[7][8][9] Tamogami graduated from Fukushima Prefectural Asaka High School in 1967 and the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1971 with a major in electrical engineering.

[10] A member of the openly revisionist organization Nippon Kaigi,[11] Tamogami gained attention in the press for a number of outspoken remarks in the latter days of his career.

On 14 July 2004, when questioned further about this supposed 'unconstitutionality' of the Air Self-Defense Force, he said that his opinion should not distress its members since (quoting the catch phrase of Yoshio Kojima, a popular comedian), "What does that matter?"

[1] Following the essay's publication, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada removed Tamogami from the post and ordered him to retire since its viewpoint contradicted the government position and was likely to anger Japan's regional neighbors.

[18][19] The essay that led to Tamogami's dismissal had been solicited for a writing contest organized and sponsored by his friend, prominent businessman and nationalist Toshio Motoya,[20] under the theme "True Interpretation of Modern History.

[10] Since retiring from the Air Self-Defense Force, General Tamogami has become involved with Japanese nationalist groups, heading Ganbare Nippon at its founding in February 2010.

He also wrote a column for the magazine Asahi Geino, in which he opined on topics such as the Chinese and North Korean military threats and the benefits of corporal punishment.

[22] He organized a rally to protest the Senkaku Islands incident where a Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese Coast Guard patrol boats.

Prosecutors alleged that Tamogami approved the distribution of surplus cash remaining at the end of his campaign, and specifically instructed his finance director to increase payments to certain individuals.

[31] In May 2017, a district court sentenced Tamogami to 22 months in prison, suspended for five years, for making illegal payments to his campaign staff in his unsuccessful Tokyo gubernatorial bid in February 2014.

"[citation needed] When criticized for accepting severance pay after the scandal caused by his essay, he quipped, "Well, at last my wife and children are giving me hot food again.