama is a Devil's Mountain that eats children.'

[60] In 2010, Ishihara claimed that Korea under Japanese rule was absolutely justified due to historical pressures from Qing dynasty and Imperial Russia.

The governor of Miyagi expressed displeasure about Ishihara's speech amid Akihito's response the victims of triple disaster in Japan.

As Ishihara wanted to spend his last days at home without feeling pain, according to his son, Nobuteru, who asked a doctor specializing in terminal care to prescribe him painkilling medication.

The couple's four sons and one daughter-in-law spent New Year's Day and other holidays at the house on a rotating basis with a resident nanny.

On his last New Year's Day in January 2022 alongside his wife, Noriko, Ishihara had suddenly said: "I want to eat ramen and sushi."

[81] Ishihara served as a model for the character of Shinsaburô Ishiyama, a fictional Japanese Minister of Defence invariably replying No!