were stated to be members

the two men was personal, because outwardly both men seemed to have much in common. Both Ishiba and Abe were stated to be members or sympathisers of the Nippon Kaigi, an organisation dedicated to rewriting Japan’s 20th century history in a way that whitewashes or minimises its activities during the Second World War. Both men were old-school conservatives with powerful right-wing patrons (Tanaka for Ishiba, Koizumi for Abe). As shall be seen below, even their policy planks seemed to harmonise in some senses ufabet