Japan city education council chief to resign after saying war could solve coronavirus

TSUBAME, Niigata – The superintendent of the board of education in this central Japanese city has announced that he will step down for declaring that war is a solution to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hiroshi Endo, 55, handed out a handout at a regular meeting of the Tsubame City Education Council in late August that said “war will solve the coronavirus pandemic.” On September 2, he announced his intention to resign from his post at the end of the month.

At a press conference the same day, Endo said in reference to the war remark: “It was not my real intention, but I apologize from the bottom of my heart to the townspeople for the have made you feel uneasy or deeply anxious. He said he would resign on September 24, when the regular session of the city’s September assembly comes to an end.

According to the Tsubame City Council of Education, Endo noted in a report distributed at a regular education council meeting held on August 21 that “How to solve the coronavirus pandemic in a short period of time would be for a big war to break out somewhere, “” If China and the United States started a war somewhere outside their own country, the money would move “and” This will probably give the economy a boost “.

There have been complaints about the remarks from an outside party, and in response, Endo posted an apology on the city’s website on August 31 and September 1. were extremely lacking in decorum, and (Endo’s) resignation is inevitable. ”

(Japanese original by Yosuke Tsuyuki, Niigata Office)