In a society that prioritizes consensus, Shintaro Ishihara chose controversy. His death early this month was marked around the world with obituaries that singled the former Tokyo governor out as ¡°notorious¡± (Financial Times), an ¡°intense nationalist¡± and ¡°firebrand¡± (The New York Times), and a ¡°politician who peddled hatred¡± (Asia Times).

Some of these comments are undoubtedly deserved, the inevitable legacy of a man who went on record as saying that he wished to die a hated figure. Churchill¡¯s famous words come to mind: ¡°Show me a man without enemies and I will show you a man who has never stood for anything.¡±

But as a non-Japanese who came to know him in his later years, I remember a man very different from the ranting nationalist portrayed in the world¡¯s media.