Takichi Nishiyama, a former Mainichi Shimbun political journalist who reported on the existence of a secret pact between Japan and the United States over the reversion of Okinawa and was convicted of illegally obtaining classified documents, continued to pursue the issue on the 24th. He died at a nursing home in Kitakyushu City due to heart failure.
he was 91 years old.
Mr. Nishiyama was born in Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Mr. Nishiyama obtained a confidential document from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which suggests that a "secret agreement" was exchanged in which Japan shouldered the cost of returning the military land to the original fields, etc., which the United States should have paid in connection with the reversion of Okinawa in 1972. , reported in the midst of final negotiations between Japan and the United States.
While denying the secret agreement, the government viewed the leak of the documents as a problem. Ms. Nishiyama was arrested and prosecuted for illegally obtaining confidential documents from a female employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was acquitted in the first trial. However, he was found guilty by the Supreme Court.
After that, he continued to pursue the issue, including a lawsuit demanding that university professors and the government disclose diplomatic documents related to the secret agreement.
According to his relatives, Mr. Nishiyama died of heart failure on the 24th at a nursing home in Kitakyushu.
he was 91 years old.