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a Japanese national currently being detained by the Islamic State

Toshio Tamogami, 66, a far-right Japanese politician, has raised the possibility that Kenji Koto, 47, a Japanese citizen held hostage by the Islamic State (IS), a Sunni extremist group, is a Zainichi, the Japanese word for Korean-Japanese.

Tamogami made the remark in a tweet he posted to his Twitter account around 4 pm on Jan. 28.

“Kenji Koto, who was kidnapped by IS, and his mother, Junko Ishido, have different family names. Why is that? There is information online suggesting that he is a Korean-Japanese who is using a Japanese-style name. There’s no way to know the truth. I hope the press will look Koto’s background and let us know,” Tamogami said.

The remark can be interpreted as meaning that a Korean-Japanese individual caused serious trouble for the Japanese government by rashly entering an area held by IS and by being taken hostage.

Tamogami appears to have posted the remarks, even though they could provoke racial discrimination, in order to argue that the Japanese government should not be blamed even in the worst-case scenario, since Koto is responsible for his predicament.

“Even locals don’t go into the area controlled by IS because of the danger, but Koto entered, fully aware of the danger. His mother was right to apologize for the problems her son is causing, but it bothers me a little that she said she hopes he comes back safely because he’s a good person,” he also wrote.

Inside Japan, Tamogami is facing a lot of heat for his remarks. One person who criticized the politician directly is Japanese writer Ryuji Morita, who wrote, “Tamogami, your remarks are way out of line. Apologize to Koto and Ishido.”

A former chief of staff for Japan's Air Self-Defense Force, Tamogami mustered support from the far-right [in an unsuccessful bid] to become governor of Tokyo in Feb. 2014, receiving 610,000 votes in the election.

In Dec. 2014, Tamogami ran for a seat in the House of Representatives as a candidate for the Party for Future Generations in the 12th district of Tokyo, but he came in last on the ballot, losing out to Ikeuchi Saori, candidate for the Japanese Communist Party.

By Gil Yun-hyung, Tokyo correspondent

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